Crist adds Lou Frey, others to his Senate short-list

Gov. Charlie Crist has again expanded the pool of names he is considering for Florida's vacant U.S. Senate seat: asking for questionnaires from former Central Florida U.S. Rep. Lou Frey in addition to former congressmen Mike Bilirakis and Clay Shaw.

Crist spokeswoman Erin Isaac said Sunday that the governor would interview Shaw, a Fort Lauderdale Republican who lost his re-election bid in 2006, in South Florida Monday, U.S. Rep. Bill Young and Bilirakis in Tampa, and Frey and lobbyist Jim Smith in Tallahassee.

That makes 10 names the governor is considering to fill the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez of Orlando. Crist has already interviewed former state Sen. Dan Webster of Winter Garden, former chief of staff George LeMieux, former U.S. Attorney Bobby Martinez, state Rep. Jennifer Carroll and University of North Florida President John Delaney.

Frey, 75, is a lawyer and former congressman from Winter Park who was the fourth Republican elected to Congress from Florida since Reconstruction in 1968. He ran unsuccessfully for governor and U.S. Senate after a decade in the House, and the Institute for Politics and Government at the University of Central Florida is named after him.

Crist said Saturday he had set a Sept. 8 deadline for naming Martinez's replacement, and has ruled out appointing himself even though he's running for the seat in 2010. He is sticking to that deadline, "but I don't want to lock in any lack of flexibility," he said.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2009/08/crist-adds-lou-frey-others-to-his-senate-shortlist.html