Rep. Charlie Crist says 'let's get rid of DeSantis' after winning Florida's Democratic primary

• Rep. Charlie Crist has called on Florida voters to help him "get rid of DeSantis" at the midterms.
• He won the Democratic primary on Tuesday, soundly beating out challenger Nikki Fried.

Rep. Charlie Crist, the Democratic candidate for Florida's gubernatorial race, called on voters to help him "get rid" of Gov. Ron DeSantis after winning the state's primary race on Tuesday.

Crist, who previously served as Florida's governor from 2006 to 2011, clinched this year's nomination by beating Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried with 59.7% of the votes compared to her 35.3%.

"I'm officially the Democratic Nominee who'll go head-to-head with Ron DeSantis this November," Crist tweeted. "I'm deeply grateful that Floridians showed out to defend integrity, democracy, and freedom. Now, let's get rid of DeSantis."

Crist's tweet signals a continuation of his push to rally voters under the same cause — blocking DeSantis' from another turn as governor and shutting down his potential bid for the White House in 2024. DeSantis, who has been touted as a frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, has not announced a run for the White House yet.

During his victory speech in St Petersburg, Crist promised to stamp out DeSantis' "wannabe dictator" hopes for becoming president.

Much of Crist's campaign has leveraged on criticism of several policies that the governor signed into law recently, including a 15-week abortion ban that Crist says he will overturn on his first day in office if he is elected.

He also took aim at DeSantis' legislature on LGBTQ+ issues, such as a law that limits teachers' instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten until the 3rd grade. When Walt Disney Co. said it would actively work to fight the policy, DeSantis signed another law dissolving the corporation's self-governing status at its Disney World resort.

"Our fundamental freedoms are literally on the ballot," Crist said in his victory speech. "A woman's right to choose on the ballot. Democracy on the ballot. Your rights as minorities are on this ballot."

"That's what's at stake in this election, make no mistake about it, because this guy wants to be president of the United States of America and everybody knows it," he continued.

Crist's Democratic challenger, Fried, would have been the first female governor of Florida if she won. She had criticized Crist for changing parties and positioned herself as "something new" for the state. Crist changed parties in 2010 when he left the GOP to run as an independent candidate. He joined the Democratic Party in 2012.

In her concession speech on Tuesday, Fried echoed Crist's rhetoric, Insider's Kimberly Leonard reported.

"We are going to make Ron DeSantis a one-term governor," she said, "and a zero-term president of the United States."