Vowing to be “part of the solution, not part of the problem," Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera launched a bid on Wednesday for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by his ally U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Rubio is not running for a second term as he aims for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.
Lopez-Cantera unveiled a Web video in which he announced his bid and, as Rubio did in 2010, made the cases for American exceptionalism and claimed Washington, D.C., was broken.
“As a family, we’ve decided that I’m running for the U.S. Senate so your kids, and mine, can continue to live in the kind of country that gave my family the blessings of liberty and freedom that only America offers,” Lopez-Cantera said in the video. “Both parties in Washington have lost sight of that idea.
“I still believe in the America that Washington has forgotten,” Lopez-Cantera added
Pointing to his time in Tallahassee as Florida House majority leader and as Gov. Rick Scott’s understudy, Lopez-Cantera noted the economic gains Florida has seen in recent years, including 900,000 new jobs and lower taxes.
“Doesn’t sound much like Washington, does it?” Lopez-Cantera asked. “We’ve proven conservative principles work.
“There will be a lot of people in this race who promise a lot of things, but my conservative record in Florida is more than a promise,” Lopez-Cantera added. “It shows that I’ll fight and win for you even when the odds are long and the fights are hard.”
Lopez-Cantera has events scheduled in Miami later in the day to kick off his campaign.
Unlike many of his chief rivals, Lopez-Cantera has no experience in Washington. The new candidate joins U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and businessman and Army veteran Todd Wilcox in the Republican primary. U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla., is expected to join the primary field as early as next week while U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., is also expected to enter the contest. On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., and U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., are already running. Republican strategist Roger Stone is weighing a bid for the Libertarian nomination.
Murphy welcomed Lopez-Cantera in the race on Wednesday morning.
"I look forward to a healthy exchange of ideas in this campaign,” Murphy said on Wednesday. “We need bold leaders who are willing to empower Florida's working families, strengthen Social Security and Medicare, stand up for our environment, and protect a woman's right to choose. I look forward to sharing my vision with the people of our state."
Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Allison Tant had far harsher words for the new candidate.
“Professional Tallahassee politician Carlos Lopez-Cantera has built his career on lining the pockets of wealthy special interests and pandering to the most extreme fringe of the Republican Party -- all at the expense of Florida’s middle class,” Tant said on Wednesday. “Now, Rick Scott’s yes-man wants to take his self-serving brand of crony politics to the United States Senate, where he would do what career politicians always do in Washington: make thing worse.
“Unfortunately for Lopez-Cantera, he won’t be able to hide behind Rick Scott or his wealthy special interests funders when he hits the campaign trail and is forced to explain his disastrous record of putting politics and profits ahead of the people he supposedly serves,” Tant added. “Lopez-Cantera supported cutting over a billion dollars from public schools and universities while hiking tuition. He voted to allow near-shore oil drilling and sponsored massive taxpayer handouts to some of Florida’s biggest corporations -- including $3.2 billion Duke Energy fleeced from ratepayers. He whipped votes to pass a mandatory ultrasound bill, and even voiced enthusiastic support for bringing an Arizona-style immigration law to Florida, calling the measure 'common sense.’ And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. When career politician Lopez-Cantera takes his extreme record of voting against the middle class on the road, he’s in for a rude awakening.”
In the meantime, DeSantis announced on Tuesday that his campaign raised $1 million in the second quarter of 2015 and had more than $2 million in the bank.
“I’m grateful for the support I have received in Florida and throughout the country. Our nation faces looming national security threats, a stagnant economy, long-term fiscal insolvency and a constitutional system that is out of whack,” DeSantis said. “The campaign raised a significant amount, and also laid the foundation to raise significant resources in the near future. I'm confident that we will have the resources we need to draw a clear contrast between my vision of limited government, economic prosperity and a strong defense with whoever emerges as the Democratic nominee and as the defender of continuing failed big government policies.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
