Governor Rick Scott of Florida will seek the Republican nomination to run against the state’s sitting Democratic senator, Bill Nelson, in November. The race could be one of the most expensive and highly watched in all the midterm elections.

Scott is leaving office due to term limits. He has been urged to challenge Nelson, Florida’s only statewide-elected Democrat, by Donald Trump. Earlier this year, Scott’s closeness to the president yielded for his state an exemption from plans to expand offshore drilling.



In formally announcing his campaign on Monday, Scott was expected to criticize “career politicians” and call for term limits for members of Congress.

“I admit that Washington is horribly dysfunctional,” Scott said, according to scripted remarks made available ahead of the announcement in Orlando.

“Washington is full of old thinking. Washington is tired. And the truth is, both political parties share some of the blame. They’ve tried a lot of things – it just didn’t work. But I will not accept the idea that we can’t change Washington.”

Scott is a multimillionaire who had not run for office before he won a gubernatorial election in 2010. He campaigned as part of the Tea Party movement and called for massive budget and tax cuts – and was then forced to scale back his plans amid opposition from the Republican-controlled state legislature. He also changed his hardline positions on immigration.

Democrats have been anticipating Scott’s move and have ramped up criticism, noting that he was forced out as chief executive of Columbia/HCA amid a federal fraud investigation. Although Scott was never charged with any wrongdoing, the healthcare conglomerate paid a then record $1.7bn fine for Medicare fraud.

Democrats also plan to fault Scott over his record while governor, including his push for deep budget cuts to education and his back-and-forth position on whether to expand Medicaid.

“Floridians will have the benefit of a clear-eyed view of a truly dismal record,” said Dan Gelber, a former state senator who is now mayor of Miami Beach. “Floridians won’t forget the damage Rick Scott’s self-serving politics have done these last seven years, no matter how he tries to change his spots and obscure his record.”

Before the killings of 17 people at a Florida high school in February, Scott had an A+ rating from the National Rifle Association. He then signed a new law raising the age limit to purchase rifles to 21 and creating a process enabling law-enforcement officers to seize guns from someone who is considered a danger.

Scott has contended that Nelson has “done nothing” on high-profile issues such as gun violence. Nelson has said Scott has not done enough – he wants universal background checks and a ban on certain types of semi-automatic rifles.

Most polls predict a Scott-Nelson race to be close, although according to the realclearpolitics.com average, Nelson holds a lead in most.