Gov. Rick Scott has chosen to back a friend who he calls a fellow political outsider over Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in the incumbent’s late bid to retain his United States Senate seat.
Scott said in a statement released Thursday that Carlos Beruff’s campaign for Rubio’s seat mimics the path the governor took before he was first elected to office in 2010.
"When I ran for office in 2010, I was a political outsider and the entire Republican establishment was against me,” Scott said. “They already had their hand-picked candidate and it wasn’t me. But, the voters of Florida spoke and I was elected governor.”
In 2010 Scott beat former Attorney General Bill McCollum – the party favorite – in the Republican primary.
Scott’s buck of the Florida Republican Party’s trend aligns with the candidate he chose to support for president. He wrote a glowing letter that ran in USA Today in January that supported now presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. Scott said in the letter that Trump was a friend of his and he believed the New York real estate’s mogul’s political outsider status made him the right person for commander in chief. Scott subsequently announced his official endorsement of Trump after he won the March 15 Florida primary.
Scott’s support of Trump bucked the trend of leaders in the Florida GOP who got behind former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Rubio for the party’s presidential nomination. Bush ended up dropping out of the race in December after dismal primary results and Rubio dropped out after losing to Trump in the March Florida primary.
In the Thursday statement, Scott said that Beruff is a friend and a businessman who is new to the world of politics.
“Carlos Beruff is a good friend of mine, a businessman and an outsider to politics,” Scott said. “The voters of Florida deserve the opportunity to consider his candidacy alongside Senator Rubio and make their own decision.
"The opinions of the political class in Washington are not relevant to the voters of Florida. Florida Republicans will pick the nominee on their own.”
The Florida GOP had already released a statement Wednesday that welcomed Rubio to the race after he announced his interest earlier that day. Carlos Lopez-Cantera got out of Rubio’s way for the seat, saying in a statement that he would remain committed to serving the state in his role as lieutenant governor.
