Gov. Rick Scott spent $60 million of his own money to win the Republican primary and general election in 2010. This time he wants to raise $100 million as he prepares for a challenge from Democrats.
Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee bureau chief Steve Bousquet says expected candidate Charlie Crist can't raise that much money. But Bousquet says the former governor has an advantage money can't buy.
"He won’t have anywhere near the kind of money Rick Scott has - but here’s the catch - he doesn’t need that much money", Bousquet explained. "Crist has about 96 percent name ID in this state. And it’s an interesting thing: there are three, and only three, political figures in the state of Florida who have what I would call universal name recognition. One is Jeb Bush. One is Marco Rubio. And the third is Charlie Crist."
Crist is expected to launch his campaign for governor as a Democrat in St. Petersburg this morning