State: Crist crams coffers for 2002

Charlie Crist's current job as Florida education commissioner certainly hasn't hampered his ability to run a campaign for attorney general in 2002. Crist reported Tuesday that he already has raised $744,538 for the 2002 race.

That figure vaults Crist over the other two candidates who have been in the race longer. Senators Locke Burt and Buddy Dyer have reported raising $184,474 and $148,801 respectively.

In fact, Crist's campaign contributions already exceed the money raised by Attorney General Bob Butterworth in his entire 1998 campaign. Butterworth cannot run again because of term limits.

"My goal for this quarter was $500,000, so we're ecstatic," said Crist, a former state senator from St. Petersburg.

Crist, 44, said he has already held about 30 fundraisers, big and small, and attributed his astounding fundraising success to "hard work, a lot of good friends and a tremendous outpouring of support."

His fundraising prowess makes Crist the man to beat in the contest for the job as Florida's top law enforcement official. It also makes Crist a big target.

"I guess since he doesn't have to run the Department of Education, he has plenty of time to run for attorney general," said Bob Poe, chairman of the Florida Democratic Party. "He wasn't up to the job, so now he has a lot of time for campaigning."

Crist remains in charge of running the Florida Department of Education. But he has been in a lame duck position since he took office in January, and a new education chief has been appointed as the state moves toward a system that will put Crist out of a job.

In 2000 Crist won an abbreviated two-year term. He knew as he ran for that job that the position as education commissioner would be eliminated as an elected office in 2002. After that it will be an appointed position; the education commissioner will be replaced by a K-through-12 "chancellor" who will answer to the newly appointed state education secretary.

On July 1, Jim Horne took over as the new education secretary to handle the transition to the new governance structure. For now, Horne and Crist have said, the two are working side-by-side in managing Florida's K-12 education machinery.

Both Burt, a Republican from Ormond Beach, and Dyer, a Democrat from Orlando, got into the race earlier than Crist, but they also operated at a disadvantage for much of the past reporting period, which ended June 30. By law, they were prohibited from soliciting donations while the Florida Legislature is in session, so both of the senators went through a dry spell.

"We filed in January, then we had about four weeks before the session," said Dyer, who has no opposition thus far for the Democratic nomination. "That means we were down nine weeks for the session. We've only had about five weeks to raise money this quarter."

Burt's campaign treasurer, Shaun Herness, said his strategy would be to seek contributions after September 1 because after that, under the public campaign finance laws, the state will match every dollar raised with two dollars in public money (up to $100,000).

Dyer, 42, said he was following a similar strategy, focusing on fundraising after the public financing kicks in. He said that despite Crist's big money, he felt he was on target for his goals. First, the Orlando senator wants to set up some grass-roots organization, especially in South Florida. Then, he wants to seek contributions in earnest.

Regardless of his opponents' strategies, Crist's fundraising may have changed the tenor of the race already -- and there are still 15 months to go.

Crist reported donations from recognizable names, both locally and statewide, such as former House Speaker John Thrasher, Devil Rays managing general partner Vince Naimoli, University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus Dean Bill Heller, Jack and Ruth Eckerd, former board of regents member Thomas Petway, and USF trustee Gus Stavros. Donations also came in from his mother in St. Petersburg, some DOE employees and a number of $50 contributions from Naples retirees.

The more than 1,800 contributions added up to nearly three-quarters of a million dollars. Crist said he is aiming to raise about $2.5-million.

"That kind of money probably dissuades others from getting in," Poe said. "You have to wonder if this changes the posture of the race. Does Burt have to do something to even the playing field?"

Burt, 53, will face Crist in next year's primary.

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk