Scott lost protest votes to 'Rocky' De La Fuente | Thumb up

Sure, Roque (Rocky) De La Fuente, the California businessman who challenged Gov. Rick Scott in the GOP U.S. Senate primary, had the proverbial snowball’s chance in Florida of winning. Few knew who he was, and there were few visible signs of his campaign. Accordingly, he got just 11 percent of the vote.

But a closer look at county-by-county results shows two counties — Martin and Walton (in the Panhandle) — gave De La Fuente 20 percent or more of the GOP vote, indicating that, for thousands of voters, Rocky was a protest vote

In Martin County, this was undoubtedly due to Scott’s perceived indifference to the environment. And Walton County has been ground zero for controversy over a new state law, signed by Scott, which restricts access to public beaches (Scott has since signed an executive order blocking state agencies from taking action on the new law.)

Again, there was no way Scott was going to lose, but GOP voters dissatisfied with the Scott era did all they could to provide a little rain for his election night parade.