Tuesday's governor's election will determine Florida's economic vitality for the next four years. The stakes are so high. Voters must examine the candidates and compare their records when they served in the executive office of governor.
Charlie Crist portrays Gov. Rick Scott as someone who does not represent the middle class because he is a successful businessman. But nothing could be further from the truth. Scott's upbringing and Crist's are at opposite ends of the financial spectrum.
Scott grew up with humble beginnings in Kansas City, Mo. His father was a city bus driver and his mother was a clerk at J.C. Penney. Scott was the second oldest of five children. His family was lower-middle class. They struggled financially living in Section 8 government housing. The governor can remember the day his father's car was repossessed. His mother worked two jobs so their family could afford groceries.
Scott's first job as a young boy was delivering newspapers on a bicycle. His mother expected him to work, make good grades in school and attend church every week. She guided him on a path to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout, go on to college and become a successful attorney. Scott's life is the perfect example of what hard work, tenacity and opportunity can do for anyone in America.
Crist, Scott's opponent, portrays himself as one of the middle class, but he grew up the only son of a prominent doctor in St. Petersburg, with three sisters. He also became an attorney (after three attempts to pass the Florida Bar). Crist has worked almost exclusively in government jobs since graduating from law school.
Being a consummate politician, Crist has never stayed more than a single term in any elected office, as his eye is always on the next race. Crist has never owned a business or had to meet a payroll.
In his four years as Florida's governor, he failed to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor and sustain the remarkable economy left to us by Gov. Jeb Bush. Bush worked hard for eight years recruiting businesses to Florida and making it business-friendly. Bush rarely left Tallahassee.
Crist's focus as governor was not on jobs for Florida but on campaigning for vice president and the U.S. Senate, or going to finance events with Jim Greer in the Florida Keys. Crist's lack of leadership, coupled with putting his office on auto-pilot, was a recipe for economic disaster in Florida during turbulent times.
When Bush left office in 2007, unemployment in Florida was at 3.3 percent, which was below the national average. He left $8 billion in cash reserves in December 2006 and $3.2 billion in Florida's rainy day fund. Florida received a Triple A bond rating under Bush, which never had been achieved before.
By 2011, after Crist's four years as governor, the state had lost 825,000 jobs, he had blown through the money Bush socked away in the rainy day fund, he had accepted the so-called "stimulus" money, which failed to produce any significant jobs, and left Florida taxpayers on the hook for the federal taxes. Crist added $3.6 billion in debt to Florida's burden.
When Crist left office, Florida had one of the worst economies in the country. He crippled the free-market insurance industry, saddling Florida homeowners with the risk of being assessed $6,000 for Citizen's CAT Fund if a Category 3 hurricane hit Florida. Unemployment in Florida rose from 3.3 percent under Bush to 11.1 percent under Crist. Creating jobs and focusing on the economy clearly was not his forte.
Since Scott took office, he has made good on his promise to reboot the economy and add 700,000 jobs in seven years. On Aug. 15, Gov. Scott's office announced that private businesses had added 620,300 jobs since December 2010. He has recruited prominent businesses to Florida, cut taxes, and cut anti-business regulations. Unemployment in Florida dropped dramatically from that 11.1 percent when Scott was elected, to 6.1 percent as of this October. Florida now has the No. 2 economy in the country, vacillating back and forth with Texas for the No. 1 spot.
Before voters make a decision Nov. 4, Floridians should ask themselves which man would they want in charge of their bank account or family investments? Which one knows how to create an environment where our children will succeed in education and their future careers? Which one knows the way up, who was economically disadvantaged, ran a business and now is the governor of the third largest state in the country? Which man possesses the skill set to steer Florida toward four more years of economic recovery?
The only candidate running capable of that kind of success in Florida isGov. Rick Scott.
Make sure your vote counts in this election. Each one of us is a watchman for Florida's next generation.
Nancy Peek McGowan, a conservative activist since 1990, is currently president of the Conservative Republican Forum of Jacksonville, and is a member of the Republican Executive Committee of Duval County.
