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As self-financed gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott nears a crucial cap, he has filed a lawsuit hoping to keep his competitors from benefiting from his spending.
Scott, a Naples-based health care executive with a large personal fortune, has eschewed public financing for his campaign. But Florida’s campaign finance law provides for matching publicly-financed funding for candidates once one member of the races spends $24.9 million, or $2 for every registered voter in the state. Once an independently financed campaign crosses that threshold, all opponents are entitled to matching funds up to $4 for every registered voter, or about $49.8 million this year.
Scott has already spent $21 million of his own money, according to a lawsuit he filed in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee. The suit contends the law that gives his candidates a dollar-for-dollar match for any amount Scott spends more than $24.9 million violates Scott’s First Amendment rights to political speech. Scott’s suit also claims he is doubly penalized by the rule because he plans to support whomever wins the Republican nomination for governor, a candidate who could be attacked with matching funds given to candidates from other parties.
( “Rick Scott filed suit in the federal court to protect his First and 14th Amendment rights and block taxpayer subsidy of political campaigns,” )
Scott, a Naples-based health care executive with a large personal fortune, has eschewed public financing for his campaign. But Florida’s campaign finance law provides for matching publicly-financed funding for candidates once one member of the races spends $24.9 million, or $2 for every registered voter in the state. Once an independently financed campaign crosses that threshold, all opponents are entitled to matching funds up to $4 for every registered voter, or about $49.8 million this year.
Scott has already spent $21 million of his own money, according to a lawsuit he filed in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee. The suit contends the law that gives his candidates a dollar-for-dollar match for any amount Scott spends more than $24.9 million violates Scott’s First Amendment rights to political speech. Scott’s suit also claims he is doubly penalized by the rule because he plans to support whomever wins the Republican nomination for governor, a candidate who could be attacked with matching funds given to candidates from other parties.
( “Rick Scott filed suit in the federal court to protect his First and 14th Amendment rights and block taxpayer subsidy of political campaigns,” )
