No. I highly doubt anyone is beating DeSantis. He is still pretty popular in FL. Besides, I think Fried is likely going to be the nominee.
Fried might destroy her career by launching a pointless run against a popular DeSantis. If she can survive her Ag Commissioner race, she would have a better shot in an open seat 2026, especially if it was a Republican is president.
Fried will have a hard time getting re-elected. She doesn't have a high profile and there will be substantial candidates running against her given that DeSantis is a 10 point favorite at this point. (Adam Putnam, for one, is likely to seek his old job again.)
I like Crist and voted for him for Senate and against Scott. Until now, I've been a straight Democratic voter in Florida state elections since 2002 and I like Crist, but I like DeSantis more.
More importantly, Crist not only switched parties; he switched IDEOLOGIES. He wasn't a conservative Democrat who switched to the GOP; he was a conservative Republican who moved to the center somewhat (but not totally), then switched to being a neoliberal Democrat. THAT'S the part that some people just can't get by. He was known as "Chain Gang Charlie" as a Republican, then he became a Republican, then an Obama Democrat. The only person I can think of who took this path was Goldwaterite Rep. John Hall Buchanan (R-AL) who ended up being founder of People for the American Way. His party switch was too cute by half, and THAT (sadly) is what kept him from ousting Rick Scott in 2014.
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