SARASOTA, Fla. – Florida Governor Rick Scott spent part of his Sunday on the Suncoast. Just weeks before November's general election, the Republican incumbent visited his campaign office on Interstate Boulevard in Sarasota to thank volunteers.
The trip comes just days after a new poll from Quinnipiac University showed the race between Governor Scott and Democratic candidate Charlie Crist is too close to call. Forty-four percent of likely voters prefer Scott, while 42 percent prefer Crist, the Republican-turned-Democrat; eight percent said they would vote for Libertarian Adrian Wyllie. But the margin of error is plus or minus three percent, meaning the race is essentially a tie.
ABC 7 asked Governor Scott on Sunday afternoon how much weight he puts in a poll like this, so close to election time. He focused his answer on job creation, before deferring to one of his opponents.
“I ran on a campaign in 2010 of seven steps to 700,000 jobs. We've already added 643,000 jobs, so that's what I think about every day,” Scott said. “Now polls... you ought to talk to Charlie (Crist) because I think he changes his position every day based on the polls.”
Governor Scott has leaned heavily on job creation during his re-election campaign. Scott also touched on the point that the metro area consisting of Lakewood Ranch, Bradenton, Sarasota and North Port had the fastest rate of job growth in the nation in August, with nearly 10,000 jobs added.
“Part of it is, it's a great place to live. You have very good economic development efforts here, and you've got a lot of construction going on,” he said. “You've got a lot of people who want to live here, and expand and move their businesses here. It's an exciting time for Sarasota.”
Following his visit to the campaign office, Governor Scott went to Downtown Sarasota, where he went door-to-door to greet residents. He'll next be headed to Central Florida to continue campaigning.
Meanwhile, Charlie Crist will be in Sarasota Monday afternoon. From 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., he'll meet and greet volunteers at the Sarasota County Democratic Headquarters. Then from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m., Crist will attend a reception at “Social” in Downtown Sarasota. The event is sponsored by Suncoast Area Democratic Clubs.
