Gov. Rick Scott visits Cape Coral, discusses future political aspirations

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CAPE CORAL, Fla.- Speculation is swirling that Florida Governor Rick Scott has his eyes on the U.S. Senate or even the vice presidency in 2016.

The governor was in Cape Coral Thursday, promoting the creation of new jobs at Marine Concepts on Pine Island Road.

He’s been making a lot of quick trips all over the state. Some think he’s using his remaining time as governor to campaign for future aspirations.

“Since around the time I got elected, they’ve added 139 jobs right here at this location,” said Scott.

The governor has been making similar trips around the state. Five weeks ago he was in Southwest Florida for the grand opening of Wawa convenience stores. Earlier this month, he was in Tampa highlighting job growth.

It looks and feels like an election campaign. Some think Scott’s looking at a potential run at Florida Senator Bill Nelson’s seat in 2018.

“There’s considerable speculation about that very point throughout the political circles in Florida, particularly among Republicans in Tallahassee,” said Dr. Peter Bergerson, a political science professor at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Next week, the governor will be hosting an economic growth summit in Orlando where a number of GOP presidential candidates, like Florida Senator Marco Rubio and potential candidate Jeb Bush, will be in attendance. This adds to the speculation that Scott may also be eyeing a vice presidential nod in 2016.

“I just got elected, as you know, to be governor again for four more years. I’ve got three years and seven months. I’m very focused on making sure we learn to brag in our state. We want to brag about our education, we want to brag about our job opportunities. I grew up in a family that really struggled for work, I know the importance of a job and that’s why I’m doing this,” said Scott.

WINK News also asked the governor how he plans to fix the shortage in low income health care funding the state is facing.

“We have a commission on hospital and healthcare financing, they’re going to make sure everybody gets a better understanding of the industry, and how we can make it more efficient, how we can get our costs down, because we can’t be reliant on the federal government.”

A special legislative session will be held in June where lawmakers need to pass a budget.

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