Author Stephen King has accused Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott of “basically” buying his Senate seat.
Posting on X, formerly Twitter, on Sept. 5, King, a frequent critic of Republican lawmakers, wrote: “Rick Scott spent $160 million of his own money to win in Florida. That should tell you something; he basically bought his Senate seat.” The post has been viewed more than 130,000 times.
The former governor of Florida, who is running for his second term in the Senate, raised $85 million for his campaign during the course of the 2018 Senate elections, according to Open Secrets, a non-partisan research group that tracks campaign spending in U.S. politics. According to a report by Politico at the time, he spent some $63 million from his personal wealth on his 2018 Senate bid.
He won the 2018 election with a narrow margin of just 0.12 percent, or about 10,000 votes.
Rick Scott spent $160 million of his own money to win in Florida. That should tell you something; he basically bought his Senate seat.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) September 5, 2024
Between 2019 and 2024, Scott’s campaign committee raised $29,860,945. He self financed $13,733,940 – 45.99 percent – of this.
It’s unclear where King got the $160 million figure from. Newsweek has contacted representatives for King and Scott for clarification and comment via email outside of normal working hours.
Scott has spent heavily on his 2024 campaign. In an effort to reach Hispanic voters in Florida, in April this year his team budgeted $700,000 per week for a series of radio, digital, TV and streaming-services ads in English and Spanish, according to a report by The Associated Press.
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A poll conducted in August by USA Today/Suffolk University/WSVN-TV found that 35 percent of Floridians approve of the incumbent senator, with 49 percent of respondents having an unfavorable view of him. He has a 59 percent approval rating with Republican voters.
Another poll conducted by Florida Atlantic University PolCom Lab/Mainstreet Research from August 10 to 11 found Scott has a 4 point lead over his election opponent, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. The Republican had the support of 47 percent of respondents, compared to 43 percent who supported Mucarsel-Powell.
A spokesperson for Scott previously told Newsweek: “Not only is Senator Scott clearly uniting Republicans across the state, but nearly 1/3 of Democrat voters made it clear they don’t want a socialist representing them in Washington. Mucarsel-Powell couldn’t even get more votes than Senator Scott in her home Miami-Dade County, which is especially embarrassing. Meanwhile, Senator Scott received more votes than all the Democrat candidates combined.”
Thursday’s X post is not the first time King, who frequently criticizes Republican nominee Donald Trump, has taken aim at Scott. In May this year, he posted on X: “Rick Scott, wearing a “man of the people” gimme cap, has a bunch of campaign ads about the evils of socialism. Pretty funny, coming from a guy worth at least $250 million.”
