FL-Gov: Chiles Will Exit Race, Endorse Sink

Sweet score for Alex Sink:

Independent candidate Bud Chiles confirmed Wednesday he would drop out of Florida’s race for governor and back Democratic nominee Alex Sink. […]

In a statement, aide Jim McClellan said Chiles would make the announcement official at a Thursday morning news conference in Tallahassee.

Democratic pollster Tom Eldon said the rise of surprise GOP nominee Rick Scott ended up changing the electoral math for Chiles, the son of former Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles, who had jumped into the race in June as a alternative to the two major party candidates.

“Democrats, independents and a healthy percentage of Republicans have been coalescing around Sink ever since Scott’s receipt of the GOP’s nomination and this has marginalized Chiles in recent polling,” said Eldon. “Chiles, like these voters, is rightly worried about the damage Rick Scott could do to the state if he were to be elected governor. Chiles could live with himself if Bill McCollum became governor. I don’t think he wanted to face the morning-after had Rick Scott just been elected governor.”

PPP’s most recent poll indicated that the bulk of Chiles’ support came from conservative-leaning folks who just couldn’t stomach Rick Scott. His exit may only have a net neutral effect, but his endorsement is surely welcome news here.

UPDATE: Some more from Chiles:

Chiles added that he came away from the meeting “feeling a whole lot better” about Sink’s stance on issues he cares about, such as renewable energy, children’s issues and spurring small business. “It seemed to me like that there was a lot more agreement than I might have thought.”

29 thoughts on “FL-Gov: Chiles Will Exit Race, Endorse Sink”

  1. it takes out a potential wild card.  Now it’s a Sink vs Scott straight up general campaign, and this will allow Sink to better stake out the middle.

    If I was in Crist’s campaign I’d suggest that he endorse Alex Sink.  Charlie would have to say that he respects the fact that she’s supports Meek, but that he’s worked well with her before and think she’s a better candidate for Governor than Scott, partisan politics aside. This would also force Rubio to answer questions if he supports/endorses Scott.  

  2. I love “Rick Scott Versus The Universe” almost as much as “Rick Scott’s Finest Hour.”  “Rick Scott and the Infinite Sadness of Election Day” will probably be the best though.

    In case you’re wondering

    book 1 Rick Scott Versus the World

    book 2 Rick Scott Gets It Together

    book 3 Rick Scott’s Finest Hour  

    book 4 Rick Scott Versus The Universe

    book 5 Rick Scott and His Precious Little Support

    book 6 Rick Scott and the Infinite Sadness of Election Day

  3. of NV’s none-of-these-candidates choice for a lot of those poll respondents.

    So with Chiles’ endorsement, hopefully his supporters (mostly Repubs and conservatives according to PPP) will grudgingly move to Sink. Especially if he follows up with a few campaign appearances on her behalf.

    PPP: new FL poll ASAP please!

  4. Good grief, Chiles supporters went 63% for McCain.

    If Chiles really wanted to maximize his impact on helping Sink, he should have stuck around and ran as a social conservative populist, a quasi-Huckabee. The Cubans and central FL trailer-parkers were McCollum’s base. Even a low-budget, grassroots campaign targeted at those specific folks would have a huge impact.  

  5. if chiles was REALLY in the race b/c of the issues shouldn’t he have spoken to Sink before hand to find out her positions to see if a run was necessary?  sounds like a cop-out to me.

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