Jack Nicklaus stumps for Rick Scott in Palm Beach Gardens

GOLF legend Jack Nicklaus and his wife Barbara rallied supporters of Gov. Rick Scott’s Senate campaign during a get-out-the-vote event Wednesday in Palm Beach Gardens.

Nicklaus, widely considered the best golfer of all time, told a crowd of about 25 people gathered at the Angry Moon Cafe that Scott has his priorities in order: His state and his residents. Scott is vying for the U.S. Senate seat held by Bill Nelson,

Senate in 2000 after six terms in Congress, six years as the state treasurer and a stint in the Legislature.

The Nicklauses, who live in an unincorporated pocket north of of Palm Beach Gardens, mingled with supporters wearing stickers and apparel printed with Scott’s slogan: “Make Washington

Wo r k . ”

Before

Nicklaus began reading remarks that he wrote, one woman yelled, “We love you!” Seemingly surprised, Nicklaus replied, “Well, thank you!”

Nicklaus said he always put his family

and Scott has his priorities in order, too. During the past few weeks, Scott left the campaign trail to attend to Panama City and Mexico Beach residents affected by Hurricane Michael.

“He’s trying to rebuild houses and businesses knocked down and lives shattered,” Nicklaus said.

Scott said he would hand off his campaign to his wife so that he could focus on storm response. The campaign last week released a 30-second ad that said while Nelson “continues to play dirty politics,” Scott was leading hurricane recovery. The ad featured a photo of Scott touring storm damage and video of him passi n g supp l ie s out of a plane. The ad also states that Scott was housing state troopers in his home, the governor’s mansion. A tweet storm ensued.

L a s t we e k , Nelson tweeted, “Apparently, ‘Scott will be leaving the campaign trail to focus on the hurricane’ means that Scott instead will be using the hurricane to film a new campaign commercial. A new low -- even for Scott.”

A few more tweets and three days later, Nelson hit Scott again: “Rick Scott says he’s NOT campaigning because of Hurricane Michael. Turns out, he’s bought $6,899,890 worth of political ads since the storm began clobbering Florida.”

On Wednesday, Scott’s Senate campaign tweeted, “After abandoning the Panhandle to campaign, Bill Nelson

campaign event in Pensacola. Hopefully he looks out the window so he can see others working to help people in areas where he’s ‘done everything I can do.’”

At the Scott campaign event, Nicklaus said he’d rather have a leader who cares about rolling up his sleeves rather than attaching