Rick Scott, running mate Jennifer Carroll debut as team

JACKSONVILLE -- Rick Scott and Jennifer Carroll made their debut as the Republican gubernatorial ticket Thursday and met small but enthusiastic crowds on a three-city fly-around.

In Brandon, Orlando and Jacksonville, Scott and Carroll talked up the importance of creating jobs in a struggling Sunshine State and Scott criticized Democratic rival Alex Sink for supporting ``the socialist policies of President Obama.''

Carroll -- an African-American state representative, Navy veteran, small business owner and immigrant from Trinidad -- brings gender balance as Scott's running mate and offers a sharp visual contrast to the lanky Midwesterner who presided over the expansion of the Columbia/HCA hospital network.

``Working together, we will broaden the base of our party, reaching out to every Floridian who wants a better future for their families,'' Scott said as he introduced Carroll to TV cameras for the first time near her Fleming Island home. The site was the entrance of Naval Air Station Jacksonville, with a sleek-looking Blue Angel jet in the background. In attendance was U.S. Navy Adm. Kevin Delaney, Carroll's former boss.

In Carroll, Scott gets an experienced legislator who can help guide him through Tallahassee, still a strange world to him. And already she's creating enthusiasm among Republican activists eager for something positive after the bitter primary between Scott and Bill McCollum.

``It's awesome. It's nice to have new blood,'' said Michelle Beaudoin of Brandon at the day's last stop at a party headquarters in Hillsborough. ``It will be two people who haven't been career politicians.''

Mary Ellen Ludeking, who owns a Jacksonville small business, called Carroll an asset to the GOP ticket. ``Jennifer is a very good person with high morals and a high work ethic who served our country,'' Ludeking said.

At a storefront GOP office in Jacksonville, Scott was flanked by Carroll on his left and his wife, Ann, on his right. Most of the senior advisors on Scott's campaign are women as well.

Sink, the Democratic nominee, said Carroll's race and gender will not matter to Florida voters.

``We're going to be focused over the next weeks on the vision for Florida,'' Sink said. ``And I think people when they go to vote, they're past all these gender and racial issues. They're really looking at the candidates and the messages and the commitments that the candidates have to changing the future of Florida.''

As for Scott's reference to socialism, Sink said: ``He obviously doesn't know a thing about me, does he?''

Carroll said she supports Scott's hard-line views on illegal immigration and in support of a state law similar to one adopted earlier this year in Arizona.

``The bottom line is legal immigration. We cannot reward people for their illegal acts in coming to this country,'' Carroll said.

In the Republican primary, Carroll supported McCollum and chaired a statewide African Americans for McCollum group. Explaining that decision, she said: ``Bill McCollum came into the race early . . . I was loyal to my word. At the end of the day, a man's word and a woman's word have to be their bond.''

Times political editor Adam C. Smith and Times/Herald staff writer Lee Logan contributed to this report. Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com or 850-224-7263.

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