Florida Primaries: Split Decision for Wealthy Pols

Aug. 25, 2010 — -- Republican voters in Florida signaled a willingness Tuesday to cast a ballot for a super-wealthy political outsider, giving multi-millionaire healthcare executive Rick Scott the party's nomination for governor after a contentious and costly primary.

Scott defeated the party's establishment candidate, Attorney General Bill McCollum, by a narrow margin after pumping more than $39 million of his own money into a barrage of television and radio ads, mailers, and robocalls. Additional millions from his wife's trust went to a 527 group that bought ads attacking McCollum.

But personal wealth and a willingness to vastly-outspent a political rival was not a sure fire formula for victory -- billionaire real estate mogul Jeff Greene was unable to secure the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate Tuesday night despite dipping into his personal accounts for more than $23 million. Greene, a developer who became better known for the exploits on his luxury yacht with friends Mike Tyson and Lindsay Lohan, lost to Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek.

The two men were part of a bumper crop of millionaire (and billionaire) political candidates this fall, most of whom are tapping their enormous bank accounts to mount serious challenges to more traditional, establishment candidates.

Some viewed Tuesday's Florida primaries to be an early barometer on the potency of wealthy self-funded political candidates this year, testing the willingness of voters straining under the financial pressures of the down economy to vote for candidates who live opulent lifestyles replete with mega-mansions and gargantuan yachts.

"They have the argument that they are not beholden to anyone because it's their own money," said Fred Wertheimer, a longtime campaign finance expert in Washington. "But they also face the argument they are trying to buy a seat that should not be for sale to rich people."

Over the past several months, the vast holdings and personal lives of both Greene and Scott have become grist for political attacks. For super-wealthy candidates, Greene's bid wound up being a cautionary tale.

For Greene, who made his fortune betting that the subprime mortgage bubble would burst, the most damaging details turned out to be the stories about the travels of his 145-foot yacht, the Summerwind, and from his friendships with such celebrities as boxer Mike Tyson and former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss.

Eye-popping local newspaper reports, including one earlier this month in the St. Petersburg Times, unearthed descriptions of Greene's yachting misadventures that reportedly included a visit to Cuba (not a good move for a Florida pol) that Greene aides later said was for mechanical reasons, and a Black Sea cruise that allegedly involved Tyson, sex parties, drugs, and a group of bikini-clad women in Romania. Some of those allegations came from a Tyson interview with Sports Illustrated that the boxer later amended in subsequent interviews. Tyson made it clear he did not mean that drugs were consumed aboard the yacht.

"There's a million people not working in Florida. Why are we talking about the yacht all the time?'' Greene told the newspaper. "I care too much about my country to spend all my time talking about a yacht and Mike Tyson. Nobody cares about that except you."

Voters were less willing to penalize Scott for his vast holdings, which came in part from his time as chief executive of Columbia/HCA, the hospital chain that paid $1.7 billion in fines to settle the largest Medicare fraud case in U.S. history.

Disclosure forms he filed with the state describe $218 million in investments and a gulf-front Naples-area mansion he bought for $11 million and a separate yacht garage just a few blocks down the road. A review of the records by the local Marco Eagle newspaper listed Scott's interests in vast range of companies, including a Tennessee-based bowling alley chain, a social networking web site that targets Hispanics, and firms that deal in farm equipment, plastics, semi-conductors and airplane components.

While New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg might be a notable exception, neither man had history on his side. "Being rich and using personal wealth doesn't guarantee winning," Wertheimer noted. "And in fact many self-funded candidates do not win."

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