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AP: “Florida Gov. skips campaign stop after protesters show up”

Florida Woman: “I can’t believe Rick Scott is scared of a bunch of little old ladies in tennis shoes,” “we’re here because we love our beaches.”

Rick Scott made headlines over the weekend for all the wrong reasons – inviting voters to a campaign stop and then running away from them when he was confronted about his controversial beach access law and self-serving politics. This is not the not the first time Scott skipped out on meeting with constituents. Last month, his office invented a “security concern” to avoid the public. It’s classic Scott: looking out for himself at Floridians’ expense, and these reports add to the over370 bad stories Scott’s suffered in the first 150 days of his campaign.

Tampa Bay Times: Rick Scott skips campaign stop and ducks beach access law opponents
“I can’t believe Rick Scott is scared of a bunch of little old ladies in tennis shoes”
By Steve Bosquet
September 9, 2018

  • Gov. Rick Scott invited supporters to a doughnut shop in the Florida Panhandle Sunday, and was a surprise no-show after about a dozen people showed up to protest his signing of a controversial beach access law.
  • Scott’s campaign did not respond to questions about why he suddenly changed his schedule. At a later campaign stop in Panama City Sunday, Scott walked past a reporter and did not respond to a question about the protesters, as a campaign aide interjected: “He’s not taking questions.”
  • “I can’t believe Rick Scott is scared of a bunch of little old ladies in tennis shoes,” said Lynn Nesmith, a local architecture writer who held a hand-lettered “Repeal HB 631” placard. “We’re here because we love our beaches.”
  • Local Republicans waited for at least 90 minutes before concluding that the governor wouldn’t show.

NW Florida Daily News: Scott a no-show in Walton
By Nathan Cobb
September 9, 2018

  • Gov. Rick Scott, campaigning to unseat incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson this fall, cancelled at the last moment a campaign stop at a local business.
  • Sunday’s event, which was to be held at the Donut Hole, attracted customers hoping to meet the governor who cannot run for reelection due to term limits. Outside, the planned stop drew both supporters and protesters of his signature of HB 631, which restricts public access to beaches owned by private citizens.
  • …the vast majority of the nearly 30 people outside the business were there to protest HB 631. Garner Chandler, a Grayton Beach resident, said that HB 631 has been “devastating to the Walton County community as a whole.” She added that while beachfront owners are paying taxes on the residence and the land included with the residence, they aren’t paying taxes on the land between the toe of the dune and the Gulf.

AP: Florida Gov. skips campaign stop after protesters show up
September 10, 2018

  • Florida Gov. Rick Scott is dodging protesters during a campaign bus tour. The Tampa Bay Times reported that Scott invited supporters to a popular doughnut shop in northwest Florida but was a no-show to the Sunday event after protesters showed up outside.
  • The protesters are upset that Scott signed into law a measure that voided a local beach access ordinance. Walton County officials are going through a new process in order to reinstate an ordinance that guarantees public access to beaches.

See more: Miami Herald: Beach access battle, algae blooms appear to cost Scott votes; NWF Daily News: Did Walton County send Rick Scott an anti-HB 631 message?; WATCH WINK: Scott won’t meet with residents during algae crisis; WATCH WFLX: Scott refuses to meet with residents, algae crisis ; WATCH WPEC:Gov. Scott Avoids Protesters; WATCH WPBF: Protesters line Sunset Marina ahead of the governor’s visit ; Tampa Bay Times: Beach access battle, algae blooms may have cost Rick Scott votes; Associated Press: Sen. Nelson blasts Florida Gov. Scott on new beach use law ; Tampa Bay Times: Beach battle: Nelson criticizes Scott over access law ; My Panhandle: Locals Protest Gov. Rick Scott’s Beach Access Law ; CBS Miami: Gov. Scott Flip Flops On Beach Access ; WLRN:Contradicting Law He Signed, Gov. Rick Scott Asks Counties To Ensure Access To Florida Beaches; First Coast News: Florida counties fighting new beach law by Gov. Scott

 

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