GREENACRES, Fla. — Monday's debate between Gov. Ron DeSantis and Democratic challenger Charlie Crist is occurring in Fort Pierce, but the entire country will be watching.
There is a national interest in the debate for different reasons.
Frieda Vetter of Boynton Beach said she hopes to make it home in time for Monday's event, which starts at 7 p.m.
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"My neighbor next door, she just came from Ohio, and she said that's all everybody was talking about up there — DeSantis," Vetter said.
The national headlines show this debate is significant for DeSantis' future in politics.
"There's so much question as to whether or not Ron DeSantis is actually going to run for president," WPTV political analyst Brian Crowley said.
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A Florida Atlantic University poll released Friday showed DeSantis is ahead of Crist by 11 percentage points. Crowley said that Democrats nationally are hoping Crist can turn this around.
"This is more than just a Florida debate," Crowley said. "A lot of people are looking at this race to see if there is some dramatic change in November where suddenly the Democrats win, which would be a huge, huge upheaval in the party."
Vetter said DeSantis' appeal is contributing to more people wanting to move to Florida.
"Everybody has to see that one of the places people want to move to is Florida," Vetter said.
Crist is a former governor and former congressman who started his political career as a Republican, then became an independent and now is a Democrat.
Crowley believes there's no element of surprise left when it comes to Crist except he does have more experience with debates than DeSantis.
"It will be more important for him to be able to put Gov. DeSantis on the defensive, and unless the governor makes a huge mistake, I think it's going to be a really tall hill for Charlie Crist to climb tonight," Crowley said.
There are still two weeks left until Election Day on Nov. 8.
Early voting started Monday in multiple locations in Florida, including Palm Beach County.
