Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Countdown To Election Day

October 26, 2014

The costliest, most intriguing and — many would argue — nastiest gubernatorial campaign in Florida’s history inched closer to the finish line this week, but not before costing more money, creating more suspense and exposing Floridians to more mud.

With Republicans in the Cabinet expected to ease into re-election, the Legislature expected to maintain a heavy GOP tilt and the battle for the U.S. Senate being waged elsewhere, almost all of the oxygen in Florida has been sucked up by the bare-knuckles brawl between Republican Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Charlie Crist, Scott’s Democratic challenger.

http://www.northescambia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/floridaweeklly.jpgAnd while the candidates had already gotten testy and personal in previous exchanges, the debate Tuesday was the most contentious yet. The two threw haymaker after haymaker during the hour-long rumble in Jacksonville. Within hours came word that Scott would once again open his personal checkbook to help out his campaign, potentially putting his investment in getting elected and re-elected at close to $100 million over two cycles.

The tough debate might very well have thrilled the late Tom Slade, a hard-charging partisan who died the day before at the age of 78. Slade, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, helped build a party that has given the GOP much of its advantage in the elections coming up Nov. 4. A memorial service will be held the day after the ballots are counted.

Another former chairman of the party, Sen. John Thrasher of St. Augustine, saw his proposed contract to become the president of Florida State University approved by the school’s board of trustees. The state university system’s Board of Governors will also take a look at the pact — shortly after the election. First things first.

FISTICUFFS ON THE FIRST COAST

There were no arguments over fans and no awkward attempts to speak Spanish, but the third and final debate between Scott and Crist amplified at least one of the things that characterized the first two head-to-head events: constant reminders that the other guy was worse.

Scott and Crist spent the better part of the hour ripping each other to shreds, with Scott (net worth: $132.7 million) trying to cast Crist as a plutocrat who had it easy growing up, and Crist (former Republican) savaging the GOP for harboring racists and Scott for delaying an execution.

“I watched a parent that lost the only family car,” Scott said. “I watched a father struggle to buy Christmas presents. I went through that as a child. Charlie never went through that. Charlie grew up with plenty of money. He’s never had to worry about money. … But what I’m going to fight for every day is what I’ve done the last three years and nine months, I’m going to fight for families like mine growing up.”

Crist, who listed his net worth at $1.25 million last year — about 1 percent of Scott’s — portrayed himself as an advocate for middle-class Floridians and said his family had humble beginnings.

“Listen, when I was a little kid, we lived in a small apartment in Atlanta when my dad was going to medical school and he used to delivered newspapers to make ends meet,” Crist said. “So you don’t know me and you can’t tell my story. And I’m not going to tell yours.”

Beyond discussing whose life would make a better movie on the Hallmark Channel, the two traded shots on a variety of other issues.

Crist elaborated on his previous accusations that GOP leaders were hostile toward President Barack Obama because of his race.

Crist noted that he drew flak from GOP officials because of his now-infamous embrace of Obama as governor and for taking federal stimulus money in the midst of an economic meltdown.

“And it was pretty clear to me. It wasn’t just because I was willing to work across the aisle with a Democrat to get the recovery funds to come to Florida,” Crist said. “It was also pretty apparent to me because it was the first African-American president.”

That brought a sharp response from Scott.

“You’re a divider. You’re a mudslinger,” said the governor, who along with Crist has spent tens of millions of dollars blanketing the state with negative ads.

Another exchange focused on Scott’s decision to delay an execution that was scheduled on the same day that Attorney General Pam Bondi had a fundraiser.

“Did you know it was for a political fundraiser?” Crist asked Scott at one point.

“Charlie, she apologized. She apologized. What would you like her to do?” Scott responded.

Scott didn’t answer Crist’s question during the debate, but had earlier said he didn’t know that the reason for the postponement was a fundraiser.

One potential reason for the sharp tone: The race remains incredibly close. According to a Quinnipiac University poll released this week, Scott and Crist each have the support of 42 percent of likely voters. Libertarian Adrian Wyllie is at 7 percent.

“This election will be won by the candidate whose organization is the best at turnout,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the poll. “They’re dead even.”

Meanwhile, Scott’s campaign reported that the candidate who painted himself as the hero of a Horatio Alger novel would put some of his own money into the effort. It didn’t confirm early claims by the Crowley Political Report that Republican Party sources said Scott would put about $20 million into the campaign. If so, that would bring Scott’s total spending on winning the Governor’s Mansion to about $93 million since 2010.

FAREWELL TO SLADE

In the middle of the kind of campaign season that helped him win his place in Florida history, Tom Slade — a hard-drinking, seafaring tactician who steered Republicans to political dominance in Florida — died Monday in Orange Park from complications associated with heart failure.

The colorful Slade, a mix of Southern charm and tough-talking, hard-nosed strategist, took over as chairman of the Republican Party of Florida in 1993, when Democrats controlled the Cabinet, the governor’s mansion and the Florida House, and the state Senate was evenly divided.

By the end of his tenure after the 1998 elections, Republicans had taken over both the legislative and executive branches and secured a GOP-heavy congressional delegation as well.

“Tom Slade was one of the best of a class of old-school intuitive politicians, the mold for which has long since been broken,” said J.M. “Mac” Stipanovich, a GOP consultant who was among a handful of insiders who strategized with Slade in Tallahassee in the 1990s. “He was a Southern gentleman. He was a ruthless fighter. He was a charming victor. He did not take defeat kindly.”

Slade’s footprint on Florida politics can still be felt today, said former Republican Party of Florida executive director David Johnson, who worked for the former chairman.

“The main thing I remember about Tom was, he could be the ultimate in political bosses when he needed to be, but he had the kindest heart and was so nice and fun to deal with and fun to work for,” Johnson said. “There’s people in politics that you work for and you respect but there are other people that are fun. Tom was always fun. He stepped out of a novel of politics of an older time.”

THRASHER INCHES ALONG

The long-anticipated naming of Thrasher as head of FSU, meanwhile, inched along. University trustees on Monday unanimously approved a proposed five-year contract with a base value of as much as $2.15 million.

University officials said Monday that Thrasher wasn’t difficult to work with in approving the deal, which would keep him below the top pay level among the state’s university leaders but would exceed the base pay of former Florida State President Eric Barron.

“I think the compensation package is probably on the low end of what a university president would expect nowadays,” said trustee Gary Tyson, a professor of computer science.

“Low end” is, obviously, a comparative figure. The five-year contract would include a $430,000-a-year base salary. Also, Thrasher would be required to reside in the fully staffed, university-owned President’s House; would receive $900 a month for car costs or an automobile fitted with an FSU license plate for his official use; would get a 15 percent annual contribution into a retirement plan; would get his annual dues covered for The Governors Club and University Center Club in Tallahassee; and would be eligible for an annual performance bonus of $100,000 for meeting goals.

The trustees also intend to grant Thrasher, who received his undergraduate and law degrees from the Tallahassee school, a tenured faculty appointment as a professor in the College of Law.

STORY OF THE WEEK: Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Charlie Crist hold their harshest debate yet, two weeks before voters go to the polls to pick one of them to lead the state for the next four years.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “The family recognizes Tom would request all Republicans to return their absentee ballots, vote early, or make their plan to arrive promptly at the polls and cast their vote on November 4th.”—The obituary for Tom Slade, a former Republican Party of Florida chairman who died Monday at the age of 78.

by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida

Comments

One Response to “Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Countdown To Election Day”

  1. Betty on October 27th, 2014 10:52 am

    They both have problems but with Crist..I have no clue what party he will be next week… He flip flops way to much for my taste…

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