Democrat Charlie Crist selected the embattled head of Miami's most prominent teachers union as his running mate on Friday in his bid to replace incumbent Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Crist, who beat Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried by 25 percentage points in the state's Democratic primary on Tuesday, intends to formally announce his selection of Karla Hernandez-Mats at a rally Saturday in Miami, according to Politico.
Hernandez-Mats once opposed school reopenings and has a history ofcomments such as comparing concerned parents to serial killers and suggesting that fear of halal meat leads to genocide, the Washington Free Beacon noted.
"For any of you following the school board meetings, you know that the craziness is real. God be with us,'' Hernandez-Matz tweeted, sharing a picture depicting various horror movie villains as parents.
In another post, the United Teachers of Dade head shared a picture of an iceberg visual with "genocide'' at the top and "denying white privilege'' at the bottom.
Crist's pick serves as a response to pushes from DeSantis and other Florida Republicans to make critical race theory and participation in women's sports a central issue on the campaign trail.
The Republican governor has previously signed bills on those issues, most notably the Parental Rights in Education Act and a law barring transgender students from girls' sports in public schools.
"Charlie Crist's lieutenant governor pick is as tone deaf as the Democratic message here in Florida,'' state GOP official Evan Power told Politico. "Somehow, he thinks picking a union boss who once compared parents to armed monsters will help him with the voters of Florida.''
According to a University of North Florida poll published earlier this month, DeSantis leads Crist by 8 percentage points, 50% to 42%.
Crist represents Florida's 13th Congressional District and served as Florida governor from 2007 to 2011 as a Republican.
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