Pollsters call him "highly vulnerable" and his approvals remain in the cellar, but Gov. Rick Scott's reelection campaign treasury is beginning to fill up.
Top quarter-million-dollar-plus donors include casino multibillionaire Sheldon Adelson, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, investor Wayne Huizenga and Florida Power and Light. All told, the governor has amassed $2.4 million for the 2014 campaign. A possible Democratic opponent, former State Senator Dan Gelber, told The Palm Beach Post it may not be enough.
“Gov. Scott’s going to need a lot of money to convince people that he’s not the guy they think he is and already don’t like,” said Dan Gelber, a Democrat and former Miami Beach state senator and candidate for attorney general, who counts himself among those eyeing the race. “He is going to have to create a new fiction – and that’s going to be costly.”
Also on deck for the Democrats: former State Sen. Nan Rich of Weston, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler.
Former Gov. Charlie Crist is considered a leading contender. Although he endorsed President Obama and spoke at the Democratic National Convention, the former Republican is still registered as an independent.
Scott financed his 2010 election with $73 million of his own money. Now, he says, he expects donations to cover his campaign expenses with no need to open his own checkbook
