Governor Rick Scott Announces Run For U.S. Senate

ARRA New Service: Governor Rick Scott announced today that he will formally enter the race for U.S. Senate. His announcement was made at Orlando-based ODC Construction, which is one of the largest construction firms in Central Florida.


The following are his remarks as prepared for delivery via his campaign website.

“I would like to thank my wife Ann. On this day, eight years ago, I did something that everyone told me not to do – I announced that I was going to run for Governor of Florida. Other than Ann – my sweetheart who I married when we were just teenagers – no one thought I had a shot at becoming governor of the greatest state in the nation.

“They said a business-person with no experience in government couldn’t run the state. It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you ignore the naysayers and the critics.

“When I took office, our state had lost over 800,000 jobs, home prices were down and our unemployment had skyrocketed to double digits. Families all across Florida were hurting.

“I took action on my first day in office to turn our state around and make Florida the place where our future generations could prosper.

“And, I’ve been on a mission to turn Florida’s economy around every day since then.

“Together, we’ve made great progress. Together, Florida businesses have created nearly 1.5 million jobs in just over seven years. Together, we have reached record tourism, a historically-low unemployment rate, and paid down record levels of debt while balancing our budget.

“Today in Florida we have the greatest higher education in the entire country, and we are able to spend more on educating our kids than ever before. Our small businesses are growing, which means more opportunities for families across our state. We have the best transportation infrastructure, we have made historical investments in our environment, and we have cut over $10 billion in taxes.

“Why? It’s not because of government. It’s because of hard working people who create jobs and opportunities in Florida.

“Government does not create jobs. But what government can do, and what we have done, is create the environment for business to thrive. That is Florida today.

“But, our work is not done. We have to keep looking forward and that’s why today I’m announcing another mission… I have decided to run for the United States Senate.

“This time the naysayers will say – Washington is a disaster and one person cannot really make a difference.

“I admit that Washington is horribly dysfunctional. Washington is full of old thinking. Washington is tired. And the truth is, both political parties share some of the blame.

“They’ve tried a lot of things – it just didn’t work. But I will not accept the idea that we can’t change Washington.

“We can change Washington, we must change Washington, and we will change Washington. Together, let’s get Washington to work.

“Throughout this campaign, I will be rolling out my specific plans on what we must do to bring real change to Washington. Today, I am going to start with the obvious…we must eliminate the entire concept of career politicians.

“There will be no real change in Washington without term limits on Congress. There is only one place America that does not want to put term limits on Congress – Washington DC where all of the career politicians live.

“We have term limits in Florida. Most states limit the terms of their Governors, as they should. We limit the terms of our President’s, as we should. But we don’t limit the terms of our Congressmen and Senators…because…the career politicians like their powerful positions and want to stay in them.

“In Washington they tell you term limits can’t be done. I don’t buy that. It’s time to let the politicians in Washington know that we don’t work for them – they work for us.

“We always hear the same tired old excuse from people in Washington that they can’t do this or they can’t do that.

“It’s time for some fresh thinking. The old approach is not working, it’s time for a new one.

“One thing I’ve learned in my time as governor is this – if you force real change – the political insiders will be angry and will never accept you. And I’m completely fine with that.

“Some people will tell you that as governor I never really fit in or played by the political rules in Tallahassee. Well, that is true. I never planned to fit in. And I won’t fit in in Washington either. It’s time to shake that place up. We don’t need another politician in Washington, it’s full of politicians, and that’s why it’s broken.

“We don’t need any more talkers in Washington, we need some doers. It’s time to start growing the American economy, not the Washington economy. It’s time to make Washington get to work… for us.

“You hear me talk about jobs all the time. I talk about jobs because I grew up poor, my family had nothing.

“I never knew my natural dad, and my adopted dad struggled to find work. We lived in public housing and we moved around a lot. I had my first job at seven and I have not stopped working since then.

“The deck was stacked against me, but I had two things going for me – my mom and America.

“My mom worked multiple jobs, she made me into a hard worker, and she fought for me.

“And even though I grew up poor, I tell people I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth because I grew up in America, the land of opportunity.

“Today, I am blessed to have a wonderful family – two daughters and six grandkids because of the opportunity I have had to live in this nation.

“It’s become fashionable to complain and talk bad about our country, I’m sick of that.

“America is the greatest place on earth, and we should all thank God we are here.

“Thank you for joining me in this fight, I appreciate your support. Now… Let’s Get to Work!”

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