2010 Florida gubernatorial election

• Alex Sink, Chief Financial Officer of Florida
• Brian Moore, political activist, 2008 Socialist Party USA Nominee for President of the United States

Alex Sink, the CFO of Florida, was mentioned as a possible candidate to run for Senate or Governor in 2010,{{cite news |url=http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/state/article784644.ece |title=Florida Democrats revel in gained ground |work=Tampa Bay Times |date=August 25, 2008 |access-date=2010-08-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013103140/http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/state/article784644.ece |archive-date=October 13, 2012 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}{{cite news|last=Cotterell|first=Bill|title=Alex Sink won't run for U.S. Senate in 2010|url=http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20090116/CAPITOLNEWS/90116013?nclick_check=1|newspaper=Tallahassee Democrat|date=January 16, 2009}} but initially declined. When Charlie Crist announced he would not run for re-election, Sink immediately announced her campaign for governor. Sink was the wife of Bill McBride, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2002.

Sink faced only token opposition in the primary. Her lone opponent was former Socialist Party presidential nominee Brian Moore.{{cite news|url=http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional/low-profile-alex-sink-faces-even-more-obscure-oppo/nL8jq/|title=Low-profile Alex Sink faces even more obscure opponent in Democratic race for Florida governor|work=Palm Beach Post|first=Dara|last=Kam|date=July 24, 2010|access-date=October 17, 2014}} On primary day, Sink won the Democratic nomination with nearly 77% of the vote.

File:Florida Governor D Primary 2010.svg

{{Election box begin no change

| title = Democratic primary results{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/2010/maps/#/Governor/2010/FL|title=Florida Gubernatorial Primary Results|work=Politico|date=August 24, 2010 |access-date=August 24, 2010}}

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Alex Sink

| party = Democratic Party (United States)

| votes = 663,802

| percentage = 76.9%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Brian Moore

| party = Democratic Party (United States)

| votes = 199,896

| percentage = 23.1%

}}

{{Election box total no change

| votes = 863,698

| percentage= 100.0%

}}

{{Election box end}}

In May 2009, Republican incumbent governor Charlie Crist announced he would not run for re-election, and instead would run for U.S. Senate.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/12/crist.senate/index.html?iref=hpmostpop|title=Florida governor announces run for Senate|publisher=CNN|date=May 12, 2009|access-date=October 17, 2014}} The move immediately turned the race competitive, as GOP-hopefuls lined up to run for the open seat. Former congressman and Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum emerged as the early favorite. McCollum had previously lost the election for Senate in 2000, and lost the Republican nomination for Senate in 2004. This would be his third attempt at a major statewide campaign.

Just before the deadline, Rick Scott jumped into the primary fight. Scott started dumping millions of his own personal fortune into the race.{{cite news|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2010/07/30/ruling-lets-rick-scott-spend-all-he-wants-in-governors-race-vs-bill-mccollum/|title=Ruling lets Rick Scott spend all he wants in governor's race vs. Bill McCollum|publisher=The Orlando Sentinel|first=Aaron|last=Deslatte|date=July 30, 2010|access-date=October 17, 2014}} The race quickly became one of the most expensive and "nasty" primary campaigns in recent Florida history.{{cite news|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2010/08/25/rick-scott-beats-bill-mccollum-to-end-nasty-gop-governors-primary-fight/

|title=Rick Scott beats Bill McCollum to end nasty GOP governor's primary fight|publisher=The Orlando Sentinel|first=Aaron|last=Deslatte|date=August 25, 2010|access-date=October 17, 2014}} Scott and McCollum lashed out with very negative attacks against each other. Scott ran as a political "outsider", and led some early polls, but McCollum re-took the lead in polls just before primary day. Scott benefited in the absentee voting, while McCollum expected to make up the difference based on turnout. On primary day, Scott won the nomination with just over 46% of the vote. The dejected McCollum team reluctantly conceded after midnight.

File:Florida Governor R Primary 2010.svg

{{Election box begin no change

| title = Republican primary results

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Rick Scott

| party = Republican Party (United States)

| votes = 595,474

| percentage = 46.4%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Bill McCollum

| party = Republican Party (United States)

| votes = 557,427

| percentage = 43.4%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Mike McCalister

| party = Republican Party (United States)

| votes = 130,056

| percentage = 10.1%

}}

{{Election box total no change

| votes = 1,282,957

| percentage= 100.0%

}}

{{Election box end}}

• Rick Scott, healthcare executive

• Alex Sink, Chief Financial Officer of Florida

• Peter L. Allen, electrical inspector

• {{interlanguage link|Michael E. Arth|de|Michael Edward Arth|es||fr||ja|マイケル・アース|zh|米高·亞瑟}}, policy analyst and urban designer who entered the race as a Democrat in June 2009 and later switched to no party affiliation in June 2010
• Farid Khavari, economist, author, and small business owner
• Daniel Imperato{{Cite web |url=http://election.dos.state.fl.us/candidate/CanDetail.asp?account=52671 |title=Florida Election Candidate Tracking System entry for Imperato |access-date=June 23, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100729223629/http://election.dos.state.fl.us/candidate/CanDetail.asp?account=52671 |archive-date=July 29, 2010 |url-status=dead }}
• Calvin Clarence "C.C." Reed

The race was dominated by the two major party candidates and spending on their behalf. By the October 25, 2010, Tampa debate between Scott and Sink, Scott had spent $60 million of his own money on the campaign compared to Sink's $28 million.[https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2010/10/26/governors-race-rick-scott-alex-sink-save-harshest-words-for-last-debate/ "Governor's Race: Rick, Scott, Alex Sink save harshest word for last debate"]. Orlando Sentinel, Total campaign expenditure for the race exceeded $100 million, far exceeding any previous spending for a governor's race in Florida.{{cite news|last=Baribeau|first=Simone|title=Florida Republican Scott Elected Governor After Record Spending|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-03/florida-republican-scott-elected-governor-after-record-spending.html|publisher=Bloomberg|access-date=December 9, 2011}} Scott spent $78 million of his personal wealth in the race.{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rick-scott-wins-tight-florida-governor-race/|title=Rick Scott Wins Tight Florida Governor Race|work=CBS News|first=Lucy|last=Madison|date=April 14, 2011|access-date=October 17, 2014}} Sink made an issue of Scott's connections to Columbia/HCA, a Medicare billing fraud scandal.

One of the turning points in the campaign came during the debate. During a commercial break, Sink's make-up artist delivered a text message on her cell phone to Sink, in direct violation of the debate rules. The rules infraction was immediately pointed out by Scott and the debate moderators.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/10/26/florida.debate.foul/|title=Aide fired over Florida debate foul|publisher=CNN|date=October 26, 2010|access-date=October 17, 2014}} Sink's team was accused of cheating during the debate, and the aide who delivered the message was fired from the campaign the next morning. Afterwards, media and observers were very critical of the gaffe.

{{hidden begin|titlestyle=background:#cff|title=List of Democratic primary polling numbers|contentstyle=border:solid 1px silver; padding:8px; background:white;}}

{{hidden end}}

{{Graph:Chart

| width=700

| height=400

| xAxisTitle=

| yAxisTitle=%support

| xAxisAngle = -40

| legend=Party

| interpolate = basis

| showSymbols = yes

| xType = date

| y1Title=Scott

| y2Title=McCollum

| y3Title=Dockery

| y4Title=SDLP

| y5Title=Alliance

| y6Title=TUV

| y7Title=Green

| y8Title=PBP

| y9Title=Others

| type=line

| xGrid = 5| yGrid = 5

| x= 2009/05/31, 2009/11/18, 2010/05/05, 2010/06/08, 2010/06/13, 2010/07/18, 2010/07/27, 2010/07/28, 2010/08/04, 2010/08/10, 2010/08/11, 2010/08/15, 2010/08/16, 2010/08/19, 2010/08/22, 2010/08/22

| y1= 0, 0, 28, 44, 35, 43, 43, 41, 37, 42, 30, 44, 35, 36, 47, 35

| y2= 44, 45, 34, 31, 30, 29, 32, 25, 31, 32, 34, 42, 44, 45, 40, 39

| y3= 28, 9, 7

| y4=

| y5=

| y6=

| y7=

| y8=

| y9=

| colors = #FF0000, #00FF00, #FFA500, #2AA82C, #F6CB2F, #0C3A6A, #8DC63F, #660000, #DCDCDC

}}

{{hidden begin|titlestyle=background:#cff|title=List of Republican primary polling numbers|contentstyle=border:solid 1px silver; padding:8px; background:white;}}

{{hidden end}}

File:2010 Florida Polling.png

{{hidden begin|titlestyle=background:#cff|title=Bill McCollum (R) vs. Alex Sink (D) vs. Bud Chiles (I)|contentstyle=border:solid 1px silver; padding:8px; background:white;}}

{{Graph:Chart

| width=700

| height=400

| xAxisTitle=

| yAxisTitle=%support

| xAxisAngle = -40

| legend=Party

| interpolate = basis

| showSymbols = yes

| xType = date

| y1Title=McCollum

| y2Title=Sink

| y3Title=Chiles

| y4Title=SDLP

| y5Title=Alliance

| y6Title=TUV

| y7Title=Green

| y8Title=PBP

| y9Title=Others

| type=line

| xGrid = 5| yGrid = 5

| x= 2009/04/01, 2009/05/18, 2009/06/07, 2009/06/22, 2009/08/05, 2009/08/19, 2009/10/20, 2009/10/28, 2009/11/18, 2009/12/14, 2010/01/27, 2010/01/27, 2010/01/31, 2010/02/18, 2010/03/08, 2010/03/18, 2010/05/07, 2010/05/16, 2010/06/07, 2010/06/07, 2010/06/13, 2010/07/11, 2010/07/18, 2010/07/27, 2010/07/28, 2010/08/02, 2010/08/10, 2010/08/11, 2010/08/16

| y1= 36, 40, 34, 42, 48, 38, 46, 37, 35, 44, 41, 46, 41, 48, 44, 47, 45, 43, 40, 33, 30, 30, 23, 27, 27, 26, 35, 29

| y2= 35, 34, 38, 34, 37, 34, 35, 38, 33, 39, 31, 35, 32, 35, 31, 36, 36, 35, 38, 25, 26, 31, 37, 26, 31, 30, 37, 31

| y3= 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 19, 15, 12, 14, 14, 20, 12, 13, 12

| y4=

| y5=

| y6=

| y7=

| y8=

| y9=

| colors = #FF0000, #0000FF, #00FF00, #2AA82C, #F6CB2F, #0C3A6A, #8DC63F, #660000, #DCDCDC

}}

{{hidden end}}

File:Fl 2010 gov ss.svg Results]]

The 2010 governor's race was one of Florida's closest, decided by just over 60,000 votes. Unlike the concurrent Senate race, the governor's race remained in doubt late into the night. When polls closed, Scott had a lead, but as the night progressed, the margin narrowed. The next day, with over 99% of precincts reporting, Scott maintained about a 1% lead in the raw vote. Despite a small number of still-uncounted ballots from Palm Beach County, Sink's chances of winning were negligible, as Scott was still ahead by over 50,000 – much more than the 3,000 uncounted ballots, and more importantly, still above the threshold of 0.5% to trigger a mandatory recount. Sink conceded the day after the election.

Exit polls showed that Scott won among independents and the two candidates split the Hispanic vote.

{{Election box begin | title=2010 Florida gubernatorial election{{cite web |url=https://doe.dos.state.fl.us/elections/resultsarchive/Index.asp?ElectionDate=11/2/2010&DATAMODE= |title= Florida Department of State - Election Results|website=doe.dos.state.fl.us |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003141022/https://doe.dos.state.fl.us/elections/resultsarchive/Index.asp?ElectionDate=11%2F2%2F2010&DATAMODE= |archive-date=October 3, 2011}}}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Rick Scott

|votes = 2,619,335

|percentage = 48.87%

|change = -3.31%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Alex Sink

|votes = 2,557,785

|percentage = 47.72%

|change = +2.62%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Independence Party of Florida

|candidate = Peter Allen

|votes = 123,831

|percentage = 2.31%

|change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Independent politician

|candidate = C. C. Reed

|votes = 18,842

|percentage = 0.35%

|change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Independent politician

|candidate = Michael E. Arth

|votes = 18,644

|percentage = 0.35%

|change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Independent politician

|candidate = Daniel Imperato

|votes = 13,690

|percentage = 0.26%

|change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Independent politician

|candidate = Farid Khavari

|votes = 7,487

|percentage = 0.14%

|change =

}}

{{Election box candidate|

|party = Write-ins

|candidate =

|votes = 121

|percentage = 0.00%

|change =

}}

{{Election box plurality|

|votes = 61,550

|percentage = 1.15%

|change = -5.92%

}}

{{Election box turnout|

|votes = 5,359,735

|percentage =

|change =

}}

{{Election box gain with party link|

|winner = Republican Party (United States)

|loser = Independent politician

|swing =

}}

{{Election box end}}

• Franklin (largest city: Eastpoint)
• Liberty (largest city: Bristol)
• Hillsborough (largest municipality: Tampa)
• Osceola (largest municipality: Kissimmee)
• Pinellas (largest municipality: St. Petersburg)
• St. Lucie (largest city: Port St. Lucie)
• Orange (Largest city: Orlando)

• List of governors of Florida
• 2010 United States gubernatorial elections

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120227032155/http://election.dos.state.fl.us/ Florida Division of Elections]
• [http://www.votesmart.org/election_governor_five_categories.php?state_id=FL Florida Governor Candidates] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081130020411/http://www.votesmart.org/election_governor_five_categories.php?state_id=FL |date=November 30, 2008 }} at Project Vote Smart
• [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/state_candidates.phtml?s=FL&y=2010&f=G Campaign contributions for 2010 Florida Governor] from Follow the Money
• [https://archive.today/20121210202819/http://www.pollster.com/polls/fl/10-fl-gov-ge.php 2010 Florida Gubernatorial General Election: All Head-to-Head Matchups] graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
• [http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2010/election_2010_governor_elections/florida/election_2010_florida_governor Election 2010: Florida Governor] from Rasmussen Reports
• [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2010/governor/fl/florida_governor_mccollum_vs_sink-1077.html 2010 Florida Governor – McCollum vs. Sink] from Real Clear Politics
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100131114723/http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=governor-2010-FL 2010 Florida Governor's Race] from CQ Politics
• [http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/governor/florida Race Profile] in The New York Times

Official campaign websites (Archived)

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101024013736/http://www.peter4governor.com/governor/ Peter Allen for Governor]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100209004606/http://www.michaelearth.org/ Michael E. Arth for Governor]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101016000948/http://www.khavariforgovernor.com/ Farid Khavari for Governor]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101029003721/http://www.rickscottforflorida.com/ Rick Scott for Governor]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101029004829/http://www.alexsink2010.com// Alex Sink for Governor]

{{United States elections, 2010}}

{{FlGovElections}}

2010

Florida

Gubernatorial