DAVIE, Fla. – "FanGate 2014" is dominating conversations following the debate controversy between Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Charlie Crist on Wednesday night.
Neither candidate for governor appeared on stage initially, causing some confusion. Then Crist walked to the podium, and the moderator announced Scott would not participate.
Eventually both candidates appeared and passively addressed the dispute about a fan for Crist.
A representative from each campaign previously signed copies of the debate rules agreements, and how everything played out was explained Thursday.
DOCUMENT: Rules of Wednesday's debate fan explained
SIGNED AGREEMENTS: Crist campaign | Scott campaign
UNCUT: Watch the 2nd gubernatorial debate
"I've been in office 22 years. I've never seen anything like it," said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, chair of the Democratic National Committee.
"I was shocked, very shocked," said Annette Taddeo, Crist's running mate.
Stunned but not speechless, campaign supporters for both candidates spent the time immediately following the debate spinning their position.
"It's not about the fan. The fan is a very small thing," said Will Weatherford, Republican speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. "It's just indicative of Charlie Crist. He always thinks he's above the rules, and he's not."
As for the timeline of events Wednesday, Scott made a campaign stop at a rally at about 5 p.m., shaking hands and calling for continued support.
Crist had no public events, and both men spent most of Wednesday preparing for their hour-long debate.
By 6 p.m., both candidates arrived at Broward College. While people arrived at the front entrance, the candidates were backstage in dressing rooms for final preparations.
Debate organizers said they checked the temperature in the room at 6 p.m., and it was 67 degrees.
The president of the Florida Press Association claims he "informed the Crist campaign that there was no temperature issue, and no fan would be needed, or permitted," according to a news release.
Organizers checked again at 6:20 p.m., and it was 66 degrees.
In-between those two thermometer checks, debate organizers said, someone from the Crist campaign placed a small, electric fan under his podium. Crist's campaign said it brought the fan.
Debate organizers said "they were again told that no fans would be permitted."
About 20 minutes before the debate, a Republican Party of Florida source said Crist was considering not participating in the debate because the fan he wanted would not be allowed.
That's the same explanation Scott's campaign and the RPOF gave in a news release following the debate.
With a subject of "The Crist Hits the Fan," campaign manager Melissa Sellers wrote, "So, let's get one thing clear: Rick Scott never refused to take the stage and debate. In fact, our campaign was not notified Charlie had even taken the stage because the last we heard, Crist was in an 'emergency meeting' with debate organizers pleading for his precious fan."
"No, no, no. What happened -- first of all, we're talking about a fan, whether you can be comfortable or not. And he can have a fan, too," said Democratic state Sen. Dan Gelber.
Gelber managed the agreement with Leadership Florida on debate rules on behalf of Crist. The senator offered a photo of paperwork signed Monday from each campaign agreeing to no electronics, with the handwritten note from Gelber for Crist.
"They had it set up with outlets, and they did buy some fans," Gelber said. "So I sent back the agreement with an acknowledgement that there would be a fan if necessary. We sent it back in. Nobody objected. I called to make sure they got it."
So when the panel thought the debate would begin, they had an empty stage. Crist appeared first, and then it took until 7:07 p.m. for Scott to emerge from behind the curtain.
The Florida Press Association said Scott never told debate organizers he would not join the debate.
"Rather, the Scott campaign was waiting on resolution of the rules issue before Scott took the stage," the news release reads.
Political observers say they're surprised a fan is taking away from the important issues facing the state.
"Unfortunately, this fan controversy is going to dominate discussion about the debate and I think overshadowed some important issues," said Matt Corrigan, a political science professor at the University of North Florida.
Corrigan said issues such as the environment, education and the economy are taking a back seat while the fan debate is blowing around the country.
"I think it hurt the Scott campaign more because the moderator came on and said Gov. Scott won't come on the stage, and that is what's playing around the country right now," Corrigan said. "It is not just in Florida, it's on every social media website, and it's probably going to be on the comedy shows tonight."
Debate organizers Leadership Florida and the Florida Press Association said they did not anticipate or plan for the possibility that a candidate would not honor the debate rules, and in retrospect the debate partners should have been better prepared for this possibility.
"In addition, we regret that one candidate was allowed to take the stage and allowed to talk before the fan issue was resolved," the news release reads.
Florida Times-Union Editor Frank Denton, who was on the panel who asked the questions Wednesday night, said the panel was made aware of some type of controversy just before the debate.
"I think the fan issue was unbefitting of both candidates, and if it didn't embarrass both candidates, it probably should have, because they were doing that trivial issue when there are so many big things facing the people of
Florida that we need our chief executive to be looking at and considering, and they chose to make that the drama," Denton said.
The third and final debate between Crist and Scott is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday and will be hosted by Channel 4. News partner CNN, which will also air the debate, issued this statement:
"The candidates were sent a memo on October 8, 2014 outlining the format, rules and logistical information. These are the rules of the debate the candidates agreed to participate in.
"The memo stated: There will be no opening and closing statements, no notes, no props and no electronic devices will be allowed on stage. Candidates will be provided water, notepad and pen. Electronic devices range from a cell phone to a fan.
"We look forward to a substantive discussion Tuesday on the pressing issues facing Florida."