Crist Votes Before Dawn; Urges Everyone To Vote
ST. PETERSBURG (CBS4) - Before the sun came up Tuesday, Florida Governor Charlie Crist arrived to a small group of supporters at a St. Petersburg polling place to cast his ballot.
He made his intentions crystal clear.
"I'm gonna vote for Charlie Crist today," he said.
He also made a final pitch to voters that he, not Democrat Kendrick Meek, is the best option to defeat Rubio for this U.S. Senate seat.
"In this race I'm the only one who can beat Marco so I hope people don't waste their vote, Crist. "(I hope) that they get out and cast their ballot for common sense."
Despite polls showing Crist trailing Rubio by double digits, he remains optimistic that his Independent bid will resonate with voters looking for a change.
"It's in the hands of the people now. I always long for this day, when it's out of the pollsters and the pundits; it's just up to the people, it's their will that will be done tonight," said Crist.
Polls show Crist trails Republican frontrunner Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate race, but is ahead of Democrat Kendrick Meek who is running a distant third. Still, the governor said he's not even considering losing.
"Haven't considered it at all," Crist said, "No, I just want to fight for you in the U.S. Senate and cut your taxes."
There have been persistent rumors that Crist and former President Bill Clinton urged Meek in recent days to drop out of the race.
Crist said he planned to spend the day with family, do a little campaigning and then head to his election party at the Vinoy Hotel in downtown St. Petersburg to watch the results come in Tuesday evening.
When asked his feelings, the optimistic Crist seemed as upbeat as ever.
"I'm really looking forward to tonight," he said. "I think that we're gonna have nice surprise and great result."
The latest Quinnipiac University poll shows Rubio has a wide lead in the race with 45 percent of the vote, while Crist got 31 percent and Meek received 18 percent; the poll has a 3.2 percent margin of error.
