2014 Florida Governor's race: on Jobs


Rick Scott: Opposed increasing the minimum wage

For the roughly 7 percent of voters who remain undecided there were plenty of clear differences to consider:
Source: Miami Herald on 2014 Florida Gubernatorial debate Oct 15, 2014

Rick Scott: FactCheck: Yes, unemployment up; but stimulus has helped

Scott often talks about job growth that happens under his watch and takes credit for it: "The four years before I became governor, the state had lost 825,000 jobs. Unemployment had gone from 3.5% to 11.1%. We incurred another $5.2 billion, I think, worth of debt," Scott said in December 2012.

Scott got his numbers right but missed the mark for implying the state's recession was the result of poor handling by Crist. Experts told us Florida's economy tanked largely as a result of the housing market crisis, which included a tornado of issues over which Crist had little to no control. We rated his claim Half True.

During his first campaign, Scott stated that the "stimulus has not created one private sector job." But we found thousands of Floridians employed because of stimulus-funded programs--not to mention jobs for a company in which Scott owns stock. We rate Scott's statement "Pants on Fire!"

Source: Miami Herald FactCheck on 2014 Florida gubernatorial race Mar 15, 2014

Charlie Crist: Minimum wage increase good; living wage better

Crist reminds readers that although the state is rebounding economically, the hard times are not quite over yet for everyone. Crist's op-ed is as follows:

"Right before Rick Scott was elected in 2010, he was asked about the minimum wage in Florida. He didn't know what it was. Then, when he found out that the people of our state were receiving a 6-cent increase in 2011, he said he was disappointed. I'm sure he'll be equally disappointed to read that despite his objections, the minimum wage in Florida will increase to $7.93 an hour on the first of the year.

"This is good news. Higher salaries mean more Floridians can provide for their families, buy more essentials, and also try to get ahead. And we should do more. Displaced workers and low-wage workers deserve to earn a living wage. Unfortunately, Rick Scott just doesn't seem to get it."

Source: SaintPetersBlog coverage of 2014 Florida gubernatorial race Dec 31, 2013

  • The above quotations are from 2014 Florida Gubernatorial debates and race coverage.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Jobs.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Rick Scott on Jobs.
  • Click here for more quotes by Charlie Crist on Jobs.
Candidates and political leaders on Jobs:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Dec 06, 2018