Adrian Wyllie Files Lawsuit To Join Gubernatorial Debate
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The Governor's race has been dominated by the two main party candidates, Rick Scott and Charlie Crist.
Now there's a new player trying to throw his hat into the ring.
Adrian Wyllie is a libertarian. He's a small business owner from Tampa who is gaining in the polls.
He filed a lawsuit on Thursday, trying to get himself included in next week's gubernatorial debate.
"Quite frankly, people don't like Rick Scott and Charlie Crist," said Wyllie. "And they have very good reasons not to."
Wyllie talks like an outsider, but now he wants in.
The third party candidate, who's been driving around the state, staying in budget hotels since January, says he deserves to be included in next week's debate. He said he has enough spirit.
A new poll shows him gaining, at 13%, just two spots shy of the 15% benchmark. He's there, if you tack on the margin of error.
"All viable voices should be heard," said Wyllie.
Unfortunately for him, the debate organizers disagree. They released a statement, in response to Wyllie's lawsuit filed today in federal court.
"Since 2010, the partnership of Leadership Florida and the Florida Press Association have conducted four statewide debates with a requirement that participating candidates have at least 15% polling support, including the benefit of the poll's margin of error. There are currently ten candidates who have qualified to run for governor. In a 60 minute debate, there is no feasible way for all ten to express their views, and most of the candidates have no reasonable chance of winning the election. Therefore, we had to have criteria that would include any candidate with a viable chance of winning. We believe our 15% threshold achieves that goal, and the people of Florida will have an opportunity to hear from the candidates who have a real chance of winning the election."
Wyllie says the organizers have changed their criteria in order to preserve the two party system.
"They want to ensure that only republicans and democrats can be heard," said Wyllie. "For me to win this election, I need to be in the debates. And if I am, and the people of Florida hear my voice, I believe we can get to the 34% we'd need to win this election.
But what does he stand for?
"We believe in economic freedom and individual liberty," he explained. "We want to get the government out of people's wallets, out of their bedrooms and out of their business."
Wyllie says he hopes the judge will rule within the next few days.
CBS4 reached out to the other campaigns.
Rick Scott's spokesperson says it's up to the debate organizers who participate. The Crist campaign told us they don't have a position on the matter.
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