Yesterday Governor Crist made the decision to run as a No Party Affiliation candidate for U.S. Senate. This put me in a commanding position to be the next Senator from Florida. Governor Crist’s decision to run as an Independent makes this a three-way race, with Speaker Rubio effectively winning the Republican nomination. That means on election day, Floridians will have a choice between a strong, progressive Democrat who fights hard for everyday Floridians and two registered Republicans who together were the architects of Florida’s failed economy, who both are embroiled in a tax evasion scandal, and who both favor more tax breaks for corporate special interests and the wealthy as their only economic proposal.
The national Republicans know that with two Republicans on the ballot in November we have a great chance to elect a candidate who will actually work for the needs of everyday Floridians. That’s why they urged Governor Crist to stay in the race as a Republican or drop out.
Why do I think our campaign is in such good shape? The numbers. The base Democratic vote in Florida is 2.5 million strong and we are on the rise in Florida. While the other side was locked in a battle over whose philosophy is more conservative, we were busy gathering over 145,000 petitions from Floridians to get on the ballot. We’ve been running a strong grassroots campaign for months and this effort will be key to turning out the vote in November, especially in a three-way race. The overall voter turnout in 2010 looks to be about 6.2 million voters. That means that in a race with Crist and Rubio on the ballot, we can win with 40% of the overall vote, a number we can get to with the Democratic base alone.
Crist polls well now in a three-way race. But that’s because our campaign isn’t as widely-known at this point. Almost everyone in Florida knows Gov. Crist and most know Speaker Rubio, meaning they have little room to grow their support. I have a great opportunity to introduce myself to voters, tell them my story and what I’m going to fight for as Florida’s next U.S. Senator.
I’ll stay around a while to answer questions in the comments. Thanks for taking the time to read this and thanks for your support.
Kendrick
PS: Learn more about our campaign at kendrickmeek.com, by texting JOIN to 35736, following us on http://twitter.com/kendrickmeek or on Facebook at http://facebook.com/kendrickme…
PPS: See this article on Pollster.com: http://www.pollster.com/blogs/…
Do you expect to improve? Because frankly you’ll need more resources to be able to get your name out in a financially expensive state like Florida. I was surprised your haul this last quarter was less than 1.5 mil, I had expected it to be closer to 3 million, because I would have thought national money would have started pouring in when it became apparent what a disaster, one way or another, the Republican primary was going to turn into.
I feel financially you need to raise at least 6-7 million over the next two quarters to get the resources to compete, because the DSCC doesn’t have the resources to sink a large sum of money into a state like this, and the DNC doesn’t really either, maybe courting Unions will help of course, especially with a major turnout campaign. But i wouldn’t expect more than 5-8 million dollars in outside help, which won’t be enough if you can’t get out there to the voters with at least a 10 million dollar ad buy, particularly in areas like Tallahassee, Pensacola, Jacksonville, Gainesville, Orlando, Tampa-St. Petersburg, and even the areas north of your Miami base like Ft. Lauderdale and Boca Raton.
Crist and Rubio have unfortunately dominated the airwaves with their nasty partisan bickering about who is the better Conservative. Crist has alienated most of the Republican party, but many of his former supporters will not support Crist anymore and, at the same time, refuse to vote for Rubio. I could see you gaining some of Crist’s former support along with other of these supporters refusing to vote.
I have read some negative posts about your campaign by frustrated Dems but I have no idea why they are so down on you. I for one am excited by your candidacy, and feel that once you get your name out in the coming months your poll numbers will rise.
As a high school student, I am especially grateful of your stance on energy and the environment. Too often the youth of the nation are forgotten when people discuss the mess our world will be in if we don’t stop climate change and invest in renewable energy, and I am glad to see you advocating for renewable energy and stopping climate change on your website. I think you will make a fantastic senator.
On C-Span late night w/ Delahunt (MA) & Ryan (OH) & Wasserman-Schultz (FL).
I can honestly say that watching that late night on C-Span during the darkest depths of the Bush administration was one of the few things that gave me hope.
The key is getting you message out there. Is Menendez and the DSCC going to start getting some bucks your way for some media attention?
Keep fighting the good fight sir, and I will keep sending you donations and hoping to call you Senator in November.
I’ve been rooting for you since you stepped in, when it looked like Crist would be the inevitable nominee and victor in this race.
plan on donating to you this year. Nothing big, but just enough to show my support. You had the courage to stay in this race when everyone considered Crist Senator-elect. A lesser man would have done the safe thing and run for re-election to the House. Good Luck!
is that Crist could get something like 20% of the democratic vote. If that happens, the race is over and we can all say hi to Senator Rubio imo. Just make sure you can solidify your base and I think your strategy is a sound one.
Thanks for coming to SSP!
I have 1 question for you (if you are still here).
How do you plan to limit bleed off from Democratic voters to Gov. Crist who indicated in his announcement yesterday he was going to tact left by mentioning environment and education as signature issues? Specifically, what is your message countering Crist on the environment and education and do you plan on this to be a broad blast (tv/radio) or narrow and specific through local meetups to spread that?
Thank you so much, and with the sudden change in landscape, your efforts in creating a ground game through signatures, and coming to our website, I will be adding you to my list of candidates getting a few dollars from me (I’m in college, can’t give a lot).
Thank you again!
While I wouldn’t mind a Crist win too much, I hope you win. My biggest priority is that Marco Rubio gets nowhere near that Senate seat.
I know some people have doubts that you can put up a good fight. Prove them wrong, okay?
I used to live in Florida. Lived in Broward County for twelve years. Shortly after I left, Bush re-“won” the state. I felt the place was a mess, with both Bushes in office at the top, with the state as gerrymandered as it is, and even down to our classical radio station going out of business.
Help fix things back home by winning this Senate seat, will ya? 🙂