2010 Florida gubernatorial election

The 2010 Florida gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. It was a big and close race to choose the next Governor of Florida. The person who was governor before, Charlie Crist, decided not to run again for governor and instead tried to win a seat in the Senate. This meant there was an open race for governor.

In the end, Republican Rick Scott won the election by a very small margin against Democrat Alex Sink. Even though many people did not think very highly of him, Rick Scott was helped by a big win for Republicans all across the country during that time, called the midterm GOP wave.

The election was also influenced by a group of people known as the Tea Party, who supported Scott. He also talked a lot about being against a new health care law called the Affordable Care Act, and many voters agreed with him on that issue. This election was important because it was the first time since 1982 that the winner of the governor race was from the same political party as the winner of the United States Senate election happening at the same time.

Primary Elections

Democratic

Alex Sink, who was the Chief Financial Officer of Florida, decided to run for governor. She was the main candidate because she was the only Democrat holding a statewide office at the time. Her only opponent was Brian Moore, who did not get much support. Sink won the Democratic nomination with most of the votes.

Republican

When Charlie Crist decided not to run for re-election, many Republicans wanted to run. Bill McCollum, the Florida Attorney General, was the early favorite. But then Rick Scott, a businessman, joined the race. Scott spent a lot of his own money and talked about creating jobs and cutting taxes. The competition became very tough, with both sides making strong claims against each other. In the end, Scott won the Republican nomination with just over half of the votes.

General Election

Candidates

The main candidates were:

• Rick Scott, a healthcare executive from the Republican Party
• Alex Sink, the Chief Financial Officer of Florida from the Democratic Party

There were also several other candidates from smaller parties and no party affiliation.

Campaign

The race was mainly between Rick Scott and Alex Sink. By the final debate on October 25, 2010, Scott had spent $60 million of his own money, while Sink had spent $28 million. In total, more than $100 million was spent, which was more than any previous Florida governor's race.

During one debate, Sink received a text message during a commercial break, which broke the debate rules. This mistake was widely criticized.

Predictions

Polling

Democratic primary

List of Democratic primary polling numbers

Republican primary

List of Republican primary polling numbers

General election

Hypothetical Polls

Results

The 2010 election was very close, with Rick Scott winning by just over 60,000 votes. The results were uncertain for a time, but Scott stayed ahead and Alex Sink conceded the next day. Exit polls showed Scott won among independent voters.