Report: Crist To Speak at Democratic Convention

By Stacy Kaper

Updated: August 27, 2012 | 11:24 a.m.
August 27, 2012 | 9:05 a.m.

Former Florida Republican Gov. Charlie Crist ran for the Senate in 2010 as a Republican, but later decided to run as an independent. ((AP Photo/Mark Mainz))

Former Florida Republican Gov. Charlie Crist will speak at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., next week, ABC News reports.

Crist endorsed President Obama on Sunday in an editorial in the Tampa Bay Times, saying that he is "confident that President Barack Obama is the right leader for our state and the nation.”

Crist added in his endorsement, “I applaud and share his vision of a future built by a strong and confident middle class in an economy that gives us the opportunity to reap prosperity through hard work and personal responsibility.”

Crist ran for the Senate in 2010 as a Republican, but later decided to run as an independent. He lost to now-Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said he wasn't surprised by the decision to use Crist. “Obviously, he didn't have a future in the Republican Party,” Priebus said on Fox News, adding: “The Democrats want to use him. And he is willing to be used.”

Brianna McClane contributed

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