Florida gubernatorial election, 2010

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Florida gubernatorial election, 2010
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  Rick Scott official portrait (cropped).jpg Alex Sink (cropped).png
Nominee Rick Scott Alex Sink
Party Republican Democratic
Running mate Jennifer Carroll Rod Smith
Popular vote2,619,3352,557,785
Percentage48.9%47.7%
Florida Governor Election Results by County, 2010.svg
County results
Governor before election

Charlie Crist
Independent

Elected Governor

Rick Scott
Republican

The 2010 Florida gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Republican-turned-Independent incumbent Governor Charlie Crist chose not to run for a second term. He instead ran (unsuccessfully) for the Senate seat vacated by Mel Martínez. [1] This resulted in an open race for Governor of Florida in which Republican Rick Scott narrowly defeated Democrat Alex Sink.

Republican Party (United States) Major political party in the United States

The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major political parties in the United States; the other is its historic rival, the Democratic Party.

Charlie Crist politician

Charles Joseph Crist Jr. is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. Representative from Florida's 13th congressional district since 2017. He previously served as the 44th Governor of Florida, from 2007 to 2011.

Contents

Despite mixed to unfavorable ratings, Rick Scott benefited greatly from the midterm GOP wave, in which Republicans made significant gains across the country. [2] Scott was one of six Republican gubernatorial pick-ups nationwide (counting Crist now as an Independent).

United States midterm election general elections in the United States that are held two years after the quadrennial elections

Midterm elections in the United States are the general elections that are held near the midpoint of a president's four-year term of office. Federal offices that are up for election during the midterms include all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives, and 33 or 34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate.

The tight and highly contentious election was one of the standout races in 2010. Despite not professing direct allegiance to the movement, [3] Scott benefited from support and endorsement by Tea Party activists, [2] [4] an influential conservative voting bloc of the 2010 midterms. Furthermore, Scott ran aggressively against the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and exit polls indicated considerable support for that position. [5]

Political endorsement is the action of publicly declaring one's personal or group's support of a candidate for elected office. In a multiparty system, where one party considers that it does not have enough support to win power, just prior to the election, the official representative of that party may give an official endorsement for a party that they consider more likely to be a contender. In Australian electoral law electoral endorsement is a specific term and a candidate can only be endorsed by a registered party.

Tea Party movement American political movement

The Tea Party movement is an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party. Members of the movement have called for lower taxes, and for a reduction of the national debt of the United States and federal budget deficit through decreased government spending. The movement supports small-government principles and opposes government-sponsored universal healthcare. The Tea Party movement has been described as a popular constitutional movement composed of a mixture of libertarian, right-wing populist, and conservative activism. It has sponsored multiple protests and supported various political candidates since 2009. According to the American Enterprise Institute, various polls in 2013 estimate that slightly over 10 percent of Americans identify as part of the movement.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act United States federal statute

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), often shortened to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or nicknamed Obamacare, is a United States federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. Together with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 amendment, it represents the U.S. healthcare system's most significant regulatory overhaul and expansion of coverage since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.

Candidates

Republican

Bill McCollum Florida Attorney General, former Republican

Ira William "Bill" McCollum Jr. is an American lawyer, politician, and member of the Republican Party. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 2001, representing Florida's 5th congressional district, which was later redistricted to the 8th congressional district in 1993. As a member of the House, McCollum rose to become Vice Chairman of the House Republican Conference, the fifth-highest ranking position in the House Republican leadership. He voted to impeach President Bill Clinton and subsequently took a leadership role in managing Clinton's trial in the Senate, which ended in acquittal.

Florida Attorney General attorney general for the U.S. state of Florida

The Florida Attorney General is an elected cabinet official in the U.S. state of Florida. The attorney general serves as the chief legal officer of the state and is head of the Florida Department of Legal Affairs.

Rick Scott United States Senator from Florida

Richard Lynn Scott is an American businessman and politician, serving as the junior United States senator from Florida since 2019. He previously served as the 45th governor of Florida from 2011 to 2019.

Democratic

Alex Sink American politician

Adelaide Alexander Sink is an American politician and financier. A member of the Democratic Party, Sink was the Chief Financial Officer for the state of Florida and treasurer on the board of trustees of the Florida State Board of Administration. She was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Florida and faced Republican nominee Rick Scott in the 2010 Florida gubernatorial election, losing to Scott by a 1% margin. Sink was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate in the special election, losing to Republican David Jolly on March 11, 2014, in a race to fill the vacancy created by the death in 2013 of U.S. Representative Bill Young.

Brian Moore (political activist) American politician

Brian Patrick Moore is an American politician and founder of antiwar organization Nature Coast Coalition for Peace & Justice. He was the presidential nominee of the Socialist Party USA for the 2008 United States presidential election. He waged several campaigns for mayor and city council in Washington, D.C. and twice ran for the United States House of Representatives from Florida's 5th congressional district, winning none. He ran for the Democratic Party nomination for Governor of Florida in 2010, but lost in the primary election.

Socialist Party USA political party in the United States

The Socialist Party USA, officially the Socialist Party of the United States of America (SPUSA), is a multi-tendency democratic socialist party in the United States. The SPUSA was founded in 1973 as a successor to the Socialist Party of America, which had been renamed Social Democrats, USA a year before.

Independence Party of Florida

No party affiliation

Michael E. Arth American artist

Michael E. Arth is an American artist, builder, architectural and urban designer, and political scientist.

Farid A. Khavari Ph.D, is an economist, author, patent-holder, designer, and small business owner. In 2010, he ran as an independent candidate for Governor of Florida. He was also an independent candidate for the 2014 Florida Gubernatorial race.

Primary results

Democratic

Alex Sink, the CFO of Florida, was mentioned as a possible candidate to run for Senate or Governor in 2010, [7] [8] but initially declined. When Charlie Crist announced he would not run for re-election, Sink immediately announced her campaign for governor. Sink was the wife of Bill McBride, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2002.

Sink faced only token opposition in the primary. Her lone opponent was Socialist Brian Moore. [9] On primary day, Sink won the Democratic nomination with nearly 77% of the vote.

Democratic primary results [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Alex Sink663,80276.9%
Democratic Brian Moore199,89623.1%
Total votes863,698100.0%

Republican

In May 2009, Republican incumbent governor Charlie Crist announced he would not run for re-election, and instead would run for U.S. Senate. [11] The move immediately turned the race competitive, as GOP-hopefuls lined up to run for the open seat. Former congressman and Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum emerged as the early favorite. McCollum had previously lost the election for Senate in 2000, and lost the Republican nomination for Senate in 2004. This would be his third attempt at a major statewide campaign.

Just before the deadline, Rick Scott jumped into the primary fight. Scott started dumping millions of his own personal fortune into the race. [12] The race quickly became one of the most expensive and "nasty" primary campaigns in recent Florida history. [13] Scott and McCollum lashed out with very negative attacks against each other. Scott ran as a political "outsider", and led some early polls, but McCollum re-took the lead in polls just before primary day. Scott benefited in the absentee voting, while McCollum expected to make up the difference based on turnout. On primary day, Scott won the nomination with just over 46% of the vote. The dejected McCollum team reluctantly conceded after midnight.

Republican primary results [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Rick Scott595,47446.4%
Republican Bill McCollum557,42743.4%
Republican Mike McCalister130,05610.1%
Total votes1,282,957100.0%

Campaign

The race was dominated by the two major party candidates and spending on their behalf. By the October 25, 2010, Tampa debate between Scott and Sink, Scott had spent $60 million of his own money on the campaign compared to Sink's $28 million. [14] Total campaign expenditure for the race exceeded $100 million, far exceeding any previous spending for a governor's race in Florida. [15] Scott spent $78 million of his personal wealth in the race. [16] Sink made an issue of Scott's connections to Columbia/HCA, a Medicare billing fraud scandal. [2]

One of the turning points in the campaign came during the debate. During a commercial break, Sink's make-up artist delivered a text message on her cell phone to Sink, in direct violation of the debate rules. The rules infraction was immediately pointed out by Scott and the debate moderators. [17] Sink's team was accused of cheating during the debate, and the aide who delivered the message was fired from the campaign the next morning. Afterwards, media and observers were very critical of the gaffe.

Polling

Democratic primary

Republican primary

General election

Poll sourceDates administeredBud Chiles (I)Rick Scott (R)Alex Sink (D)
Mason-Dixon May 3–5, 2010—36%38%
Rasmussen Reports May 16, 2010—41%40%
Rasmussen Reports June 7, 2010—45%40%
Quinnipiac June 7, 201013%35%26%
Florida Chamber of Commerce June 9–13, 201015%31%26%
Ipsos/Reuters July 9–11, 201012%34%31%
Public Policy Polling July 16–18, 201013%30%36%
Quinnipiac July 22–27, 201014%29%27%
The Florida Poll July 24–28, 201011%30%28%
Rasmussen Reports August 2, 201016%35%31%
Ipsos/Florida Newspapers August 6–10, 201014%30%29%
Mason-Dixon August 9–11, 201017%24%40%
Quinnipiac August 11–16, 201012%29%33%
Public Policy Polling August 21–22, 20108%34%41%
Rasmussen Reports August 25, 20104%45%42%
Rasmussen Reports September 1, 2010—45%44%
Sunshine State News September 1–7, 201042%44%
CNN September 2–7, 201042%49%
FOX News September 11, 201041%49%
Reuters/Ipsos September 12, 201045%47%
Mason-Dixon September 20–22, 201040%47%
Rasmussen Reports September 22, 201050%44%
Quinnipiac September 23–28, 201049%43%
CNN September 24–28, 201047%45%
Sunshine State News September 26 – October 3, 201044%42%
TCPalm.com / Zogby September 27–29, 201039%41%
Florida Chamber of Commerce September 27–30, 201046%42%
Rasmussen Reports September 30, 201046%41%
Mason-Dixon October 4–6, 201040%44%
Miami-Dade College October 5, 201052%46%
Quinnipiac October 6–8, 201045%44%
Rasmussen Reports October 7, 201050%47%
PPP October 9–10, 201041%46%
Susquehanna October 12–13, 201045%48%
Suffolk October 14–17, 201038%45%
CNN Opinion Research October 15–19, 201049%46%
Ipsos/ St. Pete Times October 15–19, 201044%41%
Rasmussen Reports October 18, 201050%44%
Naples Daily News / Zogby October 18–21, 201039%43%
Quinnipiac October 18–24, 201041%45%
Susquehanna October 20, 201045%45%
Susquehanna/ Sunshine State News October 24–25, 201047%45%
Univ. of South Fla. Polytechnic October 23–27, 201044%39%
Quinnipiac October 25–31, 201043%44%
Mason-Dixon October 26–27, 201043%46%
Rasmussen Reports October 27, 201048%45%
Susquehanna/ Sunshine State October 29–31, 201046%49%
Public Policy Polling October 30–31, 201047%48%

Hypothetical Polls

Election results

The 2010 governor's race was one of Florida's closest, decided by just over 60,000 votes. Unlike the concurrent Senate race, the governor's race remained in doubt late into the night. When polls closed, Scott had a lead, but as the night progressed, the margin narrowed. The next day, with over 99% of precincts reporting, Scott maintained about a 1% lead in the raw vote. [2] Despite a small number of still-uncounted ballots from Palm Beach County, Sink's chances of winning were negligible, as Scott was still ahead by over 50,000 – much more than the 3,000 uncounted ballots, and more importantly, still above the threshold of 0.5% to trigger a mandatory recount. [2] Sink conceded on Wednesday.

Exit polls showed that Scott won among independents and the two candidates split the Hispanic vote. [2]

Florida gubernatorial election, 2010 [18]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Republican Rick Scott 2,619,335 48.87% -3.31%
Democratic Alex Sink 2,557,78547.72%+2.62%
Independence Peter Allen123,8312.31%
Independent C. C. Reed18,8420.35%
Independent Michael E. Arth18,6440.35%
Independent Daniel Imperato13,6900.26%
Independent Farid Khavari7,4870.14%
Write-ins1210.00%
Plurality61,5501.15%-5.92%
Turnout 5,359,735
Republican gain from Independent Swing

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Martinez resigned his seat in December 2008, and Crist appointed Republican George LeMieux to serve the remainder of Martinez's term. LeMieux declined to run for election, and Crist was one of three major candidates in the election for U.S. Senate.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Money, message, mad electorate make Scott Fla. gov". The Washington Post. November 3, 2010. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  3. ↑ Derby, Kevin (September 2, 2010). "TEA Party Backs Rick Scott for Governor in November". Sunshine State News. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  4. ↑ Dockery, Paula (June 5, 2014). "Paula Dockery: Tea party stands by Rick Scott". Florida Today. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Exit Polls – Florida 2010 Governor". CNN. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  6. ↑ Florida Election Candidate Tracking System entry for Imperato
  7. ↑ "Florida Democrats revel in gained ground". Tampa Bay Times. August 25, 2008. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
  8. ↑ Cotterell, Bill (January 16, 2009). "Alex Sink won't run for U.S. Senate in 2010". Tallahassee Democrat.
  9. ↑ Kam, Dara (July 24, 2010). "Low-profile Alex Sink faces even more obscure opponent in Democratic race for Florida governor". Palm Beach Post. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  10. 1 2 "Florida Gubernatorial Primary Results". Politico. August 24, 2010. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  11. ↑ "Florida governor announces run for Senate". CNN. May 12, 2009. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  12. ↑ Deslatte, Aaron (July 30, 2010). "Ruling lets Rick Scott spend all he wants in governor's race vs. Bill McCollum". The Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  13. ↑ Deslatte, Aaron (August 25, 2010). "Rick Scott beats Bill McCollum to end nasty GOP governor's primary fight". The Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Governor's Race: Rick, Scott, Alex Sink save harshest word for last debate". Orlando Sentinel,
  15. ↑ Baribeau, Simone. "Florida Republican Scott Elected Governor After Record Spending". Bloomberg. Retrieved December 9, 2011.
  16. ↑ Madison, Lucy (April 14, 2011). "Rick Scott Wins Tight Florida Governor Race". CBS News. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Aide fired over Florida debate foul". CNN. October 26, 2010. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  18. ↑ https://doe.dos.state.fl.us/elections/resultsarchive/Index.asp?ElectionDate=11/2/2010&DATAMODE= Archived October 3, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
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