JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Gov. Rick Scott's bus tour made two stops in northeast Florida on Friday: a breakfast stop in Ponte Vedra Beach and a mid-day get-out-the-vote rally with Attorney General Pam Bondi and CFO Jeff Atwater hosted by the owner of the Jacksonville Landing.
Scott said Tony Sleiman, who owns the Landing and several smaller retail malls in Jacksonville, was one of his earliest and biggest supporters.
"I want to thank everyone for being here," Scott told a room full of ardent supporters. "We're excited to be on the campaign trail. We are winning because you are voting."
As he does at every opportunity, Scott contrasted his four years in office and the previous four years when his current opponent, Charlie Crist, was in the governor's mansion.
"Thousands lost jobs; more lost homes. So the right title for Charlie for the rest of his life should be 'loser,'" Scott said. "We need to make sure people like Charlie never get elected again. (He's) a guy who will take every position, Republican, independent, Democratic, all in a short span of time."
Fellow Republican Atwater, who is also running for another term, added his encouragement to voters, telling them to motivate others to make sure their ballot gets counted, and for the right candidate.
"For the man who believed in us, let's show him how much we believe in him," Atwater said, then led the crowd in cheering "Rick Scott!"
Scott has campaign stops planned across the state between now and Tuesday night, including stops with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
Crist campaigned Friday in St. Petersburg, Daytona Beach and Orlando. His campaign is expected to make a stop in Jacksonville on Sunday morning at a Souls to the Polls rally that features Vice President Joe Biden.