Scott's campaign motto remains 'Let's Get to Work'

Florida governor aims to unseat Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida Gov. Rick Scott sent out an email blast that he would have a "major announcement" in Jacksonville on Wednesday. 

It was the same major announcement he delivered in Orlando on Monday, and the announcement many have expected for months.

Scott is running to unseat Florida's Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

Scott and his wife, Ann, appeared to supporters at a rally Wednesday at the Ring Power Life Trucks facility on Philips Highway in Jacksonville.

His campaign motto remains, "Let's Get to Work."

It's a slogan that worked well for Scott eight years ago in his campaign for governor. 

Scott's speech at this point relates to his jobs success in Florida over the last seven years.

He said after the state lost more than 800,000 jobs before he took office, his administration has added more than 1.5 million.

In a one-on-one interview with News4Jax, Scott was asked how he plans to balance the time needed on a nationally watched campaign and still do his duties for the state. 

”The job of governor is an important job. I work with a good team. We work every day to solve the problems of the state. As you know, the state’s on a roll. We’ve added 1.5 million jobs. Just found out, (Florida has) one of the best K-12 education systems in the country. I already knew, we’ve got the No.1 higher education system in the country. So this state is really on a roll, but there’s more to be done," Scott said. "If we didn’t have the headwind of D.C., we would’ve added more jobs.”

Scott told News4Jax and supporters at the rally that he would shake things up in Washington, and that during his campaign, he will lay out specific policies aimed at changing the status quo.

"I mean, D.C. still believes in a lot of regulations and there still a lot of permitting. It's worked to change the direction of the national government," Scott said. "I'm going to go there and do exactly what my mom taught me. She said, 'Rick, if you work really hard, anything's doable.'"

The Florida Democratic Party claims Scott has gotten richer while in office, while driving wages in Jacksonville to the bottom of the nation.

Democrats scheduled a surrogate for the Bill Nelson campaign, but then canceled that interview.


About the Author:

Kent Justice co-anchors News4Jax's 5 p.m., 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts weeknights and reports on government and politics. He also hosts "This Week in Jacksonville," Channel 4's hot topics and politics public affairs show each Sunday morning at 9 a.m.