Lakeland Republican State Senator Paula Dockery has dropped out of the Republican race for Governor this morning.
In a statement, Dockery said:
“It is with mixed feelings that I end my campaign to be your next governor. People who know me know I’m a tenacious fighter unafraid of long odds, especially when the stakes are so high. But I’m also a realist and understand the costs of effectively competing statewide. At this point in the election cycle, I see no financial path to victory. And so today, with both resignation that the resources are not there and appreciation for the journey we shared, I am ending my campaign to be governor of the great state of Florida."
Her withdrawal comes just a little after the most recent state wide poll showed her mired in third place with just 3%, behind not only front running Attorney General Bill McCollum, but former health care executive Rick Scott, who has spent a reported $6 million in a little over a month to catapult into second place in the race with 22%. She released a YouTube video to supporters a short time ago:
What's surprising at the end of the day is the fact that Dockery and her husband, C.C. "Doc" Dockery, decided not to spend their own money to help out her candidacy. Some analysts thought that with some of their financial resources, he would help spend some money to break out, but as she said on Friday at the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club on Friday , "It's not my goal to put $5 million in my own race and what difference would it make against 25 million?"
This article appears in May 20-26, 2010.