Bill McCollum Refuses To Endorse Rick Scott Amid Raging Florida GOP Family Feud
August 28th, 2010 by Chloe
Defeated Florida Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bill McCollum is declining to support former rival and newly-minted GOP nominee Rick Scott as he heads into his general election campaign.
The St. Petersburg Times reports that McCollum, currently the Attorney General of Florida, signaled on Thursday that he offered his congratulations to Scott over the phone following Tuesday's election, but remains very skeptical of the self-funding contender's integrity.
"I still have serious questions," explained McCollum. "About issues of his character, his integrity, his honesty -- things that go back to Columbia/HCA," hitting on controversy surrounding Scott's pre-political profession.
Before he jumped into politics, Scott, a millionaire, was the head of Hospital Corporation of America -- a company that was slapped with a $1.7 billion fine after being hit with "14 felony charges stemming from a massive federal fraud investigation."
Leading up to Tuesday's primary, the Republican Party of Florida, standing firmly behind McCollum's candidacy, was reportedly concerned about the prospect of Scott swiping the state's GOP nomination after making a late jump into the race. At issue for members of the establishment, according to the Times, was the fact that the former health care industry exec possessed no allegiance to the state party or its operatives who were tirelessly working to defeat him.
Over the course of the primary, Scott repeatedly took aim at McCollum with relentless, negative attacks. The super-wealthly candidate blasted the state AG as the "Tonya Harding of Florida politics" and put out one campaign ad that even earned a rare rebuke from Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
The internal turmoil pervading the Florida GOP reached a tipping point just hours before polls closed and votes were set to be tallied in the state's election earlier this week. The RPOF signaled it would cancel plans to hold a unity rally one day following the crowning of the party's newly-minted nominee.
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