DEMOCRATIC GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION 1401 K STREET, NW, SUITE 200 y WASHINGTON, DC 20005 T 202.772.5600 y F 202.772.5602 y WWW.DEMOCRATICGOVERNORS.ORG

Gov. Jack Markell Governor Haley Barbour Delaware Chair Republican Governors Association 1747 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Gov. Martin O’Malley Suite 250 Maryland Washington, DC 20006‐4643 Vice Chair

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Aug. 31, 2010 Gov. Jay Nixon Missouri Finance Chair Dear Gov. Barbour:

Gov. Phil Bredesen Tennessee Republicans and Democrats disagree a lot about policy and how to best lead Policy Chair this country forward. But there are a few issues that transcend partisanship and Gov. Chet Culver politics as usual. One of those issues is our commitment – regardless of party – Iowa Federal Liaison to do what is right and make sure we punish those who victimize seniors or steal from taxpayers. No matter what else divides us, I would hope that all Democrats Gov. Joe Manchin III West Virginia and Republicans can agree that the public trust is irreparably eroded when we NGA Vice-Chair ignore egregious abuses of the citizens we serve.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer Montana To that point, before you hit the campaign trail today, I’m respectfully asking Chair Emeritus for you not to endorse, support or appear with Rick Scott, the Republican

Gov. Chris Gregoire gubernatorial nominee in Florida. As you all know, Rick Scott made millions Washington leading the company that paid $1.7 billion in fines, the most ever for Medicare

Gov. John Lynch fraud. He is the type of person who is comfortable with pleading the fifth 75 New Hampshire times in a deposition. In effect, he funded his campaign with money that was

Gov. Bev Perdue stolen from the pockets of taxpayers and seniors who depend on Medicare and North Carolina has refused to answer questions about his business dealings.

Gov. Ed Rendell Pennsylvania During the Republican primary, you and many of your peers lined up against Gov. Ted Strickland Rick Scott for just those reasons. His theft and deception in business were so Ohio egregious that these are just some of the public statements against him:

• Opponent Bill McCollum has too many questions to support Scott, Alexander P. unlike previous primaries in which he was defeated. “But I never had any Heckler Treasurer questions raised either before or after the election about Mel [Martinez]'s

Nathan Daschle integrity or honesty or character, and I've had those questions raised about Executive Director Rick Scott and they were raised very seriously. And it’s not something that would just idle in the campaign. There are still questions that are out there, I think unanswered questions that trouble me a great deal from his past,

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particularly at Columbia/HCA, so I'm not going to involve myself in the race. (Bill McCollum, Aug. 29, 2010)

• Rick Scott’s campaign was excoriated in an email to the entire email list of the Republican Party of Florida. “Mr. Scott's false rhetoric about the state of the Party's finances and our ability to support our candidates demonstrates a disturbing lack of understanding of federal and state election law,” wrote party chair John Thrasher. (John Thrasher, Aug. 22, 2010)

• Scott failed to explain his “criminal acts.” That was graphically demonstrated in an ad in which his name was transformed into a set of handcuffs. (Florida First Initiative)

• Scott’s integrity was questioned by the Republican Governors Association, which claimed that he ran an ad that: “distorts the facts and was clearly created without any knowledge of what actually took place.” (Haley Barbour, in a statement now strangely absent from the RGA’s web site)

Since Scott’s “victory” – if that word can be used to describe a race to the bottom where he failed to win even 50 percent of the vote – some of you have pledged your “full resources” to elect a man whose company pleaded guilty to bilking taxpayers and seniors and paid the largest Medicare fraud settlement in U.S. history. We are asking you to reconsider. We are asking Republicans who have yet to endorse to Scott to oppose his candidacy.

While some of you may question our motives, as we clearly support Alex Sink for governor, this is the first time in our history that we have reached across the aisle to make this request. The unique circumstances in Florida demand this overture. Rick Scott represents the worst of American politics; he’s a multimillionaire who became rich from a firm that stole money from taxpayers and seniors. If this doesn’t disqualify Rick Scott from being governor, you must ask yourselves: What would?

Again, we hope you join us in sending a message to Rick Scott and any candidate – Republican or Democrat – that if you steal millions from taxpayers and seniors, you do not deserve to run for office, let alone the highest office in the state of Florida.

Sincerely,

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Nathan Daschle

CC: Jeb Bush Newt Gingrich Mike Huckabee Mitt Romney John Thrasher

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