Charlie Crist wins Democratic gubernatorial primary in Florida

Florida gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist won the Democratic primary Tuesday, setting the stage for a general-election matchup in November with Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

The Associated Press reported about an hour after the polls closed that Crist had won the Democratic gubernatorial primary race. Early voting results showed Crist was leading his challenger former state Sen. Nan Rich by 50 percentage points. With nearly 60 percent of the precincts reporting, Crist had 74 percent of the votes while Rich had 26 percent.

Crist served as a Republican governor in Florida from 2007-2011 and became a Democrat in 2012. He held an advantage in fundraising and name recognition over Rich, and multiple polls showed him leading by a large margin from the start of his campaign.

SEE ALSO: Former Fla. Gov. Charlie Crist joining Democrats

Throughout the campaign trail, Rich noted that she was a longtime Democrat and called herself the “true Democrat” in the race. She also criticized Crist for refusing to debate her.

Crist could now become the first Democrat to win the Florida governor race since 1994, when Lawton Chiles almost lost to Jeb Bush. But before he can make that happen he must beat Scott, who has already spent nearly $28 million since November on campaign ads attacking Crist.

Alex Sink, the former Florida chief financial officer who lost to Scott in 2010, told The Miami Herald that Crist should expect even more ads to come following Tuesday’s primary election.

“If we think we’ve seen lots of negative ads about Charlie, the Republicans are going to double down. They’ve saved their worst for last,” Sink said.

The Associated Press also reported that Miami-Dade School Board Member Carlos Curbelo won the GOP nomination to go up against Democratic incumbent Joe Garcia in Congressional District 26. With 26 of the precincts reporting, Curbelo had 48 percent of the vote.

Curbelo easily beat former Congressman David Rivera, who lost his seat to Garcia in 2012 after a series of scandals and federal investigations came up. Early results showed Rivera only picked up 8 percent of the votes.

SEE ALSO: Tuesday’s primaries: Top races to watch are in Florida and Arizona