Which Rick Scott will govern now, tea party or moderate?
TAMPA Since Rick Scott came out of nowhere in 2010 to win the Florida governors mansion, Floridians have seen two versions of him.
There was the tea party champion of his first year or two in office, who denounced big government, sought unprecedented education cuts and said bureaucrats and school systems would have to figure out how to do better with less.
Then there was the comparatively moderate, establishment Republican of the last year or two, who said he was proud to announce historic increases in education spending and the biggest budget in state history.
Its fair to ask which Rick Scott Floridians are likely to see in his second term, when he has no need to worry about an upcoming re-election.
In interviews after Tuesdays Election Day, several prominent Republicans including legislative leaders said they expect to see Scott continue in the mode he eased into late in his first term, after a rocky start in his relations with the Legislature a business-friendly, consensus-oriented executive who seeks common goals with the Legislature and is more ideologically moderate.
I expect to see more of the Rick Scott weve seen the last two years as opposed to the one we saw the first two years thats my gut feeling, said state Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Palm Harbor.
He took some fairly dramatic positions that were promoted to him by the tea party wing of the party in the first two years and I dont really expect to see that in the next four years.
Democrats werent so sure, and said they fear theyll see Scotts tea party orientation return.
Incoming House Democratic Leader Mark Pafford of West Palm Beach said he believes the change in Scott was cosmetic, aimed at his re-election, and wont last.
We should expect another (legislative) session that looks very similar to his first three years in office, when he was very tea partyish and the Legislature has generally embraced those ideas, Pafford said. My guess is hes going to go back to where hes more comfortable.
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Which Rick Scott will govern now, tea party or moderate?