Charlie Crist taps Miami teacher union president as running mate

U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist has chosen Karla Hernández-Mats, president of the United Teachers of Dade (UTD) union, as his running mate in his gubernatorial bid.

What they're saying: Crist called Hernández-Mats "caring, loving, empathic, compassionate," in his announcement Saturday at Hialeah Middle School, where Hernández-Mats taught for 10 years.

• "That's what we don't have in the governor's office right now, and that's what you deserve to have in the governor's office," he said.

Hernández-Mats has blamed Republicans for many of the problems plaguing teachers.

• She told CBS Miami in mid-August, "Teachers didn't go into this profession to be politicized. We're truth-tellers. We don't believe in banning books …We see all these different culture wars from Governor DeSantis and really extreme legislators in Tallahassee that are impacting our school system."

Between the lines: Crist's choice sets up a stark difference between himself and Gov. Ron DeSantis on education matters.

• DeSantis' education agenda calls for ensuring "parental rights in education" and keeping "woke gender ideology out of schools."
• By contrast, Crist — who was elected education commissioner of Florida in 2000 before he served as governor — has outlined education proposals including stopping the "unwarranted politicization of our classrooms and attacks on educators."

Go deeper into Hernández-Matz's background via Florida Politics.