A testy back-and-forth on Friday between Gov. Rick Scott and Democrat Charlie Crist kicked off the first of three gubernatorial debates less than a month before Election Day and as voters already are casting ballots by mail.
Throughout the nearly one-hour debate, both candidates pounded narratives they have been developing for months. For Scott, it was casting Crist as a flip-flopper, while Crist tried to paint Scott as beholden to special interests.
Scott made the case several times that Crist “never lifted a finger” as governor for things he now supports, an attempt to cast the Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat as inconsistent on policy issues.
“He voted against raising the minimum wage. He did not raise a finger to lift the minimum wage,” Scott said.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH PART I OF THE DEBATE
CLICK HERE TO WATCH PART 2 OF THE DEBATE
Crist says, if elected, he would push for a higher state minimum wage, and would sign an executive order requiring companies to pay $10.10 an hour to employees working on state contracts they receive.
Crist, attempting to cast Scott as a pay-to play governor, hit him for accepting millions of dollars in campaign contributions from insurance companies, some of whom supported Crist’s past campaigns.
“He [Scott] actually signed a bill this year that says the Office of Insurance Regulation can’t regulate insurance. That makes no sense. Well, only if you follow the money,” Crist said. “They have given him a lot of money for his campaign.”
The debate, taped for broadcast at 7 p.m. Friday on Telemundo stations in the Tampa, Miami and Orlando markets, and live cast online in English, was held at the Miramar studios of NBC 6/Telemundo 51. It is the first Spanish-language gubernatorial debate in state history.
Libertarian candidate Adrian Wyllie was denied a spot on the debate stage, a fact that was protested by a group of his sign-waving supporters outside the building.
Issues directly impacting the state’s Hispanic residents played a prominent role in the debate, including whether undocumented immigrants should receive driver’s licenses. Scott says that a 2012 federal directive already allows children brought to the U.S. illegally as children to get licenses, while Crist says he wants to legalize the practice for “all” undocumented immigrants.
The debate offered a forum for the candidates to define themselves. Scott, as he did during the 2010 campaign, went back to his up-from-his-boot-straps story of rising from humble beginnings to becoming a multimillionaire health care executive.
“They didn’t have a lot of money in the bank,” Scott said of his family growing up.
Crist has tried to portray himself as the more empathetic candidate, while at the same time casting Scott as uncaring and robotic.
“I think the biggest distinction is you’ve got somebody who rattles off statistics versus somebody who really cares about people and what their challenges are,” Crist said.
On specific issues, the first debate helped hammer home their differences on key issues:
Crist says Florida is “ground zero for climate change,” while Scott remains skeptical that global warming is occurring. When asked about the environment, Scott pointed to his administration’s record funding for the Everglades.
Scott opposes a proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize medical marijuana, but signed legislation this spring legalizing a strain of marijuana that helps children with seizures. Crist supports the proposed amendment, which is being spearheaded by attorney John Morgan, who heads the law firm that employs Crist.
Crist supports expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, while it is opposed by Scott, who pointed to reforms that helped reign in state-level costs.
The two will square off two more times, with the next debate on Wednesday at Broward College. That one, sponsored by Leadership Florida and the Florida Press Association, is a live, televised debate.
