Charlie Crist makes first swing through Miami after announcing run for governor Samantha J. Gross, The Miami Herald May 8—Democratic U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist made his first campaign stop in South Florida Saturday as he angles to get his old job back as Florida governor. Crist, who launched his campaign Tuesday in St. Petersburg, kicked off a day-long itinerary in Miami-Dade with Cuban-American Democrats at Tropical Park, where he spoke about loosening economic restrictions placed by the U.S. on the communist island. "I'm running for governor because you deserve better," he told an audience of about two dozen people while sitting a table filled with Cuban coffee and guava pastelitos, though he didn't touch the food.