Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, running for U.S. Senate as a no-party candidate, is taking both of his opponents on at once with a new ad painting Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek as corrupt.
The ad says that Rubio is under investigation by the IRS, which the St. Petersburg Times reported in April. The ad also talks about Meekโs ties to lobbying for federal funds for South Florida developer Dennis Stackhouse, who has been charged with fraud. Meekโs former chief of staff and mother (who held Meekโs seat in Congress before she resigned) received money from Stackhouse.
Crist also brought up the investigation into the Republican Party of Floridaโs extravagant use of party credit cards during the tenure of the now-indicted Jim Greer, who Crist handpicked to be party chairman. Crist never had a party credit card himself, but went on vacation with Greer โ Politifact ruled that while Crist paid for his own hotel room, it was impossible to disaggregate whether spending on Greerโs party AmEx card was or was not made in the presence of Crist.