The war of words continued this week between Gov. Rick Scott and his leading Democratic rival, former Gov. Charlie Crist.
A day after Crist launched his first television ad of the campaign, Scotts team came firing back. The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) launched a new video ad on Tuesday which offers a response to one Crist unveiled on Monday. Despite spending most of his political life as a Republican, Crist is the favorite for the Democratic nomination to challenge Scott in November.
The new ad counters Crists claimed that we saved the jobs of 20,000 teachers by noting 3,000 teachers lost their jobs under Crist. The ad also questions Crists record on property taxes, school funding and raising the minimum wage.
But Crists team countered and hit Scott back.
In every commercial, Florida law requires a note on who paid for the spot, Omar Khan, Crists campaign manager, noted on Tuesday. If Rick Scott was being honest, he'd just slap Paid for and approved by special interests and corporations on the bottom of his ads.
Depending on where you live in Florida, you might have seen Rick Scott TV ads upward of 125 times, Khan continued before weighing in on the ad launched Monday. We don't have the money to flood the airwaves like that. So every ad we make has to count. That's why Sunshine is about what Charlie's done and what he'll do as governor to fight for the people of Florida.
For his part, Crist was in South Florida and continued to call for increasing the minimum wage. Looking to reach out to unions, Crist performed workday activities with 1199 SEIU in South Florida.
They recently negotiated increasing the minimum wage at their hospital," Crist noted about the union. Time to do the same thing across Florida.
Scotts team sent out Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera on Tuesday to hit Crist not only on the minimum wage but his economic record in general.
Charlie Crist must have a bad case of amnesia, Lopez-Cantera said. While he claims to be a champion of raising the minimum wage today, it was Crist who voted against it before he became governor. Whats worse was Crists neglect of our economy that led to 832,000 Floridians seeing their wage drop to $0.00."
Scott continues to put his crime-fighting credentials in order this week. As he tours the state focusing on how Florida has its lowest crime rate in decades, Scott announced the backing of 40 sheriffs from around Florida, led by Sheriff Grady Judd of Polk County.
Crime is at a 43-year low in Florida because Gov. Scott works with and believes in law enforcement, Grady said on Tuesday. He knows the importance of keeping our families, our children and our job creators safe. That is why I and many of my colleagues support Rick Scott, our governor."
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com,
