The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops (FCCB) published a statement on the upcoming gubernatorial race in Florida between incumbent Ron DeSantis (R) and candidate Charlie Crist (D). 

The statement outlines which candidates support Catholic values and teachings. 

"To help inform voters, FCCB has developed a comparison between the positions of the two major-party candidates for Florida governor on a range of issues, sourced directly from campaign websites and statements,” the bishops group tweeted. “FCCB does not endorse any political candidate.” 

Florida voters will elect their next governor on Nov. 8. The FCCB statement hopes to educate voters on some of the key differences between the candidates and elevate certain issues most important for Catholics. Here is a summary of where the candidates stand on some of the key concerns. 

On abortion: DeSantis signed a law banning abortion at 15 weeks. After the bill was signed, he tweeted: "Florida will continue to defend its recently enacted pro-life reforms against state court challenges, will work to expand pro-life protections, and will stand for life by promoting adoption, foster care and child welfare." (https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1540378975251341315) Crist, on his website, states he will “veto any anti-choice legislation passed by the legislature.” He “will sign an Executive Order defending the right to access a safe abortion” and will “fight for Floridians’ rights to make decisions about their own bodies.” 

On criminal justice, DeSantis signed a law that "increased the threshold to trigger felony theft charges from $300 to $750, allowed judges flexibility in sentencing nonviolent drug offenders, and allowed the earlier release of nonviolent offenders from prison for good behavior" according to the FCCB gubernatorial comparison document. If elected, Crist says he will form a criminal justice commission to review sentencing laws, fund conviction reviews, "expand civil citation programs for minors, create a reentry program task force, and allow expanded expungements of juveniles’ criminal records."

On the death penalty, both candidates have signed "death warrants.” DeSantis signed three in his first year as governor, but none since 2019. Crist signed five during his gubernatorial term from 2007-2011.

On education, DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education Act, Parents’ Bill of Rights, Individual Freedom Act, and the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act. "These laws promote parental rights in the public education system, work to remove critical race theory and gender ideology from public schools, increase curriculum transparency, and prohibit biological men from participating in women’s athletics at the high school and college level,” the FCCB said. Additionally, DeSantis signed the largest school choice law in Florida's history. Crist has said he will work to repeal these bills if elected. Crist has said he will declare a "teacher shortage emergency,” work to recruit and retain more public school teachers, expand pay and giver school boards more power if he is elected.

On gender ideology, DeSantis supported the Agency for Health Care Administration rule, "prohibiting Medicaid reimbursements for several services related to gender dysphoria, i.e. sex reassignment surgery, cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers, based on the finding that they 'are not consistent with widely accepted professional medical standards and are experimental and investigational with the potential for harmful long term effects,’" according to the FCCB document. Crist has pledged his support for Medicaid coverage for sex reassignment surgery, cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers. Crist also co-sponsored the Equality Act.

The FCCB document also compares the candidates on the environment, healthcare, human trafficking and immigration. It also clarifies that the issues in the document do not fully represent all of the issues that might be of importance to Catholics.

The mission of the FCCB, according to its website, is to "serve as liaison to state government on matters of concern to the Catholic Church in the seven dioceses of the Province of Miami, as a nonpartisan public policy voice on behalf of the Catholic Bishops of Florida." The FCCB hopes to work with Florida legislators as well as the governor to address the moral issues of certain public policies. The FCCB proclaims the sanctity of life and the value of human dignity according to Catholic teaching. To allow Florida Catholic to participate in political life, the FCCB "leads decision makers in reaching just solutions", according to the website.