Nelson ready for election challenge from Gov. Scott
Bill Nelson says he knows what’s coming his way and he’s ready for what could be the toughest re-election challenge of his Senate career.
“I’m ready,” he said Tuesday in West Palm Beach, a day after Gov. Rick Scott told people that April 9 will be the day for his big political announcement.
Scott is widely expected to challenge the Democratic senator, in what would be an extravaganza of political money, advertising and negative attacks.
“It’s going to be clearly a set of contrasts on so many issues, from the environment to sea level rise to oil drilling off the coast, to the expansion of Medicaid in Florida. I mean the list just goes on and on and on,” Nelson said.
The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre illustrates the acrimony between Scott and Nelson.
At a Feb. 21 CNN town hall about the shooting that killed 17 and wounded 17 others, Nelson jabbed at Scott for skipping the event. “There is no representative from the state of Florida. Our governor did not come here, Governor Scott,” Nelson said.
Days later, Scott hit back. “Bill Nelson is a career politician,” Scott said. “He talks a lot. He does nothing. Think about it: He has been in office for almost 50 years. He hasn’t done anything on gun safety or school safety, and nothing on gun control.”
As Stoneman Douglas survivors and relatives of victims demanded action, Scott signed legislation that raised the minimum age to buy rifles and shotguns to 21 from 18; broadened three-day waiting period for handgun purchases to include long guns; banned bump stocks, devices that can make semi-automatic guns to mimic automatic weapons fire; and allowed the arming of some school staffers.
Nelson favors broader restrictions on guns, including universal background checks for purchase of weapons and restrictions on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips.
On Tuesday morning, Scott was in Belle Glade, where television stations showed him at a ribboncutting ceremony at Tellus Products, a $75 million plant that uses left over sugar cane fiber to create environmentally-friendly packaging, including plates, bowls and take-out containers.
Scott touted the facility, owned by Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida and Florida Crystals Corp., as an example of jobs created during the time he’s been governor.
On Tuesday afternoon, Nelson was in West Palm Beach, to draw attention to the opioid epidemic.
Today, Nelson visits Fort Lauderdale to tout the $190 million for a new federal courthouse included in the massive federal spending bill passed last week. Scott plans to talk about the environment, and release a turtle, at Sombrero Beach in Marathon.
Sun Sentinel news partner WPEC-CBS12 contributed to this report.