Lawmakers could look at changes next year to make it more difficult for political candidates to switch parties midcampaign, a proposal directly in response to Gov. Charlie Crists defection from the Republican Party this past year.
The Florida Senates Ethics and Elections Committee produced a report this month that makes several suggestions related to the issue, including a requirement that a candidate be registered with the political party whose nomination he or she is seeking for a year before qualifying for the election. It also recommends the state adopt a clear sore loser provision, spelling out a definite ban on losers of party primaries from finding ways to run in an ensuing general election.
The issue is whether Florida law regarding candidates who change political parties while running for office is unambiguous and expansive enough to promote the states interests in political stability and maintaining integrity in the various routes to the ballot, the report said.
The 2010 election cycle has seen an up-tick in independent candidacies across the country, the most prominent one being that of Crist, who bolted from the GOP when it appeared likely that he would lose the partys U.S. Senate primary to rising political star and tea party darling Marco Rubio.
Crists independent candidacy gave him an immediate boost in the polls and made him a more viable candidate, angering many GOP members who had backed Crist during his previous campaigns as a Republican for attorney general and governor. That list of those miffed at Crist included Republican Party of Florida Chairman John Thrasher, who sat on the Ethics and Elections Committee during the 2010 session.
The report by Senate staff specifically details Crists defection from the party in the background briefing section and points out that Crist did not actually change his party affiliation until after he qualified to run as a candidate with no party affiliation.
The switch, which Crist cited as the product of a broken political system, vaulted him from a more than 20-point underdog in the Republican primary to a small lead in a three-way general election race against then-presumptive Republican and Democratic nominees Marco Rubio and U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, respectively, the report said.
A spokesman for Crist didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.
Connecticut U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman has been likely the most famous candidate to use a party switch to avoid defeat. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by Ned Lamont in 2006, but then decided to run as an independent, and won. Currently in Alaska, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, defeated by challenger Joe Miller in the GOP primary, is running a write-in campaign.
While Florida doesnt prevent a candidate from leaving a primary before its over to make a party switch, it would be hard to do after a primary because the qualifying deadline to be a candidate and choose a party comes before the primary. Senate staff said the law remained ambiguous, however.
