A.G. Gancarski
Technically, neither Florida Gov. Rick Scott nor Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry have ever lost an election. Scott was elected governor twice and Curry was elected mayor once in their only bids for elected office.
Both men, however, have invested significant political capital in the candidacy of Donald Trump for president, and most expectations are that Trump will lose “big league.”
Scott runs a Trump Super PAC, and Curry, a former Republican Party of Florida chairman, served as master of ceremonies for a Trump rally in Jacksonville in August.
Both the Jacksonville mayor and the Florida governor also have something else in common. When Trump campaigns in St. Augustine Monday afternoon, both Scott and Curry will be elsewhere.
Meanwhile, in Jacksonville on Monday morning, neither Scott nor Curry were offering the kind of emphatic endorsements of Trump that those on the other side of the aisle are granting Hillary Clinton.
Gov. Scott, when asked about his potential participation in that St. Augustine rally by a reporter, noted “today I’m here,” and then he’s headed back to Tallahassee for pre-scheduled events.
When asked about his relative lack of presence beside Trump at rallies, the governor noted that he has to “focus” on where he should spend time, noting a variety of concerns this summer, including the terrorist attack in Orlando and the two hurricanes, Hermine and Matthew, that have impacted the Sunshine State in the last two months.
Curry’s support for Trump, meanwhile, seems to be moving closer to pro forma territory than it might have been earlier in the campaign.
When asked about Trump, Curry noted that “I’ve said numerous times that I am a Republican … I ran as a Republican.”
While “on a national level,” Curry’s “philosophy is conservative,” his focus is not on the national campaign at this point.
Clearly, neither Scott nor Curry are showing much interest in participating in the debate of the national campaign.
Both chief executives placed their bets on Trump.
Headed down the stretch, though, neither seems to be especially enthusiastic about doubling down.
