Scott appeared before a crowd of about 40 possible voters at the Bill Cramer Chevrolet dealership at
Following a speech highlighting recent vehicle registration tax cuts and slamming the possible challenge of former Gov. Charlie Crist, the crowd was invited to meet and greet Scott and Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera.
“In 2004, Charlie Crist raised the cost of registering a car 54 percent,” Scott said. “The wrongs that [Crist] did year after year, we are working to fix his mistakes.”
Scott said $500 million in tax cuts have occurred under his administration.
Several local politicians — including state Rep. Jimmy Patronis, state Sen. Don Gaetz, Panama City Mayor Greg Brudnicki and Lynn Haven Mayor Walter Kelley — spoke about the impending clash between Scott and Crist, but none left a doubt of who they favored in the race.
“We could have someone who misleads people, or we could have someone who loves
Scott was obviously the favorite of local officials present for the campaign stop, but he is considered vulnerable statewide because of his low approval ratings. Polls between Scott and Crist indicate the contest is a tossup.
Although Scott has honed in on Crist during his “tax cut tour,” which commenced about a week ago, primary elections are just starting to heat up as the summer comes along.
Scott has three competitors vying against him for the Republican primary election Aug. 26. Elizabeth Cuevas-Neunder, a conservative activist; Timothy Devine; and Joe Smith, a chiropractor, are running for a chance at being on the Republican ticket.
In the most recent Public Policy Polling (PPP) polls, conducted in March, Scott trailed “someone else” by 1 percentage point with a 5.4 percent margin of error. Scott received 42 percent of the vote while “someone else” took 43 percent.
Voters can register until July 28, and early voting in the primaries leading up to November’s general election takes place between Aug. 16 and Aug 23.
Despite what plays out leading up to the November elections, Scott’s supporters are already geared up for a close race with Crist.
“We need four more years of Rick Scott,” Lopez-Cantera said. “We need four more years and we will get four more years, because the alternative is a nightmare.”