After pivoting his primary campaign against the “special interests” controlling state government, Republican Rick Scott has pulled $1.1 million from many of them into his Let’s Get To Work political committee, new reports show.
Since his Aug. 24 primary victory over Attorney General Bill McCollum, Scott has drawn big contributions from Blue Cross/Blue Shield ($50,000), House Speaker-designate Dean Cannon’s Florida Liberty Fund ($250,000), Coral Gables investor Miguel Fernandez ($250,000) and Florida Crystals Corp., ($100,000).
Included among Scott’s committee donors is Green Solar Transportation, a company led by a pair of South Florida doctors, Paul Zimmerman and Gerald Glass, who had poured $1 million from companies they control into spending organizations led by Cannon and Senate President-designate Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island. The two lawmakers, in turn, steered much of the money this summer over to other committees helping McCollum in the primary.
Zimmerman, an orthopedist, played a central role in fighting legislation supported by Scott’s gubernatorial rival, Democrat Alex Sink, aimed at reducing the cost of prescription drugs in Florida’s workers’ compensation program.
Gov. Charlie Crist also broke with Sink, vetoing the legislation and siding with the Florida Medical Association and the Florida Orthopedic Society, which also had opposed it.
Scott’s other chief source of financing so far has been his own wallet. After spending $50 million of his own money during the primary, Scott recently put another $1.1 million into his campaign against Sink.
The News Service of Florida
