The departure of Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos from the GOP primary field for the right to take on popular two-term Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida next year has spurred several other Republicans to take a closer look at the race.
According to a Florida blog, the latest possibility is that of conservative publisher Christopher J. Ruddy, the multimillionaire publisher of Newsmax who could presumably self-finance a primary campaign, a la Rick Scott’s lavish gubernatorial campaign in 2010.
According to the Shark Tank, Ruddy told strategist Tony Fabrizio — a key Scott strategist and pollster — that he would be willing to spend $25 million of his own money on such a candidacy.
Raising $15 million from 200 investors, Ruddy founded the conservative Newsmax media outlet in 1998 with Richard Mellon Scaife, the wealthy owner of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Ruddy had worked as a national correspondent for Scaife’s newspaper.
There are currently three major candidates seeking the Republican nomination, including former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, ex-Florida House Majority Leader Adam Hasner and Winter Park businessman Craig Miller, the former CEO of Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.
There has also been speculation that Congressman Connie Mack, who had endorsed Haridopolos, might reconsider and get into the race, or possibly U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, a three-term lawmaker representing Florida’s thirteenth congressional district.
Nick Loeb, a local banking scion and boyfriend of Modern Family TV star Sofia Vergara, has also been toying with a possible candidacy.
A major contributor to Republican and conservative causes, Ruddy had been a major supporter of Haridopolos’s Senate campaign before he dropped out of the race on July 18.
Nelson, 68, was reelected by a wide margin in 2006, defeating former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris by more than a million votes.
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