# 2010 Florida gubernatorial election

Elections in Florida :
Federal government
Presidential elections
1848
1852
1856
1860
1868
1872
1876
1880
1884
1888
1892
1896
1900
1904
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Presidential primaries
Democratic
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Republican
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
U.S. Senate elections
1845
1848
1851
1855
1857
1868
1875
1879
1881
1885
1887
1890
1891
1893 sp
1897
1899
1899 sp
1903
1905 sp
1908
1909 sp
1911
1914
1916
1920
1922
1926
1928
1932
1934
1936 sp
1938
1940
1944
1946
1950
1952
1956
1958
1962
1964
1968
1970
1974
1976
1980
1982
1986
1988
1992
1994
1998
2000
2004
2006
2010
2012
2016
2018
2022
2024
2026 sp
2028
U.S. House of Representatives elections
1845
AL sp
1846
1848
1850
1852
1854
1856
1858
1860
1865
1868
1870
1872
1874
1876
1878
1880
1882
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1914
1916
1918
1920
1922
1924
1926
1928
1930
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1955
6th sp
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1989
18th sp
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2001
1st sp
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
19th sp
2012
2014
13th sp
19th sp
2016
2018
2020
2022
20th sp
2024
2025
1st sp
6th sp
2026
C.S. House of Representatives elections
1861
1863
1st sp :
State government
General elections
2006
2010
2014
2018
2020
2022
2026
Gubernatorial elections
1845
1848
1852
1856
1860
1865
1868
1872
1876
1880
1884
1888
1892
1896
1900
1904
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1954 sp
1956
1960
1964
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
Attorney General elections
1966
1970
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
Chief Financial Officer elections
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
Agriculture Commissioner elections
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
Senate elections
2018
2020
2022
2024
2026
House of Representatives elections
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
Ballot measures
1998 Florida Amendment 8
2008 Florida Amendment 2
2014 Florida Amendment 2
2016 Florida Amendment 1
2016 Florida Amendment 2
2018 Florida Amendment 4
2020 Florida Amendment 1
2020 Florida Amendment 2
2020 Florida Amendment 3
2020 Florida Amendment 4
2020 Florida Amendment 5
2022 Florida Amendment 1
2022 Florida Amendment 2
2022 Florida Amendment 3
2024 Florida Amendment 3
2024 Florida Amendment 4 :
Jacksonville
Mayoral elections
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023
Sheriff elections
2022 sp :
Miami
Mayoral elections
1997
2001
2005
2009
2013
2017
2021
2025 :
Miami-Dade County
Mayoral elections
1996
2008
2011 (recall)
2011 sp
2012
2016
2020
2024 :
Orlando
Mayoral elections
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2003 sp
2004
2008
2012
2015
2019
2023 :
St. Petersburg
Mayoral elections
2001
2005
2009
2013
2017
2021 :
Tallahassee
Mayoral elections
1997
2003 sp
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022 :
Tampa
Mayoral elections
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023 :
Other localities
Fort Lauderdale
1994
1997
2000
2003
2006
2009
2012
2015
2018
2020
Gainesville
2016
2019
2022
Hialeah
2011
Miami Beach
2011
2013
2015
North Miami
2013
2014 sp
2017
2021
Orange County
2010
2022
Pensacola
2022 :
Government :
vte :
The 2010 Florida gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Republican-turned-independent incumbent Governor Charlie Crist chose not to run for a second term and he ran unsuccessfully for the Senate seat vacated by Mel Martínez. This resulted in an open race for Governor of Florida in which Republican Rick Scott narrowly defeated Democrat Alex Sink.
Despite mixed to unfavorable ratings, Rick Scott benefited greatly from the midterm GOP wave in which Republicans made significant gains across the country. Scott was one of six Republican gubernatorial pick-ups nationwide (counting Crist as an independent).
The tight and highly contentious election was one of the standout races in 2010. Despite not professing direct allegiance to the movement, Scott benefited from support and endorsement by Tea Party activists, an influential conservative voting bloc of the 2010 midterms. Furthermore, Scott ran aggressively against the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and exit polls indicated considerable support for that position. This election was the first Florida gubernatorial election since 1982 where the winner of the gubernatorial election was of the same party as the winner of the concurrent United States Senate election.

## Primary Elections
### Democratic
#### Candidates

* Alex Sink, Chief Financial Officer of Florida
* Brian Moore, political activist, 2008 Socialist Party USA Nominee for President of the United States
Alex Sink, the CFO of Florida, was mentioned as a possible candidate to run for Senate or Governor in 2010, but initially declined. When Charlie Crist announced he would not run for re-election, Sink immediately announced her campaign for governor. Sink was the wife of Bill McBride, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2002.
Sink faced only token opposition in the primary. Her lone opponent was former Socialist Party presidential nominee Brian Moore. On primary day, Sink won the Democratic nomination with nearly 77% of the vote.
Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Alex Sink | 663,802 | 76.9% |
| | Democratic | Brian Moore | 199,896 | 23.1% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 863,698 | 100.0% |

### Republican

In May 2009, Republican incumbent governor Charlie Crist announced he would not run for re-election, and instead would run for U.S. Senate. The move immediately turned the race competitive, as GOP-hopefuls lined up to run for the open seat. Former congressman and Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum emerged as the early favorite. McCollum had previously lost the election for Senate in 2000, and lost the Republican nomination for Senate in 2004. This would be his third attempt at a major statewide campaign.
Just before the deadline, Rick Scott jumped into the primary fight. Scott started dumping millions of his own personal fortune into the race. The race quickly became one of the most expensive and "nasty" primary campaigns in recent Florida history. Scott and McCollum lashed out with very negative attacks against each other. Scott ran as a political "outsider", and led some early polls, but McCollum re-took the lead in polls just before primary day. Scott benefited in the absentee voting, while McCollum expected to make up the difference based on turnout. On primary day, Scott won the nomination with just over 46% of the vote. The dejected McCollum team reluctantly conceded after midnight.
Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Rick Scott | 595,474 | 46.4% |
| | Republican | Bill McCollum | 557,427 | 43.4% |
| | Republican | Mike McCalister | 130,056 | 10.1% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,282,957 | 100.0% |

## General Election
### Candidates
#### Republican

* Rick Scott, healthcare executive

#### Democratic

* Alex Sink, Chief Financial Officer of Florida

#### Independence Party of Florida

* Peter L. Allen, electrical inspector

#### No party affiliation

* Michael E. Arth [de; es; fr; ja; zh], policy analyst and urban designer who entered the race as a Democrat in June 2009 and later switched to no party affiliation in June 2010
* Farid Khavari, economist, author, and small business owner
* Daniel Imperato
* Calvin Clarence "C.C." Reed
The race was dominated by the two major party candidates and spending on their behalf. By the October 25, 2010, Tampa debate between Scott and Sink, Scott had spent $60 million of his own money on the campaign compared to Sink's $28 million. Total campaign expenditure for the race exceeded $100 million, far exceeding any previous spending for a governor's race in Florida. Scott spent $78 million of his personal wealth in the race. Sink made an issue of Scott's connections to Columbia/HCA, a Medicare billing fraud scandal.
One of the turning points in the campaign came during the debate. During a commercial break, Sink's make-up artist delivered a text message on her cell phone to Sink, in direct violation of the debate rules. The rules infraction was immediately pointed out by Scott and the debate moderators. Sink's team was accused of cheating during the debate, and the aide who delivered the message was fired from the campaign the next morning. Afterwards, media and observers were very critical of the gaffe.

### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| Cook Political Report | Tossup | October 14, 2010 |
| Rothenberg | Tossup | October 28, 2010 |
| RealClearPolitics | Tossup | November 1, 2010 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Lean R (flip) | October 28, 2010 |
| CQ Politics | Tossup | October 28, 2010 |

### Polling
#### Democratic primary

| Poll source | Dates administered | Alex Sink | Michael E. Arth |
| Mason Dixon | June 24–26, 2009 | 49% | 4% |

#### Republican primary

| Poll source | Dates administered | Bill McCollum | Rick Scott | Paula Dockery |
| Quinnipiac | August 21–22, 2010 | 39% | 35% | – |
| Public Policy Polling | August 21–22, 2010 | 40% | 47% | – |
| Mason-Dixon | August 17–19, 2010 | 45% | 36% | – |
| Quinnipiac | August 11–16, 2010 | 44% | 35% | – |
| Sunshine State News | August 12–15, 2010 | 42% | 44% | – |
| Mason Dixon | August 9–11, 2010 | 34% | 30% | – |
| Ipsos/Florida Newspapers | August 6–10, 2010 | 32% | 42% | – |
| Mason Dixon | August 2–4, 2010 | 31% | 37% | – |
| The Florida Poll | July 24–28, 2010 | 25% | 41% | – |
| Quinnipiac | July 22–27, 2010 | 32% | 43% | – |
| Public Policy Polling | July 16–18, 2010 | 29% | 43% | – |
| Florida Chamber of Commerce | June 9–13, 2010 | 30% | 35% | – |
| Quinnipiac | June 2–8, 2010 | 31% | 44% | – |
| Mason-Dixon | May 3–5, 2010 | 38% | 24% | 7% |
| Research 2000 | November 16–18, 2009 | 45% | – | 9% |
| Strategic Vision | May 29–31, 2009 | 44% | – | 28% |

#### General election

| Poll source | Dates administered | Bud Chiles (I) | Rick Scott (R) | Alex Sink (D) |
| Mason-Dixon | May 3–5, 2010 | — | 36% | 38% |
| Rasmussen Reports | May 16, 2010 | — | 41% | 40% |
| Rasmussen Reports | June 7, 2010 | — | 45% | 40% |
| Quinnipiac | June 7, 2010 | 13% | 35% | 26% |
| Florida Chamber of Commerce | June 9–13, 2010 | 15% | 31% | 26% |
| Ipsos/Reuters | July 9–11, 2010 | 12% | 34% | 31% |
| Public Policy Polling | July 16–18, 2010 | 13% | 30% | 36% |
| Quinnipiac | July 22–27, 2010 | 14% | 29% | 27% |
| The Florida Poll | July 24–28, 2010 | 11% | 30% | 28% |
| Rasmussen Reports | August 2, 2010 | 16% | 35% | 31% |
| Ipsos/Florida Newspapers | August 6–10, 2010 | 14% | 30% | 29% |
| Mason-Dixon | August 9–11, 2010 | 17% | 24% | 40% |
| Quinnipiac | August 11–16, 2010 | 12% | 29% | 33% |
| Public Policy Polling | August 21–22, 2010 | 8% | 34% | 41% |
| Rasmussen Reports | August 25, 2010 | 4% | 45% | 42% |
| Rasmussen Reports | September 1, 2010 | — | 45% | 44% |
| Sunshine State News | September 1–7, 2010 | — | 42% | 44% |
| CNN | September 2–7, 2010 | — | 42% | 49% |
| FOX News | September 11, 2010 | — | 41% | 49% |
| Reuters/Ipsos | September 12, 2010 | — | 45% | 47% |
| Mason-Dixon | September 20–22, 2010 | — | 40% | 47% |
| Rasmussen Reports | September 22, 2010 | — | 50% | 44% |
| Quinnipiac | September 23–28, 2010 | — | 49% | 43% |
| CNN | September 24–28, 2010 | — | 47% | 45% |
| Sunshine State News | September 26 – October 3, 2010 | — | 44% | 42% |
| TCPalm.com /Zogby | September 27–29, 2010 | — | 39% | 41% |
| Florida Chamber of Commerce | September 27–30, 2010 | — | 46% | 42% |
| Rasmussen Reports | September 30, 2010 | — | 46% | 41% |
| Mason-Dixon | October 4–6, 2010 | — | 40% | 44% |
| Miami-Dade College | October 5, 2010 | — | 52% | 46% |
| Quinnipiac | October 6–8, 2010 | — | 45% | 44% |
| Rasmussen Reports | October 7, 2010 | — | 50% | 47% |
| PPP | October 9–10, 2010 | — | 41% | 46% |
| Susquehanna | October 12–13, 2010 | — | 45% | 48% |
| Suffolk | October 14–17, 2010 | — | 38% | 45% |
| CNN Opinion Research | October 15–19, 2010 | — | 49% | 46% |
| Ipsos/St. Pete Times | October 15–19, 2010 | — | 44% | 41% |
| Rasmussen Reports | October 18, 2010 | — | 50% | 44% |
| Naples Daily News /Zogby | October 18–21, 2010 | — | 39% | 43% |
| Quinnipiac | October 18–24, 2010 | — | 41% | 45% |
| Susquehanna | October 20, 2010 | — | 45% | 45% |
| Susquehanna/Sunshine State News | October 24–25, 2010 | — | 47% | 45% |
| Univ. of South Fla. Polytechnic | October 23–27, 2010 | — | 44% | 39% |
| Quinnipiac | October 25–31, 2010 | — | 43% | 44% |
| Mason-Dixon | October 26–27, 2010 | — | 43% | 46% |
| Rasmussen Reports | October 27, 2010 | — | 48% | 45% |
| Susquehanna/Sunshine State | October 29–31, 2010 | — | 46% | 49% |
| Public Policy Polling | October 30–31, 2010 | — | 47% | 48% |

#### Hypothetical Polls

| Poll source | Dates administered | Bill McCollum | Alex Sink | Bud Chiles |
| Quinnipiac | August 11–16, 2010 | 29% | 31% | 12% |
| Mason-Dixon | August 9–11, 2010 | 35% | 37% | 13% |
| Ipsos/Florida Newspapers | August 6–10, 2010 | 26% | 30% | 12% |
| Rasmussen Reports | August 2, 2010 | 27% | 31% | 20% |
| The Florida Poll | July 24–28, 2010 | 26% | 27% | 12% |
| Quinnipiac | July 22–27, 2010 | 27% | 26% | 14% |
| Public Policy Polling | July 16–18, 2010 | 23% | 37% | 14% |
| Ipsos/Reuters | July 9–11, 2010 | 30% | 31% | 12% |
| Florida Chamber of Commerce | June 9–13, 2010 | 30% | 26% | 15% |
| Quinnipiac | June 7, 2010 | 33% | 25% | 19% |
| Rasmussen Reports | June 7, 2010 | 40% | 38% | — |
| Rasmussen Reports | May 16, 2010 | 43% | 35% | — |
| Mason-Dixon | May 7, 2010 | 45% | 36% | — |
| Rasmussen Reports | March 18, 2010 | 47% | 36% | — |
| Public Policy Polling | March 5–8, 2010 | 44% | 31% | — |
| Rasmussen Reports | February 18, 2010 | 48% | 35% | — |
| Fabrizo/McLaughlin & Associates | January 31, 2010 | 41% | 32% | — |
| Rasmussen Reports | January 27, 2010 | 46% | 35% | — |
| Quinnipiac | January 27, 2010 | 41% | 31% | <1% |
| Rasmussen Reports | December 14, 2009 | 44% | 39% | — |
| Research 2000 | November 16–18, 2009 | 35% | 33% | — |
| St. Pete Times/Miami Herald/Bay News 9 | October 25–28, 2009 | 37% | 38% | — |
| Rasmussen Reports | October 20, 2009 | 46% | 35% | — |
| Quinnipiac | August 19, 2009 | 38% | 34% | 1% |
| Public Opinion Strategies | August 4–5, 2009 | 48% | 37% | — |
| Rasmussen Reports | June 22, 2009 | 42% | 34% | — |
| Quinnipiac | June 2–7, 2009 | 34% | 38% | 1% |
| Mason Dixon | May 14–18, 2009 | 40% | 34% | — |
| Mason Dixon | March 30 – April 1, 2009 | 36% | 35% | — |

### Results

The 2010 governor's race was one of Florida's closest, decided by just over 60,000 votes. Unlike the concurrent Senate race, the governor's race remained in doubt late into the night. When polls closed, Scott had a lead, but as the night progressed, the margin narrowed. The next day, with over 99% of precincts reporting, Scott maintained about a 1% lead in the raw vote. Despite a small number of still-uncounted ballots from Palm Beach County, Sink's chances of winning were negligible, as Scott was still ahead by over 50,000 – much more than the 3,000 uncounted ballots, and more importantly, still above the threshold of 0.5% to trigger a mandatory recount. Sink conceded the day after the election.
Exit polls showed that Scott won among independents and the two candidates split the Hispanic vote.
2010 Florida gubernatorial election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Rick Scott | 2,619,335 | 48.87% | −3.31% |
| | Democratic | Alex Sink | 2,557,785 | 47.72% | +2.62% |
| | Independence | Peter Allen | 123,831 | 2.31% | |
| | Independent | C. C. Reed | 18,842 | 0.35% | |
| | Independent | Michael E. Arth | 18,644 | 0.35% | |
| | Independent | Daniel Imperato | 13,690 | 0.26% | |
| | Independent | Farid Khavari | 7,487 | 0.14% | |
| | Write-ins | | 121 | 0.00% | |
| Plurality | Plurality | Plurality | 61,550 | 1.15% | -5.92% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,359,735 | | |
| | Republican gain from Independent | Republican gain from Independent | Swing | | |

#### Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Franklin (largest city: Eastpoint)
* Liberty (largest city: Bristol)
* Hillsborough (largest municipality: Tampa)
* Osceola (largest municipality: Kissimmee)
* Pinellas (largest municipality: St. Petersburg)
* St. Lucie (largest city: Port St. Lucie)
* Orange (Largest city: Orlando)