Florida Governor Rick Scott’s bid for Senate sets up big race in battle to control Congress

Florida’s governor, Rick Scott, has announced that he is running for US Senate, further crowding the political battlefield for control of Congress.

Mr Scott is challenging Senator Bill Nelson, the incumbent Democrat, in what could be one of the most competitive races this year.

A slew of Democratic wins in recent special elections indicates that it is going to be a vicious battle for control of the Senate and House of Representatives in the November midterms.

To recapture a majority in the House, Democrats need to flip 24 Republican seats while keeping the 194 seats they currently hold. Meanwhile, to win a majority in the Senate, Democrats and the independents who caucus with them need to successfully defend 26 seats as well as win two additional seats currently filled by Republicans.

Mr Scott, 65, who has served as Florida’s governor since 2011, announced his Senate bid at a press conference and in a video posted on his social media accounts reviewing his two terms at the helm of the state’s government.

Like many running for public office in the US, Mr Scott has cast himself as a political outsider who can challenge the status quo in the nation’s capital.

“I never planned to fit in, and I won’t fit in in Washington, either,” Mr Scott says in the video. “It’s time to shake that place up. We don’t need another politician in Washington. It’s full of politicians, and that’s why it’s broken.”

In a statement following Mr Scott’s announcement, Mr Nelson said: “I’ve always run every race like there’s no tomorrow – regardless of my opponent.”

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has rated the race as a toss-up.

In an interview with Politico, Mr Scott dodged questions about whether he was a “Donald Trump Republican”. Instead, he said: “I consider myself Rick Scott. I don’t consider myself any type of anything.”

Florida is a swing state that has been carried by the winning presidential candidate for more than two decades.

In 2016, Mr Trump won 49 per cent of the vote in Florida while his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton won 48 per cent. This fact alone could make Mr Nelson’s re-election bid his most competitive race since his first campaign for the Senate, in 2000.

The race should be particularly interesting given the events that have transpired in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida.

In March, Mr Scott signed gun control legislation that was condemned by the National Rifle Association (NRA), a powerful gun-rights lobbying group that noted in 2014 that Mr Scott had signed “more pro-gun bills into law - in one term - than any other Governor in Florida history.”

The NRA gives legislators and governors a grade ranging from A to F that reflects their support for pro-gun legislation.

Before Mr Scott's signing of gun control measures into law last month, he and Mr Nelson had contrasting ratings: Mr Nelson had an F while Mr Scott had an A+.

It is uncertain whether Mr Scott’s acceptance of stricter gun control measures will help him gain the support of more moderate voters.