Florida is the Sunshine State.

However, we not only have been covered by dark clouds the last four years, but we face the prospect of permanent descent into our own Dark Ages where individualism, tribalism and selfishness will prevail over our collective goals.

This November, we face the most critical choice imaginable. Return to the Florida we once loved, the state that was shining city on the hill and inspiration for progressive governance around the country or continue our descent into Eastern European-styled autocracy. The choice is stark, and the implications of this election are the greatest, I have personally faced in my lifetime. It is the most critical hour of my existence as a Floridian.

The post-1968 Florida constitutional order will not withstand another four years of Ron DeSantis as Governor. He’s pit neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend, family member against family member, while dividing us purposely to fuel his own political ambitions which extend far beyond the borders of our state.

This state must properly heal from the divisions he’s created, the norms he’s broken, the people he’s ostracized, the jobs he’s chased away, the local governments he’s undermined and families broken by his leadership. We will never bring back the 80,000 Floridians lost under his watch as he was playing politics with a deadly pandemic, but we can send a strong signal that we’re not going to take it anymore.

Charlie Crist may not be perfect- many Democrats complain about his long tenure as a statewide GOP official. But from where I sit, he is the perfect candidate to bring the Florida we loved, back together – Democrats, independents and GOPers all united to restore the Florida we once knew, and which was the envy of the nation. Component inclusive governance versus divisive Autocratic governance.

The choice could not be clearer. In the next ten weeks, I along with my colleagues here at TFS will be putting this race in focus.

We’ve never faced a more critical hour as Floridians. We must seize the moment.