‘Not a candidate’: Rick Scott coy on Louisiana fundraising question

Gov. Rick Scott made a trip this week to Louisiana, where business development meetings populated his official schedule.

However, the most prominent Democrat in the Pelican State — Gov. John Bel Edwards — thought that there was more to the trip than just pitching Florida relocation to local companies.

“Gov. Scott should call this what it is – a fundraising stop on his yet-to-be announced U.S. Senate campaign. Louisianans would appreciate the honesty and hope that he’ll take his political contributions and leave,” Edwards offered Tuesday.

Louisiana’s Advocate newspaper tried and failed to get Scott to discuss what most believe is a protracted pre-candidacy.

Friday in Ponte Vedra, we covered some of the same territory. Specifically, we wanted to know if Scott had fundraised while in Louisiana on an official jobs “mission.”

Scott spent much of the answer covering familiar ground, talking about job creation (“the four years before I got elected, the state lost 832,000 jobs”).

“My trip to New Orleans was to try to get more companies there. As you know, I have not made a decision as to whether I’m going to run for the Senate or not. I’m not a candidate. I’ve said all along I’ve got to focus on my job as Governor.”

“A lot of politicians are thinking about their next job,” Scott added. “I’m right in the middle of my Legislative Session, and I’m going to focus on that.”

The question remained: was there fundraising or not? We restated it.

“I’m not a candidate,” Scott said.

We reminded Scott of Let’s Get to Work, his political committee, which has robustly fundraised over the years ($57 million since inception). And asked if there may have been Louisiana fundraising for that.

“I’m not a candidate,” Scott repeated. “We weren’t — I didn’t — A.G., I’m not a candidate.”