Haridopolos Drops U.S. Senate Bid
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (CBSMiami.com) – The GOP Senate campaign is still in its infancy, but it's already lost one powerful Florida legislator.
According to the News Service of Florida, Senate President Mike Haridopolos has dropped his campaign for the GOP nomination to face incumbent Democratic Senator Bill Nelson.
"Today, I am announcing that I will no longer be a candidate for the United States Senate, nor will I seek any other office this year or next," Haridopolos said in a statement. "Instead, I am rededicating myself to finishing the job you sent me to do here in Florida."
Governor Rick Scott said he was "surprised" by Haridopolos' announcement saying that "anytime a statewide race loses a principled conservative like Mike Haridopolos in a race of this importance, it is a sad day for our state."
Haridopolos, who is from Merritt Island, had just lost a Space Coast Tea Party straw poll last week. He lost top staffers on Friday and his campaign was at best on life support over the weekend. The same poll picked Adam Hasner as their candidate. Haridopolos had also recently lost key staff in his legislative office.
Haridopolos had raised $2.5 million in the first quarter of the year, but had dropped to just $900,000 in the second quarter.
Now, the top candidates to try to knock off Nelson are Adam Hasner and George LeMieux.
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