N O . 1 $ 1 0 . 9 9 A N E L E C T I O N P R O J E C T M A G A Z I N E MEET THE WHERE DO THEY WHAT IS CANDIDATES STAND? AMENDMENT 11? Get to know the candidates From immigration to the Property rights & running for office | p. 3 economy | p. 9 criminal prosecution | p. 41 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 Senate Candidates Environment 35 15Environment Ron DeSantis25 5 Bill Nelson Gun Control 37 17Gun Control Andrew Gillum27 7 Rick Scott Civil Rights 39 19Diplomacy Immigration29 9 Immigration Economy 41 21Economy Healthcare 31 Healthcare Amendment 11 11 Governor 43 Education 23Candidates 33 13Education Where We Stand 44 1 SENATE CA NDIDATES BILL NELSON V S RICK SCOTT 3 4 Meet the Candidates BILL NELSON Bill Nelson is an American politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Florida since 2001. In 1990, Nelson unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Florida. Then in 2000 he was elected to the United States Senate, replacing Connie Mack III. He was re-elected in 2006 and again in 2012 with fifty-five percent of the vote Bill Nelson, born September 29, 1942, is a ffh-generation Floridian. Nel- son is a graduate from the University of Florida, Yale, and University of Vir- ginia Law School. Before entering politics he served in the U.S. Army Re- serve in the Vietnam War. He was frst elected to the Senate in 2000. A member of the Democratic Party, Nelson served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1972 to 1978. He then served in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1991. In January 1986, he became the second sitting member of the United States Congress to fy in space when he served as a payload specialist on the Space Shuttle Columbia. Nelson retired from Congress in 1990 to run for Governor of Florida, but was un- successful. He was appointed Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner and Fire Mar- shal of Florida, serving from 1995 to 2001. In 2000, Nelson was elected to the U.S. Senate. As of 2018, he is the only Democratic statewide elected ofcial in Florida. As a key member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Bill has been instrumental in ensuring Florida’s military bases and operations have the resources they need to protect the nation. For his entire career, Bill has been a staunch foe of the big oil companies that want to drill of the coast. He has also been a big proponent in ensuring Medicare and Social Secu- rity for all retiring Floridians. During his tenure as Senator Nelson has focused on guaranteeing access to healthcare for all seniors, expand- ing education and funding for education and protecting the environment. 5 Meet the Candidates RICK SCOTT Rick Scott is an American businessman and politician. Since 2011, Scott has served as the 45th Governor of Florida. Due to Florida’s term limits, Scott cannot run for re-election in 2018. So, on April 9, 2018, Scott announced his candidacy for the United States Senate, vying for the seat held by incumbent and rival candidate Bill Nelson. Scott was born on December 1, 1952 in Bloomington, Illinois. He is a grad- uate of the the University of Missouri, Kansas City, later receiving his law degree from Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law. In 1987, afer serving in the United States Navy and becoming a law frm part- ner, he co-founded Columbia Hospital Corporation. Columbia later merged with another corporation to form Columbia/HCA, eventually becom- ing the largest private for-proft health care company in the United States. In 1997, Scott was pressured to resign as chief executive of Columbia/HCA amid a controversy over the company’s business and Medicare billing prac- tices. During his tenure as chief executive, the company defrauded Medicare, Medicaid and other federal programs. Te Department of Justice ultimately fned the company in what was at the time the largest health care fraud set- tlement in U.S. history. Following his departure from Columbia/HCA, Scott went into a career as a venture capitalist and pursued other business interests. He ran for Governor of Florida in 2010. He defeated Bill McCollum in the Re- publican primary election, then narrowly defeated Democratic nominee Alex Sink in the general election, spending roughly $75 million of his own money in the process. Scott was re-elected in 2014, defeating former Governor Charlie Crist, who had switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party two years earlier. During his tenure as governor, Scott has mainly focused on expand- ing education opportunities, increasing employment rates and reducing taxes. 7 BILL NELSON Immigration is not one of Nelson’s priorities. However, Nelson voted “yes” on IMMIGRATION continuing federal funds for declared “sanctuary cities.” He also voted to give guest workers a path to citizenship. He also co-sponsored covering child resident WHERE DO THEY STAND? aliens under Medicaid and SCHIP. Despite these votes, Nelson is pro immigra- tion reform and border security. He voted “no” on allowing illegal aliens to par- ticipate in Social Security and voted to build a fence along the Mexican border. RICK SCOTT Governor Scott is an outspoken opponent of illegal immigration and believes Congress must take action to secure the border and fx the long-broken immi- gration system. However, Governor Scott does not favor punishing children for the actions of their parents and supports securing the immigration status of DREAMers under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. 9 BILL NELSON Bill is leading eforts to ensure those with preexisting conditions are not de- nied health care coverage. He has been on the frontlines to keep health care HEALTHCARE premiums low, especially as Congress works to repeal the health care law and drive up prices. Bill works across the aisle on solutions, such as a reinsur- WHERE DO THEY STAND? ance fund to help stabilize the marketplace and reduce health care premiums. When Floridians see the price of their prescription drugs rise, Bill fghts to keep and improve the Afordable Care Act and to close the gap for Medicare coverage, also known as the donut hole, to lower costs for Florida’s seniors. RICK SCOTT Governor Scott has been a long-time advocate of repealing Obamacare and replacing it with a plan that provides afordable, quality healthcare for Flori- da families. Governor Scott believes that the real problem with healthcare is that costs continue to rise, which is why he supports more choices for patients, more free-market competition, and increased accountability for providers. 12 BILL NELSON Bill Nelson is a steadfast supporter of students, teachers and public EDUCATION schools. He promotes science, technology, engineering and mathemat- ics (STEM) learning beginning in early elementary school to begin pre- WHERE DO THEY STAND? paring students. For those who continue on to colleges and universities, he has pushed to reduce student loan debt, to increase access to Pell grants, and stood up to for-proft colleges which do not prepare students. RICK SCOTT Rick Scott believes all Floridians should have quality education. Scott has invested in K-12 public schools, colleges and universities; Secured the frst statewide teacher pay raise in Florida’s history; Ensured that students are prepared for college and careers; Lowered the cost of the Florida Prepaid College Savings Plan for par- ents and expanded Bright Futures Scholarships to cover summer courses. 13 BILL NELSON Bill Nelson wants to ensure scientists can study climate change, free from polit- ical interference or censorship, and is at the forefront of eforts in the Senate to ENVIRONMENT help Florida communities invest in the infrastructure needed to prepare for ris- ing sea levels. He is leading the push to help renewable energy companies grow WHERE DO THEY STAND? across Florida, while making it easier for homeowners to invest in solar instal- lations. In 2006, he passed bipartisan legislation to ban oil and gas activities of Florida’s Gulf Coast. Nelson wants greater protections for the entire coast- line, including beaches and local economies along the Gulf and Atlantic Coast. RICK SCOTT Scott fought to protect Florida’s coastline by getting Florida removed from consideration for ofshore oil drilling and securing millions of dollars in state funding to help with coastal resilience projects and sea level rise planning. He also signed legislation to expedite the EAA Reservoir Project. Scott declared a state of emergency in Florida due to im- pacts of red tide and has directed $13 million in grant fund- ing for communities impacted by red tide and blue-green algae. 16 BILL NELSON Bill Nelson said he wants to “get the assault rifes of the street” and wants GUN CONTROL universal, comprehensive background checks for people buying weapons. Nelson, who said assault weapons like the AR-15 used in the Stoneman Doug- WHERE DO THEY STAND? las massacre aren’t for sport. “Tese weapons are for killing. Tey’re not for hunting.” Nelson also adopted the manifesto, “A New Agenda for the New Decade,” preventing unauthorized frearm use with “smart gun” technology. RICK SCOTT Rick Scott opposes restrictions on gun rights. “I believe in the Second Amend- ment. I believe in the First Amendment. I believe in all the amendments of the Bill of Rights.” Scott signed a new state law, raised the minimum age to buy rifes and shotguns from 18 to 21, extends the previous three-day waiting period for handgun purchases to include long guns, bans bump stocks that allow frearms to perform like automatic weapons and provides for enhanced school security.