2010 Florida gubernatorial election

• Alex Sink, CFO of Florida, teacher
• Brian Moore, political activist, 2008 Socialist Party USA Nominee for President of the United States

Alex Sink, the CFO of Florida, was mentioned as a possible candidate to run for Senate or Governor in 2010,[7][8] but initially declined. When Charlie Crist announced he would not run for re-election, Sink immediately announced her campaign for governor. Sink was the wife of Bill McBride, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2002.

Sink faced only token opposition in the primary. Her lone opponent was former Socialist Party presidential nominee Brian Moore.[9] On primary day, Sink won the Democratic nomination with nearly 77% of the vote.

County results

In May 2009, Republican incumbent governor Charlie Crist announced he would not run for re-election, and instead would run for U.S. Senate.[11] The move immediately turned the race competitive, as GOP-hopefuls lined up to run for the open seat. Former congressman and Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum emerged as the early favorite. McCollum had previously lost the election for Senate in 2000, and lost the Republican nomination for Senate in 2004. This would be his third attempt at a major statewide campaign.

Just before the deadline, Rick Scott jumped into the primary fight. Scott started dumping millions of his own personal fortune into the race.[12] The race quickly became one of the most expensive and "nasty" primary campaigns in recent Florida history.[13] Scott and McCollum lashed out with very negative attacks against each other. Scott ran as a political "outsider", and led some early polls, but McCollum re-took the lead in polls just before primary day. Scott benefited in the absentee voting, while McCollum expected to make up the difference based on turnout. On primary day, Scott won the nomination with just over 46% of the vote. The dejected McCollum team reluctantly conceded after midnight.

County results

• Bill McCollum, Florida Attorney General and former U.S. Representative
• Rick Scott, health care executive, businessman, and healthcare activist
• Mike McCalister, businessman

• Alex Sink, Chief Financial Officer
• Brian P. Moore, marketing and executive director, project administrator and consultant, 2008 Socialist Party presidential nominee

• Peter L. Allen, electrical inspector

• Michael E. Arth, policy analyst and urban designer who entered the race as a Democrat in June 2009 and later switched to no party affiliation in June 2010
• Farid Khavari, economist, author, and small business owner
• Daniel Imperato[14]
• Calvin Clarence "C.C." Reed

The race was dominated by the two major party candidates and spending on their behalf. By the October 25, 2010, Tampa debate between Scott and Sink, Scott had spent $60 million of his own money on the campaign compared to Sink's $28 million.[15] Total campaign expenditure for the race exceeded $100 million, far exceeding any previous spending for a governor's race in Florida.[16] Scott spent $78 million of his personal wealth in the race.[17] Sink made an issue of Scott's connections to Columbia/HCA, a Medicare billing fraud scandal.[3]

One of the turning points in the campaign came during the debate. During a commercial break, Sink's make-up artist delivered a text message on her cell phone to Sink, in direct violation of the debate rules. The rules infraction was immediately pointed out by Scott and the debate moderators.[18] Sink's team was accused of cheating during the debate, and the aide who delivered the message was fired from the campaign the next morning. Afterwards, media and observers were very critical of the gaffe.