Anti-Scott group NextGen totals almost $20M

A political committee trying to defeat Republican Gov. Rick Scott collected a total of $19.96 million and had spent $16.11 million as of last week, according to a new finance report posted on the state Division of Elections website. The committee, "NextGen Climate Action Committee-Florida," is part of an effort by California billionaire Tom Steyer to target candidates who do not share his views about the need to address climate change. All but $210,000 of the money contributed to the Florida committee came from the Washington-based NextGen Climate Action Committee, founded by Steyer. The Florida committee reported spending nearly $5.73 million from Oct. 18 through Thursday, with most of that money going to advertising, voter outreach and direct mail. In the past, Scott has said he was not convinced climate change was man-made and was quoted as saying he is "not a scientist" when asked how he would handle the issue.