The race starts of lean Democratic…..
Gov. Rick Scott has Donald Trump’s blessing, but the Governor has recently signed off on a gun control bill and bucked Trump on offshore drilling and is trying to push that he doesn’t agree with his party leader on everything….
He is running against Bill Nelson who has had the job for 18 years, but is the only statewide elected Democrat….
“I consider myself Rick Scott. I don’t consider myself any type of anything,” the governor told POLITICO in an exclusive interview Sunday when asked if he considers himself a “Donald Trump Republican.”
“I run on what I believe in. I’ve been very clear,” he said. “People ask me that a bunch of times, about ‘Are you this or are you that?’ No. I’m Rick Scott. I grew up poor. I believe in jobs.”
That line is almost an understatement for Scott: The “jobs” message is the raison d’être for his political identity, born in 2010 when faith in the state and national economy were low and unemployment numbers were high. “Jobs, jobs, jobs” was Scott’s mantra in English and, during phone-banking campaign stops in Miami in 2010 and 2014, in Spanish: “trabajo, trabajo, trabajo.”
“What I focused on when I got elected was getting 700,000 jobs over seven years and changing the direction of the state,” Scott told POLITICO. “And the business community has really shown up. We cut their taxes, reduced regulation and we’ve added right about 1.5 million jobs.”
The Scott-Nelson matchup will be one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate races this year as national Republicans try to hold on to control of the House and Senate against an energized Democratic base….
image..from left….Nelson and Scott…abcnews.go.com
…from RRH Elections….
As had been long expected, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has jumped into the race to challenge Sen. Bill Nelson (D). There’s not a whole lot to comment on that we don’t already know – Scott has been scoping out the race for much of the last year, but his decision to actually pull the trigger is welcome news for the NRSC. Scott’s popularity as Governor has been fairly strong, and Nelson could be out of practice after not facing a tough race since 2000. Scott also has limitless personal wealth to make his case. However, Nelson has a strong brand in the state and the lean of the year should be a big asset. Thus, polls have so far shown Nelson with a low single-digit lead. About all that can be said is that this race now looks set to be one of the year’s marquee contests….
James, your headline now begins “Florida GOP Scott announces…” I don’t know if you had intended to write “Florida Gov. Scott” or “Florida GOP Gov. Scott”, but GOP by itself is not usually considered a personal title like Mr, Dr, or Gov.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) leads Sen. Bill Nelson (D) by 4 percentage points in a new poll out Wednesday that underscores the tight nature of what’s expected to become the most expensive Senate race in history.
Scott, who announced his Senate bid last month, is leading 44 percent to Nelson’s 40 percent in Florida Atlantic University’s survey. That’s a shift from the university’s February poll, which had Nelson up 2 points…..
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