After fours year in office, Rick Scott is finally building his own team and starting to shape the Republican leadership of Florida.
Scott named Melissa Sellers as his chief of staff on Monday. This represents a bit of a change for Scott. During his primary with Bill McCollum, Scott ran against the GOP leadership in Tallahassee and they returned the favor by standing against him until the primary.
During his four years in Tallahasee, Scotts chiefs of staff have often led to one headache after another. When he took office, Scott chose defeated congressional candidate Mike Prendergast, an outsider to Tallahassee, as his chief of staff. But Prendergast wasnt up to the job. Only six months after being named chief of staff, Prendergast was shuttled off to lead the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs. Next up was Steve MacNamara who had ties to the likes of John Thrasher and Mike Haridopolos, both of whom had backed McCollum against Scott. Nine months later after a series of questions about his management and his role handling contracts, MacNamara was done, replaced by Adam Hollingsworth, an old John Peyton aide. Hollingsworth quickly stumbled after being caught lying in official state applications about his education credentials.
Now its Sellers turn. Sellers is a communications pro but she proved to be a competent manager for Scotts re-election campaign even as consultants and strategists handled much of the lifting. From her two years on Scotts staff and on his campaign, Sellers knows how to work with the governor. While she has worked with other political leaders -- Bobby Jindal, for example -- Sellers is connected mostly with Scott, something that Hollingsworth and MacNamara couldnt claim.
Sellers is already building a team for Scott. Leslie Dougher, a Sellers ally, got Scotts blessing to stay at the RPOF last week. Jackie Schutz, who worked with Sellers on the campaign, will now handle communications for Scotts office.
Scotts starting to cast his shadow on the Florida GOP at an opportune time. Theres an assumption that beating Charlie Crist was Scotts last campaign. Unlike Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, its next to impossible imagining him running for president. Having spent a lifetime managing and running businesses, its hard to imagine Scott being happy as a legislator, even in the U.S. Senate.
But Scott isnt done yet and a new batch of legislative leaders take command of their chambers on Tuesday. Andy Gardiner will preside over an often divided and fractious Republican Senate caucus. Twenty five months ago, nobody would have imagined Steve Crisafulli leading the Florida House. Scott and his team have the opportunity to hold off being a lame duck for the time being and increasing his political muscle should help on that front.
Scott has the chance to shape the Florida GOP even as Bush and Rubio continue to keep presidential bids on the table. With many ambitious Republicans looking to further their ambitions, they are now finding Scott holds many of the chips, something that would have been incomprehensible as he ran against a Tallahassee insider like McCollum.
Tallahassee political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this analysis exclusively for Sunshine State News.
