Sen. Rick Scott to run for reelection, forgo run for president

WASHINGTON — Sen. Rick Scott said Thursday that he would run for reelection, forgoing a presidential campaign in favor of seeking his second term in the U.S. Senate.

In a statement posted on Twitter, the Republican senator emphasized he wouldn’t take his reelection race for granted despite Florida’s recent rightward political tilt.

“I’ve never lost an election and I don’t intend to now,” Scott said. “We’ve worked hard to turn Florida into a red state that elects Republicans up and down the ballot. But I never take anything for granted. The people of Florida have elected me three times so far to fight for conservative values, stand up to Joe Biden and the radical, woke Democrats, and bring common-sense to Washington. We’re going to keep fighting to do the things the people of Florida elected me to do.”

Scott, the state’s former two-term governor, was once widely seen as a potential entrant to the 2024 GOP presidential primary, thanks in part to his electoral success in Florida and vast personal wealth that could help fund any campaign. The senator made waves in Washington last year, releasing a controversial policy agenda that roiled even some GOP lawmakers and increased speculation he was trying to build a national profile.

But the national GOP’s disappointing results in the 2022 midterm election, in which the party failed to win a majority in the Senate, dampened enthusiasm for Scott. The senator was chairperson of the National Republican Senatorial Committee last election cycle, a role that put him in charge of the party’s political efforts in the Senate.