ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Democratic opponent Charlie Crist leveled serious allegations and made some eye-popping claims during Monday night’s one and only gubernatorial debate ahead of the approaching midterm election.
We’re taking a closer look into a few of the claims that warrant a fact check.
On the defining issue of the economy, Crist accused DeSantis of raising taxes by $1 billion on Florida consumers. DeSantis said when Crist was governor, he was the one who dipped deep into people’s wallets.
“He ran saying he would not raise taxes. He became governor and he signed off on the largest increase in taxes and fees in the history of the state of Florida,” DeSantis said during the debate.
Both claims are actually true. But each with an unspoken caveat.
Yes, DeSantis did sign a bill last year revising Florida’s online sales tax, raising about a billion dollars a year. But it wasn’t a new tax. It just shifted the tax collection from consumers to sellers.
And yes, Crist did sign off on a $2.2 billion increase in taxes and fees to offset losses during the recession and housing crisis. But it was a budget submitted to him by the Republican-controlled legislature. Several of those fees have since been rolled back.
“You’re the only governor in the history of Florida that’s ever shut down our schools,” Crist said during Monday's debate.
While that obviously did happen during the pandemic, DeSantis pushed to make Florida among the first states to reopen. At the time, that was something Crist opposed.
DeSantis’ claim on abortion was misleading when he said of Crist that, “He supports dismemberment abortions where they literally will tear the baby limb from limb.”
Crist has repeatedly said he supports the viability limits set by Roe v Wade, estimated to be around 24 weeks of pregnancy.
DeSantis signed a bill limiting abortion to 15 weeks in Florida.
When Crist asked if DeSantis would push for a full ban, the governor would not give a direct answer.
Crist also claimed home insurance rates had soared under DeSantis, saying, “Doubled, Ron. That’s not good for the people of this state.”
It’s true, according to the Insurance Information Institute, that home insurance rates have doubled from just under $2,000 in 2019 when DeSantis took office to about $4,200 now.
DeSantis has called for a second special session to address the issue.
However, on the topic of public safety, a claim from Crist was only half true when he stated, “Crime is up under Gov. DeSantis. Crime was down when I was your governor.”
Overall, crime is down 14% since DeSantis took office according to FBI statistics.
During Crist’s time as governor, those same FBI stats do show overall crime and particularly violent crime, both declined.