Before endorsements started rolling in for Donald Trump, the businessman’s biggest ally in elected office arguably was Florida Gov. Rick Scott, whom political analysts are now putting on the shortlist of possible vice presidential picks if the New York billionaire wins the Republican presidential nomination.
The quadrennial parlor game of trying to predict running mates revs into high gear once nominations start to take shape, and the mutual respect Mr. Trump and Mr. Scott have shown each other has provided additional fodder.
Analysts say there would be upsides and downsides to tapping Mr. Scott.
On the plus side, Mr. Scott is a sitting governor who has compiled a record of accomplishments over his five-plus years in office, and he grinded out victories in 2010 and 2014 in a state that is as close to a must-win as there can be in a presidential race.
On the minus side, Mr. Scott is a polarizing figure in Florida and has won off-year elections with lower turnout than in presidential years. Also, his stiff political persona could make it hard for him to help advance an agenda on Capitol Hill.
Mr. Scott, a former hospital CEO, shook up the political landscape with his win over a veteran Republican. Like Mr. Trump, he largely self-funded his insurgent bid.
Since then, he has reduced the state’s workforce and watched over an economic resurgence. The state’s unemployment rate has dropped to 5.1 percent from more than 11 percent in 2011, and Florida has added more than 1 million private-sector jobs.
“If you look at his record, he is one of the most successful governors in the country,” said David Johnson, a Republican Party strategist. “The drawback is his personality has never translated into popularity.”
Mr. Trump last month provided a window into what he would be looking for in a running mate.
“You want somebody that can help you with legislation, getting it through,” Mr. Trump said at Regent University. “But I do want someone who is political because I want to get lots of great legislation that we all want passed.”
Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida, said Mr. Scott would be a newcomer to Washington and has shown through his dealings with the Republican-controlled Legislature that building working ties with lawmakers is not his strong suit.
“He barely has a relationship with the Florida Legislature,” Mr. Jewett said.
Mr. Trump is leading the delegate chase heading into the March 15 contests in Florida and Ohio, which are shaping up to be key fronts in the late-innings efforts to block him from winning the nomination.
The buzz around a possible Trump-Scott ticket picked up after the governor penned an op-ed in USA Today this year that celebrated the way Mr. Trump was “capturing the frustration of many Americans after seven years of President Obama’s very intentional government takeover of the U.S. economy.”
Mr. Scott likened the rise of Mr. Trump to his own 2010 gubernatorial bid, where he overcame resistance from the Republican establishment to defeat former congressman and Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum in the primary and went on to best Democrat Alex Sink in a tight general election race.
Still, Mr. Scott said last week that he won’t endorse a candidate before the Florida primary.
“I have made it my practice to not get involved in primaries because picking the Republican candidate is the voters’ job,” he said in a Facebook post. “The political class opposed me when I first ran for office, they did not want a businessman outsider, but the voters had other ideas.
“I trust the voters, so I will not try to tell the Republican voters in Florida how to vote by endorsing a candidate before our primary on March 15,” he said, adding that economic growth and job creation are the top issues for the next president.
That followed rumors and news reports on Super Tuesday that Mr. Scott was poised to endorse Mr. Trump.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has praised Mr. Scott.
“He’s a friend of mine,” Mr. Trump said last week. “I have a lot of respect for Rick Scott.”
Political observers say Mr. Trump would be better off picking, among others, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley or fellow Floridian Sen. Marco Rubio as a running mate.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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