[ot-caption title=” Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate, Charlie Crist, stands at his podium as he waits for Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott during a debate, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2014 at Broward College. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)” url=”https://pcpawprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/imageedit_2_6544902112.jpg”]

On October 15th, Florida’s former Governor and Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate, Charlie Crist, walked out onto a Broward College stage alone. Charlie Crist stood alone on stage amid an audience for around 5 minutes because his Republican constituent and current Florida Governor, Rick Scott claimed that the small fan under Crist’s podium was a violation of the rule against electronic devices.

According to Crist, the fan was needed to keep from sweating under the Broward College stage lights. In fact, Crist always brings a fan to public events and his campaign even amended a contract stating that Crist may use a fan. The organizers of the debate did not protest.

In response, Scott’s campaign released a statement saying, “Charlie Crist can bring his fan, microwave, and toaster to debates – none of that will cover up how sad his record as governor was compared to the success of Rick Scott. Crist should buy a fan for the 832,000 Floridians who lost their jobs while he was governor.”

The event gained massive momentum on social media, picking up the moniker, Fangate (#fangate), and became a national headline within hours.

The five-minute lapse left announcers and moderators uncomfortable and fumbling for words. Among them was CBS4’s Eliott Rodriguez who was the moderator for the debate. When asked about the dicey moments Rodriguez remarked, “I’m thinking where do we go from here. Do we tap dance? But it was extremely uncomfortable and I thought we lost seven minutes that we could have used.”

Scott eventually strode on stage, fan still planted firmly beneath Crist’s podium, and the debate proceeded a bit awkwardly at times. The pair took the time to discuss gay marriage, self-defense laws, education, environment, and even Crist’s fan. To no surprise, the men disagreed on most points, adding to what is already considered a nasty campaign. When the candidates were asked if they felt George Zimmerman’s 2013 acquittal of the murder and fatal shooting of an unarmed Trayvon Martin was appropriate, Crist took this time to suggest a change to the Stand Your Ground laws. These laws state that deadly force may be used if people are in fear of their lives. Scott concurred that although Martin’s death was tragic the law should remain the same.

When Scott was asked about his thoughts on Florida’s constitutional ban on gay marriage, he did not directly address the question and had to be asked a second time. However, he responded by simply stating that he supports traditional marriage. Crist, on the other hand, said he supports gay marriage by asking, “Who is it for us to tell other people who to love, and what is it in our right to tell other people who to marry?”

Scott rebutted by pointing out that Crist supported the gay marriage ban when it was passed in 2008. “We don’t know what Charlie believes on this issue because he’s taken every side on this issue,” Scott said about Crist who preceded him as governor before he infamously switched parties from Republican to Democrat in 2012.

The two went on to discuss immigration, Cuba, and personal wealth during their third and final debate on October 21st. As of October 24th Crist has broken the tie putting the Democratic Challenger in the lead a new poll says. Gubernatorial voting will take place in Florida and thirty-five other states on November 4^th.

Sources: CBS Miami, NPR, NY Times, Twitter, WTSP Channel 10