Crist resigns from House ahead of gubernatorial election

Rep. Charlie Crist (Fla.), the Democratic nominee for governor of Florida, is resigning from the Home and leaving his time period early as he heads into the peak of marketing campaign season.

Crist’s resignation will likely be efficient on the finish of the day on Wednesday, in response to the Tampa Bay Occasions. 

In a press release to the Tampa Bay Occasions, Crist stated it was “an honor and a privilege” to characterize his constituents in Congress, including that “these achievements begin and finish with you, the individuals — my bosses — who’ve guided my work in Congress since Day One.”

His resignation comes the week after he gained Florida’s Democratic gubernatorial major to tackle Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

Crist had confronted criticism earlier this yr for closely using the Home’s pandemic-era proxy voting rule, assigning a Home colleague to vote on his behalf relatively than touring to Washington to vote in particular person.

Crist was beforehand the governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 as a Republican, switching events in 2012 earlier than one other unsuccessful gubernatorial run. He was elected to the Home in 2016.

Florida’s St. Petersburg-area thirteenth Congressional District grew to become way more Republican-leaning on this election cycle after the redistricting course of. Republican Anna Paulina Luna, an Air Pressure veteran endorsed by former President Trump, will face Democrat Eric Lynn, a former Obama administration aide, within the November election for the seat. The Cook dinner Political Report charges it as “probably Republican.”

Crist’s departure will go away the Home with 219 Democrats, 211 Republicans, and 5 vacancies.