Jeff Greene enters Democratic governor’s race

TALLAHASSEE — Jeff Greene, a billionaire real estate investor, is set to spice up an already-crowded Democratic race for governor. He filed paperwork to run with the state Division of Elections last week.

Greene, 63, spent $23.8 million of his own money running for U.S. Senate in 2010, but lost in the Democratic primary to former U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek by 26 points. Meek would go on to lose to Marco Rubio. He previously ran for Congress in California as a Republican in 1982 but lost in the GOP primary.

If he puts significant funds behind his campaign, Greene has a shot to win, despite being the fifth major candidate to get in the race. The race is still wide open, with a plurality of voters in most polls still undecided, even though Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and Winter Park businessman Chris King have been running for months.

Yet Greene will likely face attacks from fellow Democrats over his positive words for Palm Beach neighbor Donald Trump shortly after the election.

“At this point, my neighbor has won and I am behind him 100 percent as we all should be,” he told Forbes in November 2016. “I hope all Democrats do the opposite of what (Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell did, when President Obama was elected, and get behind Donald Trump and not think about voting him out of office.”

Greene also criticized Trump in the same interview for his rhetoric toward Muslims and Mexicans.

“He opened the door to bigoted and racist behavior. I hope he is going to pivot away from that rhetoric. Hopefully he can clarify that what he meant was to not keep all Muslims out of the country but to control the borders more carefully,” Greene said.

Greene did not return calls for comment Monday.

His opponents shrugged off his entrance into the race.

“The more Democrats we have working to end 20 years of Republican rule, the better,” Graham spokesman Matt Harringer said. “Gwen will continue to stand up for everyday Floridians who are facing higher health care costs, an affordable housing crisis and devastating public school cuts.”

The Greene news came on the same day Graham announced a $1.1 million television ad buy, her first of the campaign.

While Greene’s wealth could play a major role in the race, it could also be a liability. Stories of wild parties with Mike Tyson and other celebrities on his yacht, Summerwind, dogged his Senate run, even though he has said he never used drugs on the boats. Tyson backed up that account to Politico in 2010.

In ads for the Senate campaign, Greene said his independent wealth meant he wasn’t beholden to special interests.

Greene