The barbs flew Tuesday night during the third and final gubernatorial debate between Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Charlie Crist.

The candidates' face-off came a week after the second debate kicked off with an unusual start, when a spat over a small electric fan under Crist's podium stole the national spotlight. 

After an initial question about Ebola, the debate quickly ramped up after moderators relayed a question from a Facebook user who asked, "Why should we trust Charlie Crist? He has flipped parties, views on education, health care and abortion."

Crist, a former Republican who is now running as a Democrat, defended his decisions by saying he had always remained true to his core beliefs, and that what had changed was the political landscape.

"The Republican leadership, sadly, has gone so hard to the right under the Tea Party kidnapping, if you will, that it just wasn't consistent with how I was raised," he said.

Scott, during his rebuttal, called Crist's motivations into question.

"One thing that should all concern us is, Charlie said he's taken positions for political expediency, meaning to get elected," Scott said, over Crist's objections. "When you say that, then what is he saying this year that he actually believes?"

Crist used this as an opportunity to bring up Scott's controversial past as the former CEO of Columbia/HCA, which wound up paying $1.7 billion in fines for Medicare fraud, the largest such fine in U.S. history.

CNN's Jake Tapper, who moderated the debate, then asked Crist about several of his close associates who have gone to prison, which Scott brought up in one of his rebuttals.

The two men also engaged in some of the most personal attacks in what has been characterized as one of Florida's most negative campaigns.

Crist accused Scott of being out of touch with the experiences of middle-class Floridians.

"If you're somebody who flies a private jet and lives on a mansion on the sea, it's hard to understand what people are suffering from," Crist said.

Scott fired back, saying Crist doesn't understand what it's like to be poor.

"Charlie, I didn't grow up with money like you had. You grew up with plenty of money," Scott said.

Once the debate moved on from questions of character, the two candidates went on to butt heads over jobs and raising the minimum wage, which Crist supports while Scott opposes. The candidates also answered questions about medical marijuana, the legal troubles faced by Florida State University's football players and the death penalty.

Did either candidate gain or lose ground in this last debate?

"I don't think so," said Bay News 9 political analyst Ana Cruz, (D). "I think both of these candidates, what they wanted to come in and do on this debate is to not really stumble ... and really make a reason for people not to like them, not vote for them and to not have any kind of a real gaff. And I think they both pretty much avoided that."

"I would call it a draw. They both really stayed on their message. And they didn't stray too far on any of the issues or the answers. I think it was a wash," said Bay News 9 political analyst Chris Ingram (R).

A recent exclusive Bay News 9/Tampa Bay Times/UF Graham Center poll has the two candidates locked in a virtual dead heat.  The poll, which was published last week, found Scott and Crist each drawing support from 40 percent of those polled. 

Libertarian Adrian Wyllie, who was not invited to Tuesday's debate, received 6 percent in the statewide poll.

Around 500,000 Floridians have already cast ballots for November general election. The governor may have a slight edge over Crist, as about half of all ballots cast have been from Republicans, according to election officials.

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Replay of Debate Chat