Joe Allen (Florida)
Joe Allen (independent) ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Florida. He did not appear on the ballot for the general election on November 6, 2018.
Allen was a candidate for Governor of Florida in the 2014 elections.[1]
Elections
2018
General election
General election for U.S. Senate Florida
Rick Scott defeated incumbent Bill Nelson in the general election for U.S. Senate Florida on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Rick Scott (R) | 50.1 | 4,099,505 |
 | Bill Nelson (D) | 49.9 | 4,089,472 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 1,028 | ||
| Total votes: 8,190,005 | |||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Joe Allen (Independent)
- Joe Wendt (L)
- Gregory Bowles (Independent)
- Carlos Garcia (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Florida
Incumbent Bill Nelson advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Florida on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Bill Nelson |
| ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Tamika Lyles (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. Senate Florida
Rick Scott defeated Roque De La Fuente in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Florida on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Rick Scott | 88.6 | 1,456,187 |
 | Roque De La Fuente | 11.4 | 187,209 | |
| Total votes: 1,643,396 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Martin Mikhail (R)
- Augustus Sol Invictus (R)
- Joe Smith (R)
- Marcia Thorne (R)
2014
- See also: Florida gubernatorial election, 2014
Allen ran for Governor of Florida as an unaffiliated candidate. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.
Race background
Republican incumbent Rick Scott was re-elected to a second term as governor in 2014. Sources such as Governing, Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball, The Cook Political Report, The Washington Post, and Daily Kos had rated Scott among the most vulnerable governors of the electoral cycle.[2][3][4][5][6] Polls projected a close contest between Scott and former Republican Governor Charlie Crist, who became a Democrat before mounting his comeback bid against Scott. Indeed, the race came down to the wire on election night.[7]
Education debate
Charlie Crist and Rick Scott debated education funding as the primary election transitioned into a general election. Prior to the Republican primary, Scott announced that he would boost per-pupil spending to record levels if re-elected in November. The governor's office published a statement promising an increase in per-pupil funding to $7,132 per student for the 2016 fiscal year, which would surpass the $7,126 per student rate passed during Crist's first year as governor in 2007. He cited improving job figures in his office's optimistic outlook on public education financing.[8]
Crist toured the state in a school bus in August in order to highlight cuts in public education since Scott won election. He noted that the governor facilitated $1.3 billion in education cuts during the 2012 fiscal year.[8] Crist stated on his campaign website that he would push public schools and their partners to reach the top 10 percent of schools globally as measured by reading, math, and science scores by 2020.[9]
Ad spending, influence
The Scott vs. Crist election battle was played out through television ads during the general election. Whether sponsored by the campaigns themselves or produced and aired through independent expenditures, many of the commercials were negative.
In late September, Scott committed an additional $8 million to run television commercials, next to Crist's roughly $5.5 million ad-buy increase. By this point in the campaign, the two frontrunners' marketing campaigns had reached the $50 million mark. Scott was responsible for 71 percent, or over $35 million, of this sum. Polls conducted during this stage indicated a slight improvement for Scott, though they still showed a close race. These marginal gains invited comparisons to his victory in 2010, which was attributed in large part to an emphasis on TV commercials.[10]
Primary races
In June 2013, former Florida Sen. Nan Rich became the first Democratic candidate in the race. She was later joined by former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who had recently switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. Crist's candidacy posed a challenge to Scott's re-election campaign, according to match-up and approval polls dating back as far as May 2012.[11][12][13]
Long affiliated with the Republican Party, Crist's first party switch occurred in 2010, when, after losing the Republican primary for U.S. Senate to Marco Rubio, he changed his registration to independent as an alternative route to reaching the general election ballot. In the fall of 2013, Crist became a Democrat.[14]
By October 2013, there were over 20 potential candidates actively petitioning for a place on the primary and general election ballots.[15] When the filing window finally closed on June 20, 2014, the number had dropped to 18 qualified gubernatorial candidates. The Republican field settled to three, including Scott, while the Democratic field remained a head-to-head battle between Crist and Rich. Unopposed Libertarian nominee Adrian Wyllie earned a direct pass to the general election, along with nine write-ins and three candidates with no stated party preference.[16]
Under Article IV of the Florida Constitution, gubernatorial nominees are required to select running mates after the primary, though they are permitted to do so in advance. Customs for selecting running mates vary across Florida's main political parties. For example, Crist broke with party tradition when he announced Annette Taddeo-Goldstein as his lieutenant governor pick prior to the primary. "Because he’s been a life-long Republican, Charlie Crist might be excused for not knowing that Democrats typically don’t choose a running mate until they win the nomination," said Nan Rich, his Democratic primary challenger, in a July campaign press release.[17]
In January, Scott appointed Carlos Lopez-Cantera as Florida's new lieutenant governor, ending an extended vacancy in the office that began with former-Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll's March 2013 resignation amid a public relations scandal. Lopez-Cantera would also be Scott's new running mate for the 2014 election.
Scott and Crist secured their respective parties' nominations in the August 26 primary election.[18]
Scott and Cantera-Lopez were elected governor and lieutenant governor on a joint ticket in the general election on November 4, 2014.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Joe Allen Florida Senate. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- United States Senate election in Florida, 2018
- Governor of Florida
- Florida gubernatorial election, 2014
- Florida elections, 2014
Footnotes
- ↑ Florida Division of Elections, "Candidate Listing for 2014 General Election," June 20, 2014
- ↑ University of Virginia Center for Politics: Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball, "2013-2014 Gubernatorial Races," April 29, 2013
- ↑ The Washington Post, "The Fix's top gubernatorial races," September 27, 2013
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections gubernatorial race ratings: Initial ratings for 2013-14," October 6, 2013
- ↑ Governing, "2014 Governors Races," September 10, 2014
- ↑ The Cook Political Report, "Governors Race Ratings 2014," September 15, 2014
- ↑ The New York Times, "2014 Florida Election Results," accessed November 5, 2014
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Education Week, "School Spending Under Spotlight in Florida Gubernatorial Race," August 25, 2014
- ↑ Charlie Crist for Governor, "Education," accessed October 13, 2014
- ↑ The Miami Herald, "Marc Caputo: With $50 million in TV ad spending, Rick Scott-Charlie Crist race is one big marketing campaign," September 23, 2014
- ↑ The Sun Sentinel, "Charlie Christ Announces Candidacy For Florida's Governor, As A Democrat," November 4, 2013
- ↑ Politico, "Ex-GOP Fla. Gov. Charlie Crist to run for job as Democrat," November 1, 2013
- ↑ The Daily Caller, "Charlie Crist briefly visits with Democratic Governors Association," January 9, 2013
- ↑ The Hill, "Charlie Crist joins Democratic party ahead of gubernatorial election," December 8, 2012
- ↑ Florida Division of Elections, "Candidate Listing for 2014 General Election - Governor," accessed October 7, 2013
- ↑ Florida Division of Elections, "Candidate Listing for 2014 General Election - Governor," accessed July 22, 2014
- ↑ Nan Rich for Governor 2014 Official campaign website, "Press release: Statement from Senator Nan Rich regarding Charlie Crist’s selection of a potential running mate," July 17, 2014 (dead link)
- ↑ My Florida - Election Watch, "2014 Primary, Unofficial Election Night Results," accessed August 26, 2014
