Scott: 'Historic day' in choice of state Rep. Carroll as running mate

Rick Scott, Republican candidate for governor, introduced running mate Jennifer Carroll to Republicans who were glad to see racial and gender diversity added to their ticket Thursday.

Carroll, 51, of Jacksonville, was the first black Republican woman elected to the Florida Legislature and is the only black Republican state legislator. She would be the first black woman to serve as Florida's lieutenant governor.

"This is clearly a historic day" that will "send a clear signal to all Floridians that a new day is here," Scott told a gathering of party faithful in Brandon Thursday. He called Carroll "a history maker and a barrier breaker."

A 20-year Navy veteran and seven-year state House veteran, Carroll was head of the state Department of Veterans Affairs under Gov. Jeb Bush and a member of the White House Presidential Scholars Commission and the Veteran Disability Benefits Commission under President George W. Bush.

Some Republicans hope that as an immigrant from Trinidad, she could ease suspicion in Florida's immigrant community over Scott's hard-line immigration law stance. She has lived in Florida since 1986.

She has had a relatively low profile in the Legislature, despite serving as deputy majority leader and majority whip. Her voting record has been pro-business and pro-life.

"We both believe the family is the centerpiece of America, that limited government leads to economic prosperity, and a strong national defense is essential to maintaining our freedom and liberty," she said of herself and Scott.

Scott, who prides himself on being an outsider unconnected to government, said he and Carroll met for the first time in April during a campaign stop at a Republican club.

But Carroll said the two share a history of working their way up from the bottom.

"Rick started from a humble beginning, living in public housing ... and worked his way to the American dream."

Carroll, who owns a consulting firm, is married and mother of three children, one of whom is Nolan II, a rookie cornerback for the Miami Dolphins. She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of New Mexico and an MBA from Saint Leo University.

Carroll also touches another important base for Scott - she was an active supporter of opponent Bill McCollum in the primary, a surrogate speaker and a member of his statewide leadership team.

Scott is now trying to unify the party behind him after the bloody primary. While party leaders are lining up behind him, McCollum has said he won't support Scott.

But the Florida lieutenant governor has no defined duties, and often toil in obscurity.

And running mates don't typically help a candidate for governor much, although they can hurt him, said University of Central Florida political scientist Aubrey Jewett. "The usual rule is the Hippocratic oath for politicians - do no harm."

Carroll's career hasn't been entirely trouble-free.

She withdrew from the Presidential Scholar's Commission after revelations in 2004 that she claimed a master's degree from a "diploma mill" correspondence school that had been put out of business in California and Hawaii. Carroll was quoted as saying she worked hard for the diploma and wanted to sue the school for return of her tuition.

Earlier this year, the Florida Times-Union reported that Carroll had filed a gambling bill that would have benefited one of her firm's clients. Carroll was quoted as saying a staff member filed the bill without her approval, and withdrew it.

In 2009, a Jacksonville weekly publication reported that Carroll applied to have her business certified in Jacksonville's Small and Emerging Business program, but was rejected after officials determined her net worth was over the $650,000 limit.

Carroll appealed, saying she was worth only half what officials determined, even though she had reported a net worth of $2.02 million in 2005.

Carroll said the financial disclosure form mistakenly included assets belonging to her husband, even though she had previously revised the form to correct other errors.

Her most recent disclosure form, from June 17, gives her net worth as $352,850, with $30,336 income as as a legislator and $36,672 in retirement from the Navy.

Carroll was elected to the House in a special election in 2003. She had lost in races for Congress in 2000 and 2002, both times by large margins, but against a tough opponent - established incumbent Rep. Corinne Brown.

Scott's choice immediately drew praise from Republicans, particularly those on the conservative side of the party.

Incoming state House Speaker Dean Cannon called her "a committed conservative" and "an ideal choice."

Pam Bondi, Republican candidate for attorney general, said she's "proud that my friend Jennifer Carroll has been selected."

And Christian right activist John Stemberger, who also backed McCollum, said he "could not be more pleased" about Carroll, "a true friend of the family."

Even Gov. Charlie Crist, who has left the GOP to run as a no-party candidate for U.S. Senate, called Carroll "a great pick ... a very competent legislator, highly respected." Carroll was on Crist's short list of running mate candidates in 2006.

Scott's announcement coincided with no-party candidate Lawton "Bud" Chiles III's announcement Thursday that he's leaving the governor's race and endorsing Democratic candidate Alex Sink.

Chiles acknowledged he couldn't raise enough money to compete and didn't want to be a spoiler in the race. Democrats have feared that Chiles, whose name is the same as that of his late, iconic father, former Gov. Lawton Chiles, would draw votes from Sink, aiding Scott.

Chiles and Sink both said the two haven't discussed any role for Chiles in Sink's administration if she wins in November.

Chiles denied that his departure from the race signaled a victory for the special interests he was fighting. Among his many criticisms of the current political system is the role of shadowy political committees which have no contribution limits and spend heavily on negative ads during campaign cycles.

Asked about such committees, Sink did not rule out forming one to support her candidacy but pledged that all contributions and expenditures would be transparent.

Chiles said he is comfortable enough with Sink to campaign with her this fall. "She's convinced me she shares my commitment to cleaning up Tallahassee."

Some polls showed Chiles claiming as much as 13 percent of the vote, which Democrats feared would draw support away from Sink. Chiles said that although his supporters come from both sides of the party line, he believes most will now support the Democrat.

A poll Thursday suggested Chiles' move will help Sink.

The Rasmussen Research poll showed Sink and Scott are statistically tied - Scott 45 percent and Sink 44 percent. A week ago, the same showed Scott leading Sink 41 percent to 36 percent with Chiles taking 8 percent.

Sink chose former state senator and state attorney Rod Smith of Alachua as her running mate last month.

Sink said she doesn't think Carroll will hurt her with voters.

"I think people, when they go to vote, they're past all these gender and racial issues. They're really looking at the candidates, and the messages and the commitments that the candidates have to changing the future of Florida."

Asked if Scott has picked a Tallahassee "insider" for a running mate -- contrary to his message that he is the "outsider" candidate for governor -- Sink said, "of course he has." But she does not, she said, expect that to be a major factor in the race.

Some Republicans have worried that their ticket for statewide candidates in November, for governor, three Cabinet seats and one U.S. Senate seat, would all be white males. Bondi, winning attorney general primary, became the only woman in the group until now.

"I'm not into identity politics, but it makes a great statement," said Debbie Cox-Roush, Hillsborough county GOP chairman. "We hear so many times that the Republican Party is not inclusive and that's not true."

Carroll could help Scott lessen the gender gap that has favored Democratic candidates for the last two decades in American politics and could help Sink, Jewett said.

But Jewett said he thinks the effect on black voters will be small or negligible.

"Black voters go Democratic by about 90 percent," he said. Jeb Bush in 1998 and Crist in 2006 performed better, but because of particular issue stances they had taken.

"I don't see Scott doing what Bush and Crist did," Jewett said. "I'd be shocked if he gets better than the 10 percent Republicans get on average."

Jewett said Carroll, from the Caribbean, probably won't help Scott much on the immigration issue, which affects mainly Hispanics from Central and South America.

"A strategically better choice would have been a Cuban or Hispanic woman from South Florida," Jewett said, particularly because Scott lost badly in the primary to McCollum in heavily Hispanic Miami-Dade County.

However, at least one prominent Miami-area Cuban woman, state Rep. Anitere Flores, said she didn't want to be considered for the post.