Red Tide, Blue-Green Algae Turning Rick Scott Toxic To Florida Voters

[hatrack]

Molly E. Bowen was raised Republican by her Republican mom on this sliver of crescent coast. In a GOP stronghold where Republicans outnumber Democrats nearly 2 to 1, she proudly voted for Donald Trump two years ago. Yet she won’t be voting Republican in Florida’s U.S. Senate race. The environment is among her top concerns, and she is not impressed with Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who is running for Senate as his tenure comes to an end after two terms. “Good riddance,” Bowen said. “I’m going to vote ‘no party affiliation,' and everyone else should, too.”

Forget about a blue wave. Scott is dealing with red tide — a gigantic outbreak of toxic algae that has bedeviled this part of the Gulf Coast for more than a year. Although polls had earlier shown Scott locked in a dead heat with incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson, the governor is behind. His environmental record threatens to cost Republicans what had been seen as a prime opportunity to pad the GOP majority in the U.S. Senate.

Scott suspended his campaign to oversee the state’s response to Hurricane Michael, which devastated the Florida Panhandle. Meanwhile, voters whose support he desperately needs on the southern Gulf Coast, where Bowen lives, are contending with two algae blooms — saltwater red tide and a separate outbreak of freshwater blue-green algae — that have hurt tourism and tarnished the Sunshine State’s image as a vacation paradise.
In a race that many thought was Scott’s to lose, polls show his opponent, Nelson could retain his seat. The governor is being taunted as “Red Tide Rick,” and some Floridians have made him the butt of jokes on social media, contrasting the state’s beautiful beaches with the dead fish littering its shores.

Scott is haunted by a perception among many voters, conservative and liberal, that his environmental policies made a natural disaster worse. In his first term, the state cut hundreds of millions of dollars from agencies that manage fresh water, laid off hundreds of workers in the environmental protection department, squashed a deal to buy land from sugar farms that pollute water and killed an attempt to increase inspections of septic tanks that soil water and contribute to the algae problem.

EDIT

https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2018/10/30/red-tide-rick-how-rick-scotts-environmental-record-could-hurt-his-senate-run/?utm_term=.b90c3660476f

[babylonsister]

1. Warms my heart that I might not have

to see his mug around here anymore.

[Racerdog1]

2. Skeletor going down

Piece of shit has done more harm to this state than any hurricane. Not to mention the residents he has kept from getting healthcare. Good riddance asshole.

[Rizen]

3. I hope Rick Scott loses

We need to turn red areas blue.

[Cha]

4. It Is Scott's Fault!

Scott is haunted by a perception among many voters, conservative and liberal, that his environmental policies made a natural disaster worse. In his first term, the state cut hundreds of millions of dollars from agencies that manage fresh water, laid off hundreds of workers in the environmental protection department, squashed a deal to buy land from sugar farms that pollute water and killed an attempt to increase inspections of septic tanks that soil water and contribute to the algae problem.

One thing though.. Molly Bowen should never be "proud" she voted for a Sociopathic, mentally challenged, sexual deviant.