Looking to 2010: Florida Governor

In the first of a series of articles looking forward to races in 2010, we take a look at how the race for Governor of Florida is shaping up.

The Republicans

Current governor Charlie Crist is popular, and barring some major scandal or unforeseen event, will be running for reelection.  A Quinnipac poll released last week puts Crist’s approval rating at an impressive 68 percent.

The Democrats

Alex Sink

At the moment, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink seems to be the best Democratic hope to unseat Crist.  Sink will likely run either for the governorship or for one of Florida’s U.S. Senate seats; while Sink probably has a better shot at the Senate seat, currently held by unpopular Republican Mel Martinez, she has made moves in recent months to draw contrasts between herself and Crist.  Back in August, Sink told the St. Petersburg Times, “I will assess the landscape after the first of the year, and make a decision then.”

There’s a website up at DraftAlex.com encouraging her to run for Governor.

Allen Boyd

Boyd, a Blue Dog Democrat congressman, has represented Florida’s 2nd congressional district, which includes most of the central and eastern Panhandle, since 1997.  Like Sink, he’s considering both the governorship and the Senate seat.  While he doesn’t have a lot of statewide name recognition, his position as a conservative Democrat fits Florida’s divided electorate.  Furthermore, his time in Washington would give him a heads-up in fundraising ability were he to run for Senate.