Rumors have been
flying about Florida attorney general and Republican
gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist ever since a
third-party candidate alleged he is gay on a local
radio show last month. Now the Broward-Palm
Beach New Times is reporting that Crist had a
recent romantic relationship with a male convicted felon and
former travel aide to U.S. representative Katherine
Harris, who is running for the U.S. Senate.
The New
Times report identifies Bruce Carlton Jordan, who
remains on state probation after serving a 30-day jail
sentence for a conviction on grand theft, as the 50-year-old
Crist's "long-term partner." Jordan reportedly worked
as Harris's personal travel aide not long after
his release from jail in February, according to the
New Times.
It was while he
was employed in that capacity that another traveler on
the Harris campaign, Dee Dee Hall, befriended him. In a
videotaped statement ordered by a private investigator
and obtained by the New Times, Hall claimed that
Jordan confided to her that he had an ongoing romantic
relationship with Crist. "He said that he was involved
with Charlie," Hall says on the tape after being sworn
in by a court reporter. "I was like, 'OK.' He just stated
his first name. He said, 'Maybe you've heard of him.'
He said, 'Charlie Crist.'"
Crist has
repeatedly denied that he is gay and, with the election
looming next week, has recently become more vocal in
his stance against adoption by gay couples and in
support of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to
ban same-sex marriage. (The Advocate)