The Florida gubernatorial race is on fire and the heat is getting to Rick Scott. The current Republican governor continues to get burned time and time again by Charlie Crist. First it was “fangate” and now the sneak has been caught trying to lie about his involvement in an execution that conflicted with the fundraising efforts of Florida’s Attorney General, Pam Bondi.
It was the execution of convicted rapist and murderer Marshall Lee Gore in 2013 that Rick Scott approved for rescheduling to three weeks later because it conflicted with Bondi’s fundraising schedule.
Gore was an extremely violent offender. According to the Tampa Bay Times:
Gore, 50, raped, strangled and stabbed 30-year-old Robyn Novick in 1988 before dumping her body into a Miami-Dade County trash heap. Gore was also sentenced to die for the slaying of 19-year-old Susan Roark, whose body was found a few months later in Columbia County.
While Scott claims the act of authorizing executions is a solemn duty of the governor, it does not seem so sacrosanct that he would keep the attorney general from waiting a day to raise a dollar for her campaign to carry out the execution of Gore.
“What’s going on down there? It’s ridiculous,” said Phyllis Novick, a mother of one of Gore’s victims, at the time of Scott’s delay.
While standing up for his own actions would prove that Scott has a spine, his silence says enough. Florida needs to get rid of this wimp.
