Charles Joseph "Charlie" Crist, Jr. (IPA-en?kr?stpron; born July 24, 1956) is an American politician who is the forty-fourth and current Governor of Florida (List of Governors of Florida). Prior to his election as governor, Crist previously served as Florida State Senator (Florida Senate), Education Commissioner (Florida Education Commissioner), and Attorney General (Florida Attorney General). He was elected governor in 2006 with 52.4 percent of the vote (against opponent Jim Davis (Jim Davis (politician))), and took office the following year.

As Florida Attorney General, an office he held from 2002 until his election as governor, Crist was noted for his stance in the Terri Schiavo case, where he broke with the stance of governor Jeb Bush; however, Crist has received criticism from both sides on this issue, as he did not publicly state his position, opposing intervention to keep Schiavo alive until over one year after Terri Schiavos death.

As governor, Crist has broken with the Republican Party on economic and environmental policy, particularly while working with the Obama Administration (Presidency of Barack Obama) on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009), opposing some forms of offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and using state funds to purchase land to restore the Everglades (Restoration of the Everglades). He gained national prominence by taking an active role in the 2008 U.S. presidential election (U.S. presidential election, 2008), both for endorsing and campaigning for Republican candidate John McCain and for a political controversy sparked when he signed a bill moving the presidential primary date in Florida to January 29, 2008.

Crists term as governor ends in January 2011; rather than run for re-election, Crist announced on May 12, 2009, that he would run instead for the United States Senate seat being vacated by then-fellow Republican Mel Martinez. Nearly a year later, in response to his low poll numbers in Republican primary for U.S. Senate, Crist decided to make the run for Senate as an independent, making the election a three-way race.