Software company owner Ron Rushing will announce on Tuesday that he is pulling out of the Republican primary to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and will instead offer a primary challenge to Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, in 2012.
In his prepared remarks for Tuesday, Rushing took aim at the lack of progress in Tallahassee for conservative legislation.
Most Americans are concerned about the direction America is headed in and most Floridians are vitally concerned about the direction of our great state, Rushing said in the remarks. This is evident at the federal level with our debt and the current debt-limit crisis, and in the state of Florida with the passage of SunRail and the E-Verify failure. If we are going to fix our country we need to change the type of people we elect to all levels of government, local and state, and not just at the federal level."
Gardiner currently represents parts of Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties, though this could change with redistricting which starts in early 2012.
Rushing looks likely to run to Gardiners right. During his brief U.S. Senate bid, Rushing, who is from Windermere, backed the "Contract From America." It pledges that a candidate will back smaller government, repeal the federal health-care law, and lower taxes. The contract is being pushed by FreedomWorks and former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey. Myriad conservative candidates backed the contract in the 2010 cycle, including Mike Lee, Jim DeMint, Tom Coburn and Sharon Angle.
During his U.S. Senate bid, Rushing also backed the Fair Tax, gutting the EPA, reducing regulations on business, pushing to end foreign aid, slashing federal spending across the board by 5 percent, using the armed forces to secure America from illegal immigration, and repealing the federal health-care law backed by President Barack Obama.
In both his U.S. Senate bid and in his remarks prepared for Tuesday, Rushing played up the fact that he is not a career politician.
I was running for the United State Senate to fight the moderate and liberal agenda that is being spread throughout our country, Rushing said in the prepared remarks. After being recently approached by many concerned citizens, they communicated to me that I am the right citizen candidate that they are looking to elect but that I was in the wrong race. They asked me to consider partnering with them to first fix the state of Florida.It is going to take a decade to fix America and it is going to include electing the right people to all levels of government."
Rushing, owner of Channel Parrity Inc., is originally from Fernandina Beach. He insisted that his background in business will help him deal with the sluggish economy.
In the past year the unemployment rate in Florida hit a record 12 percent, said Rushing in his prepared remarks.Today the unemployment rate remains at 10.8 percent and nearly 1 million Floridians are out of work.Eighty-five percentof our college students fear that when they graduate there will be no jobs and will be forced to move back in with their parents. The American Dream is being crushed for present and future generations.
What I do have is the experience of creating and running a small business for over 11 years, continued Rushing. I have experience being the CEO and the CIO and the director of human resources, having to manage all of our clients and employees, their health benefits and retirement packages. Small-business owners have experience in solving problems. We recognize when there are issues we address those issues, we stand up to them; we dont kick them down the road, we formulate solutions; we identify the best solutions and we implement those solutions.
As he exited the U.S. Senate race, Rushing endorsed businessman Craig Miller, who served as the CEO of Ruths Chris, over the rest of the Republican primary field to take on Nelson.
Our future is more important than any political strategy, Rushing said in his remarks. The responsibility of our government can no longer be left to the privileged few in Washington or Tallahassee ... It is our responsibility as loyal Americans to take a stand and hold the people we send to Washington and Tallahassee accountable. It is for these reasons I am also proud to support Craig Miller, another citizen candidate in the U.S. Senate race, as the best choice to represent the people of Florida in Washington.
Sunshine State News contacted Gardiner for comment on Monday but he could not be reached.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
