HIALEAH, Fla. — Karla Hernandez-Mats stood beside Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist as his running mate for the first time on Saturday at an event at Hialeah Middle School, the same school where the Miami teachers union president taught special education for 10 years.
The event was to formally announce Crist’s running mate for the November election, though CBS Miami broke news of the choice the day before.
“She wasn’t just a teacher, she was a teacher of special needs children,” Crist said Saturday in his speech to a crowd of both Miami and Broward teachers’ union members, supporters and local Democratic politicians. “Caring, loving, empathetic, compassionate. That’s what we don’t have in the governor’s office right now. And that’s what you deserve.”
In selecting Hernandez-Mats, Crist has chosen to lean into education as a key issue of his campaign, as questions over parental rights and what can be taught in the classroom have become hot-button issues in schools across the state under Gov. Ron DeSantis. As teachers union president, Hernandez-Mats was a vocal critic of DeSantis’ education policies such as the Parental Rights in Education bill.
In her speech on Saturday, Hernandez-Mats positioned herself as a member of the community, a teacher and a union member, rather than a politician, in contrast to Crist, a congressman and former governor.
“Where are my colleagues here, teachers in the crowd?” Hernandez-Mats asked to applause. “Where is the house of labor here?”
She described schools as a “microcosm of the community” and spoke of students leaving the district because their parents couldn’t afford rent.
Key players from Broward schools also attended the event, including teachers union members and union president Anna Fusco.
Broward teacher and union member Marjorie Cole said Hernandez-Mats is “coming from the heart.”
“She knows the struggles firsthand,” she said.
Fusco said it was “an amazing, incredible, intelligent decision.”
“We need a strong governor for everyone’s rights, lieutenant governor for everyone’s rights,” Fusco said, adding that Crist has an understanding of “true public education” and is not someone who’s “stomping on it.”
Also in the audience was Donna Korn, one of the four Broward school board members recently suspended by Gov. DeSantis, though she is still running for election in November. The decision was decried by some as a political move, but championed by others as a much-needed response to mismanagement and corruption.
“I have serious concerns about his actions with our school board,” said David Segal, an American history teacher at Nova High in Davie and union member. “I remember Charlie Crist vetoing anti-education laws. The other one is trying to tell me what I can do in my classroom.”
DeSantis has made “freedom” a key theme of his platform, but speakers at Saturday’s event took issue with that.
“We want actual freedom for the people of Florida,” Crist said. “This guy’s the opposite of freedom.”
Hernandez-Mats asked the audience, “Are you sick of politicians who act like authoritarians, trying to tear apart our democracy?”
As she spoke, the audience broke into chants of “Si, se puede!” and “We love Karla!”
Not everyone was a fan of Hernandez-Mats, however. Across the street from Hialeah Middle, a truck displayed a digital billboard with a picture of Hernandez-Mats next to a hammer and sickle. At the bottom was a picture of a tweet she had written after the death of Fidel Castro saying, “A political figure dies at 90. Most in Miami rejoice, many in Cuba mourn.”
Derick Toro, the driver of the truck, said he had nothing to do with the sign and didn’t know who had paid for it. Opponents of Crist began sharing the tweet after the news of Crist’s pick, including Christian Pushaw, the DeSantis campaign’s rapid response director.
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