As former Gov. Charlie Crist gears up for a Monday announcement that will almost certainly kick off a campaign to regain his old job, all but forgotten is that the man who currently holds the position hasn’t officially announced his re-election effort.
To be sure, Gov. Rick Scott has left little doubt that he is making a bid for a second term, even if one ignores the recalibrations on policy and politics over the past few months — which critics deride as an effort to make nice with voters.
“Unless my wife tells me she’s dumping me, I’m running for a second term,” Scott told Bay News 9’s “Political Connections” show back in 2011.
And Let’s Get to Work, a fund-raising arm of Scott’s 2010 campaign, has already raised $13
million this year in preparation for what could be one of the
most expensive runs in state history.
But Scott has not held a campaign kick-off event, has not formally filed for the office and has yet to select a lieutenant governor, who will serve as his running mate in the 2014 campaign. His first lieutenant governor, former state Rep. Jennifer Carroll, resigned in March after being questioned in the Allied Veterans of the World criminal probe.
“There’s just no rush,” said Susie Wiles of Jacksonville, who was Scott’s campaign manager in 2010. “He is busy being governor and doing the things he said he would do when was elected the first time.”
Wiles and Sen. John Thrasher, of St. Augustine, who chaired the Republican Party of Florida during Scott’s 2010 run, both said Scott will likely do something to make his re-election bid official. But Thrasher also said it will likely come later.
Rumors are already running rampant that Scott will announce a lieutenant governor selection — perhaps Thrasher —- as soon as Friday.
Wilson said the impact of any lieutenant governor selection on the voting in 2014 would be minor.
Thrasher has consistently pushed aside rumors that he will be considered for the position, a stance he reiterated Tuesday.