Free Republic

....ick Scott attended early services Sunday at Broward's oldest Baptist Church, softly pitching his re-election to black churchgoers. His four minutes of remarks to more than 500 congregants at First Baptist Church Piney Grove in Lauderdale Lakes concentrated on the biographical, touched on policy, and emphasized his faith. "Jesus Christ is my savior," he said to a chorus of amens and clapping. The governor described his "wonderful Christian mother and very wonderful Christian grandmother, and they told me all along that Jesus Christ was my savior. From a very young man I learned the importance of believing in Jesus Christ,...

A new poll from the Florida Chamber of Commerce Political Institute shows Gov. Rick Scott with the lead over former Gov. Charlie Crist. The Florida Chamber is backing Scott for another term. The poll of likely voters, taken by Cherry Communications, shows Scott ahead with 44 percent and Crist at 39 percent, outside the margin of error. Libertarian Adrian Wyllie takes 4 percent

Charlie Crist has slightly nudged ahead of Gov. Rick Scott in Quinnipiac University’s latest poll that shows the Democrat picks up 43 percent support from likely voters to the incumbent’s 40 percent. That apparent 3 percentage point lead for Crist is essentially a tie because it’s within the poll’s margin of error, but the poll of 800 likely voters indicates Crist has some momentum on his side. Last week, Quinnipiac surveyed the governor’s race and found it dead even between Crist and Scott, with each getting 42 percent. So the contest has shifted a net 3 percentage points in Crist’s...

A jump in support from independent likely voters in the Florida governor's race leaves Democrat Charlie Crist with 43 percent, inches ahead of Republican incumbent Gov. Rick Scott with 40 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Libertarian candidate Adrian Wyllie has 8 percent, with 9 percent undecided. This compares to results of an October 22 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN- uh-pe-ack) University, showing Gov. Scott and Crist tied 42 - 42 percent, with Wyllie at 7 percent. With Wyllie out of the race, Crist gets 45 percent to Scott's 42 percent. Men and women remain divided...

The new Republican data analytics firm, 0ptimus, has released another mega-robopoll with some good news for Gov. Rick Scott: He's narrowly leading Democrat Charlie Crist. The race is still technically a tie but Scott's lead of 2.4 percentage points (41.9-39.4 percent) is almost outside the poll's error margin.

Saturday and Sunday marked the first chance for voters to head to the early voting polls on a weekend, a time when Democrats could really show in force and put a big dent in Republicans’ lead in casting pre-Election Day ballots. But there was no huge surge in Democrat-rich Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Intriguingly in the three counties, the total number of people who early voted Saturday was greater than Sunday – the day when black voters were expected to have the first of two “Souls to the Polls” voting events after church. Some Democrats are starting to...

JACKSONVILLE In a fast-paced final debate Tuesday, Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democrat Charlie Crist displayed their mutual contempt to a national TV audience in the home stretch of the costliest and meanest campaign in the country. Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article3213936.html#storylink=cpy

Florida Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Charlie Crist face off for the third and final time Tuesday night in a debate hosted by CNN and Jacksonville affiliate WJXT. The showdown comes just two weeks before Election Day and marks a final point in what's become the most expensive 2014 midterm race in the country, more than any House or Senate campaign.... 1. Elephant in the room: While Crist appeared to break the rules in last week's debate by having a fan underneath his podium, Scott might have fared worse in the optics of the scuffle. 2. Will Scott try...

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is launching a new ad Monday that ties Republican-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist with Barack Obama, including a photo of their infamous 2009 embrace. The Republican becomes the first gubernatorial candidate to deploy the clip of the president saying, “I’m not on the ballot this fall, but make no mistake: these policies are on the ballot. Every single one of them.” “Charlie Crist backed Obama from the start,” a narrator says in the 30-second spot, shared first with POLITICO. “If you liked the last six years of Barack Obama, you’ll love the next four years of Charlie Crist.”...

After being stuck in the same range all year, Florida's unemployment rate finally broke through in September to fall to a fresh, multiyear, post-recession low. At 6.1 percent, Florida's jobless rate is now at its lowest point since June 2008.... Florida added 13,400 jobs over the month with trade, transportation and utilities, a broad category that includes retail jobs, leading the way.... In a news release, Gov. Rick Scott emphasized the addition of 12,800 private-sector jobs last month... "Together since December 2010, Florida job creators have created 651,300 private-sector jobs," Scott said in a statement. "Our policies are working in...

The organizers of Wednesday's statewide TV debate between Gov. Rick Scott and Charlie Crist released a statement Thursday saying that Crist's insistence on having a portable electric fan was a violation of debate rules. Crist adviser Dan Gelber hotly disputes the organizers' accounts and said FPA president Dean Ridings accepted a document with a handwritten notation that included the words "with understanding that debate hosts will address any temperature issues with a fan if necessary." The statement from Leadership Florida reads in part: "Both campaigns received a letter in advance from the debate organizers (FPA and LF) stating the format,...

Update 8:17 a.m.: Scott's campaign now says he didn't refuse to take the stage and that it was a mix-up -- though it acknowledges that the fan was at issue in the moments before the debate. From Scott campaign manager Melissa Sellers: "So, let's get one thing clear: Rick Scott never refused to take the stage and debate. In fact, our campaign was not notified Charlie had even taken the stage because the last we heard, Crist was in an 'emergency meeting' with debate organizers pleading for his precious fan. "But Charlie Crist can bring his fan, microwave, and toaster...

In violation of debate rules agreed to by both political campaigns, the ideologically-fluid Charlie Crist had his podium modified with a foreign object in order to keep him more comfortable at the beginning of the Florida gubernatorial debate, causing a delay until both sides could come to a resolution. The Scott campaign eventually acquiesced to Crist's "request" that the debate rules be changed in order for Crist's comfort. The Crist campaign, for their part, maintains that they always requested a modification to the rules - but it's a modification clearly unseen and not agreed to by the Scott campaign.

Florida's race for governor may be heading deeply into the if you vote for Charlie Crist you are voting for President Obama territory. With the President deep into the barrel of public disaprroval, turning him into a surrogate candidate has been a popular ploy in House and Senate races around the country.

An affiliate of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s political advocacy group is putting nearly $1 million into New Hampshire to back Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D) in her reelection bid. The Council for American Job Growth is launching a 10-day television spot touting Shaheen’s support on veterans issue. The group has ties to FWD.us, which Zuckerberg founded to advocate for immigration reform and other issues important to the tech industry.

Democrat Charlie Crist holds a sizable 53-29 percent lead over Gov. Rick Scott among Hispanic voters, according to a new poll that indicates this fastest growing segment of the electorate doesn’t like Republican positions on immigration, Medicaid and the minimum wage.

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott has failed to report more than $200 million in assets on his state financial disclosure form in violation of the Florida Constitution, Democratic attorney general candidate George Sheldon alleged in a lawsuit filed Wednesday. Sheldon, a former deputy attorney general under Bob Butterworth, is running against Republican Pam Bondi. His lawsuit, filed in Leon County just weeks before Election Day, accuses the governor of relying on a "web of complex financial arrangements" to shift investments and hide his "financial interests from public view." Sheldon is asking a judge to order Scott, Florida's wealthiest governor, to...

Of the many things that could be compared to candidates for governor, a wedding dress has to rank pretty low on the list. But the College Republican National Committee did just that with its series of “Say Yes to the Candidate” ads, spoofs on the “Say Yes to the Dress” reality show that airs on TLC. First up was an ad comparing the “Rick Scott,” a modern dress favored by the bride, to the “Charlie Crist,” an “outdated” model favored by the bride’s mother.

According to the latest Florida Chamber Political Institute (FCPI) poll released today at the Future of Florida Forum in Orlando, likely voters continue to have a more positive view of the future and favor Governor Rick Scott in the state’s top leadership race. Jobs and the economy (29 percent) continue to be the number one issue among voters, followed by education (19 percent) and healthcare (6 percent). “Florida voters are smart. They continue recognizing Governor Scott is doing what he said he would do,” said Marian Johnson, Senior Vice President of the Florida Chamber Political Institute. “More than 640,000 private-sector...

Law360, Los Angeles (September 24, 2014, 8:44 PM ET) -- The Seventh Circuit ruled Wednesday that it is up to Wisconsin state courts to decide whether an investigation into potential campaign finance violations involving Gov. Scott Walker and a host of conservative groups should proceed, overturning a lower court injunction that halted the probe on First Amendment grounds. A three-judge panel called the injunction issued in May by U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa an "abuse of discretion," saying that "this case does not present a situation in which state proceedings may be displaced." The panel directed the lower court...