Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, who lost the Republican primary for governor on Tuesday in a huge upset to, is still refusing to endorse the man who defeated him for the nomination in a very bitter primary, the self-financing former health care executive Rick Scott.
As the Miami Herald reports, McCollum said he called Scott to “congratulate him and wish him well.” But he’s not making an endorsement as of now. “I still have serious questions about issues of his character, his integrity, his honestly — things that go back to Columbia/HCA,” said McCollum, referring to Scott’s business that paid a record $1.7 billion fine after being investigated for Medicare fraud. “As other voters will do, I will judge him throughout this campaign.”
Scott campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Baker was not impressed, and referred back to when McCollum lost the 2004 Senate primary, and took two weeks to endorse Mel Martinez: “It is unfortunate for Bill McCollum that he has chosen to be a sore loser just as he was following his defeat to Sen. Martinez in 2004.”
The TPM Poll Average has Democratic nominee Alex Sink leading Scott by 38.8%-30.5%, plus 11.0% for independent Bud Chiles.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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