Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday urged voters to consider businessman and political “outsider” Carlos Beruff, a Republican running for Marco Rubio’s Senate seat.
“When I ran for office in 2010, I was a political outsider and the entire Republican establishment was against me,” Mr. Scott, a Republican, wrote in a statement. “They already had their hand-picked candidate and it wasn’t me. But, the voters of Florida spoke and I was elected Governor.
“Carlos Beruff is a good friend of mine, a businessman and an outsider to politics,” he wrote. “The voters of Florida deserve the opportunity to consider his candidacy alongside Senator Rubio and make their own decision. The opinions of the political class in Washington are not relevant to the voters of Florida. Florida Republicans will pick the nominee on their own.”
The Florida GOP had already released a statement Wednesday that welcomed Mr. Rubio to the race after he announced his re-election bid, the Naples Daily News reported.
Mr. Beruff on Wednesday called Mr. Rubio a “career politician” who is more worried about “keeping the job than doing the job.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.