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| FLORIDA |
Nov. 2,
2010 U.S. Senate |
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Plurality: 1,038,194 votes (19.19 percentage points). Notes: This race saw plenty of twists and turns, but the seat ultimately remained in the Republican column. Former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio (R), a Tea Party candidate, defeated Gov. Charlie Crist (I), U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek (D) and a bevy of little known candidates. Incumbent Sen. Mel Martinez (R) announced in Dec. 2008 that he would not seek re-election. Rubio, who was prevented from running for re-election to the legislature in 2008 by term limits, had formed a law firm and a consulting firm and also worked as an analyst for Univision, and as a visiting professor at Florida Interational University. He announced his candidacy via video on May 5, 2009 (>). A week later, on May 12, Crist announced he would not seek re-election as governor, but would run for Senate. Crist quickly earned the backing of the NRSC. NRSC chair John Cornyn wrote on RedState that, "with his record of leadership and astronomical approval ratings, including strong numbers among Republicans, Democrats and Independents, Charlie Crist represents the best chance for Republicans to hold this seat in Florida." Cornyn described Rubio as "an up-and-comer," but said his low name ID "will ultimately force him to spend a lot more money introducing himself to Floridians." On Aug. 7, 2009 Martinez surprised everyone by announcing he would not serve out his term and would resign after his replacement was selected (>). On Aug. 29 Crist announced he would appoint his former chief of staff and campaign manager George LeMieux to fill the seat as interim Senator. Rubio attracted national attention as a rising conservative star, appearing on the cover of National Review magazine in Aug. 2009 (Sept. 7 issue date). Meanwhile Crist's popularity among Republicans waned. On April 29, 2010 he announced he would leave the Republican primary and run as an independent (>). Primaries were held on Aug. 24. Rubio tallied 1,069,936 votes (84.6%) with the remainder going to Billy Kogut and William Escoffery, III (>). Meek defeated real estate billionaire Jeff Greene by 528,266 votes (57.5%) to 284,948 votes (31.0%) with the remainder split between Glenn Burkett and Maurice Ferre. Rubio, Crist and Meek debated multiple times. As a sign of the race's high profile, moderators included CNN's Candy Crowley, ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, and NBC News' David Gregory: Oct. 6 - ABC News from WFTV9 studios in Orlando (1, 2); Oct. 19 - WFOR-TV at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale-Davie (>); Oct. 24 - a special edition of CNN's "State of the Union" from the University of South Florida in Tampa (>). Oct. 26 - NBC News from WESH2 studios in Orlando. There were media reports in the latter part of October that former President Bill Clinton worked to persuade Meek to drop out of the race and endorse Crist. Meek stayed in the race. According to Open Secrets, Florida was the third most expensive Senate race of the cycle (spending by all candidates and outside groups), with total spending of $79.5 million (>). The Rubio campaign spent $21.6 million, the Crist campaign $13.6 million and the Meek campaign $9.3 million. Outside groups addred another $10.0 million in spending. Campaign Managers: Marco Rubio: Jose Mallea (Feb. 2010) Owner of JM Global Consulting since Feb. 2007. Chief of staff to Miami Mayor Carlos Alvarez, 2005-07. Associate director, White House liaison 2004-05) and senior advisor for the Office of Commercial and Business Affairs (2003-04) at the U.S. Department of State. Personal aide to the White House chief of staff, 2002-03. Special assistant to the Administrator at the U.S. Small Business Administration, 2001-02. B.A. in political sciences from Florida International University. Charlie Crist: Margaret Wood (May 2010) Crist's older sister; worked as a public school teacher at Baypoint Middle School. -Eric Eikenberg was Crist's initial campaign manager until he left the Republican primary in Apr. 2010. Kendrick Meek: Abe Dyk Philadelphia political director on Hillary Clinton for President 2008 primary campaign. Scheduling and advance consultant on the Nutter for Mayor campaign. Deputy campaign manager (scheduling and advance) on Casey for Senate, 2005-06. Special projects on Fowler for DNC chair. Director of scheduling and advance for Pennsylvania Victory '04. Campaign manager on Andrew Hohns for State Representative, 2004. Delegate operations on Joe Lieberman for President. Regional organizer for the NHDP in 2002. B.A. in political sciencee from University of Pennsyvania. See also: David Catanese. "The top campaigns of 2010." Politico, Nov. 9, 2010. Chris Good. "Why Kendrick Meek Was Right to Stay in the Florida Senate Race." The Atlantic, Oct. 28, 2010. Ben Smith. "Clinton pushed Meek to quit Fla. race." Politico, Oct. 28, 2010. David Catanese. "Band of others: Crist retools his bid." Politico, July 30, 2010. Chris Good. "The Hug of Death: Why It Wasn't Crist's Fault." The Atlantic, Apr. 29, 2010. Jonathan Karl and Teddy Davis. "Source: Crist to Bolt GOP, Run for Senate as Independent." ABC News, Apr. 27, 2010. Ken Rudin. "The Fast Rise and Remarkable Fall Of Charlie Crist," NPR, Apr. 19, 2010. Mark Leibovich. "The First Senator From the Tea Party." The New York Times Magazine, Jan. 6, 2010. --. "Marco Rubio: Conservatives' New Man in Florida?" NPR, Nov. 2, 2009. Mike Mentrek. "Florida Governor Charlie Crist appoints ex-aide George LeMieux to replace Senator Mel Martinez." The Plain Dealer, Aug. 29, 2009. Sen. John Cornyn. "On the NRSC Endorsement." RedState, May 29, 2009. |
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