Are you looking for a nonpartisan voter guide to the Rick Scott vs. Charlie Crist Governor's race? One that will give you an unbiased, no-spin comparison of candidate positions on key issues? That's what our Campus Election Engagement Project guide will give you! We are a national nonpartisan initiative working with college and university administrators, faculty, and student leaders to increase student participation in America's elections. For the 2014 elections we have created and distributed voter guides to campuses in over 20 states so they can provide their communities with accurate information for informed voting. Because these guides have been so well received and are useful for all voting citizens who want to be better informed, we are also posting them here.
We developed our guides by analyzing information from trusted resources such as www.votesmart.org, www.ontheissues.org, www.ballotpedia.com, www.politifact.com, www.factcheck.org, www.vote411.org and from candidate websites, public debates and interviews, and statements in major media outlets. We also showed them to groups like campus Young Republicans and Young Democrats at the schools we work with to verify their fairness and lack of bias.
So here are the issue-by-issue stands for Rick Scott and Charlie Crist, with additional links at the bottom for each candidate if you'd like to dig deeper. (You can also find Florida District 2 House of Representatives guide here.)
----------Education: Do you support increasing funding for K-12 education?Scott: YesCrist: Yes
Education: Do you support the effort to standardize and increase school standards under the Common Core initiative?Scott: NoCrist: Yes
Education: Do you support providing vouchers to parents to send their children to private schools with public money?Scott: YesCrist: No
Education: Do you support increasing funding for higher education?Scott: NoCrist: Yes
Elections: Do you support restrictions on early voting? Scott: YesCrist: No
Elections: Do you support increasing restrictions on campaign donations?Scott: NoCrist: Yes. Opposed Citizens United decision.
Environment: Do you believe that human activity is a major factor contributing to climate change?Scott: NoCrist: Yes
Environment: Do you support taking government action to limit the levels of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere?Scott: NoCrist: Yes
Environment: Do you support government mandates and/or subsidies for renewable energy?Scott: YesCrist: Yes
Environment: Do you support the development of high speed rail in Florida?Scott: NoCrist: Yes
Gay Marriage: Do you support gay marriage?Scott: NoCrist: Yes
Gun Control: Do you support enacting more restrictive gun control legislation?Scott: NoCrist: Yes. Expanded background checks and magazine limits. (Learn more about Crist's shift in perspective on gun control following the Connecticut school slayings.)
Healthcare: Do you support the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare?Scott: NoCrist: Yes
Healthcare: Should your state accept federal funds so Medicaid will cover people earning up to 138% of the federal poverty line?Scott: Position has varied. Opposed accepting funds but later supported trial via private insurers. Crist: Yes
Immigration: Do you support colleges and universities awarding in-state tuition rates to state residents who are not citizens?Scott: YesCrist: Yes
Marijuana: Do you support efforts to decriminalize and/or legalize marijuana?Scott: Signed bill legalizing non-psychoactive marijuana strain for childhood epilepsy patients; opposes medical marijuana Amendment Two.Crist: Supports medical marijuana Amendment Two.
Minimum Wage: Do you support raising the minimum wage?Scott: Has not taken a stand but is concerned about impact on business.Crist: Yes
Social Issues: Should abortion be highly restricted?Scott: YesCrist: No
Social Issues: Should employers be able to withhold contraceptive coverage from employees if they disagree with it morally?Scott: Implied yes (See Politifact.com analsyis of Scott's stance on this issue.)Crist: No
Taxes: Have you signed the Americans for Tax Reform Pledge to oppose any tax increases to raise revenue? (The answer to this question is taken from the database of signatories of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, created by Americans for Tax Reform. Signers to the pledge promise to oppose "any and all tax increases" meant to generate additional revenue.)Scott: YesCrist:
Taxes: Would you increase taxes on corporations and/or high-income individuals to pay for public services?Scott: NoCrist: Unknown
Voting: Do you support the automatic restoration of voting rights to most ex-felons? Scott: NoCrist: Yes
Learn more about the candidates:Scott: Rick Scott Vote Smart pages and Rick Scott On the Issues pagesCrist: Charlie Crist Vote Smart pages and Charlie Crist On the Issues pages
-----------------Other gubernatorial candidates include and Adrian Wyllie (Libertarian) Joe Allen (No Party Affiliation), Glenn Burkett (No Party Affiliation), and Farid Khavari (No Party Affiliation). Due to limited space, we can't include their positions, but invite you to check out their websites.