Rick Scott Wins in Florida
Politico reports on Rick Scott's win in the Florida primary:
Multimillionaire health care executive Rick Scott narrowly captured the GOP’s nomination for governor of Florida Tuesday night, shocking both Republican and Democratic insiders who believed the free-spending newcomer’s fortunes had taken a sharp turn for the worse in the final weeks of his campaign against state Attorney General Bill McCollum.
On a night that was supposed to favor political insiders from coast to coast, and even as another self-funding Floridian – real estate billionaire Jeff Greene – crashed and burned in the state’s Democratic Senate primary, Scott’s victory stood out as a triumph of scorched-earth campaign tactics and relentless outsider messaging.
The former CEO of the hospital giant Columbia/HCA, Scott jumped into the gubernatorial race late, declaring in mid-April that he would offer “fresh conservative ideas and new leadership.” Since then, he’s spent more than $50 million promoting a down-the-line conservative platform, including strong support for the Arizona immigration law.
He insistently branded McCollum a career politician, provoking angry responses from the Republican Party of Florida and the Republican Governors Association by running ads tying McCollum to indicted former state GOP Chairman Jim Greer. McCollum retaliated in kind, though with less money behind his attacks, and the race became perhaps the nastiest nomination fight of 2010.
Scott struggled to dispatch questions about his tenure at Columbia/HCA, where he presided over a $1.7 billion federal fraud settlement, as well as increased scrutiny of Solantic, a Florida-based chain of clinics he helped found. Asked recently if he could support Scott in a general election, McCollum answered: “I don’t know.”
It remains to be seen to what extent Florida Republicans will be able to close ranks after the brutal contest – and whether the coalition of powerful, McCollum-backing state interests, including the Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Medical Association, will transfer their support to him in a general election. The Democratic nominee is Alex Sink, a former bank executive who serves as Florida’s chief financial officer.
