Split Ticket! Adam Putnam Has Spent Years Slamming Rick Scott's Term Limits Promise

Putnam Voted Against Term Limits in 1992 and Has Opposed Them Ever Since

It’s Sellout Adam Putnam versus Self-Serving Scott… again.

Rick Scott — who has spent much of his early campaign hobnobbing with the likes of Mitch McConnell — is now promising to bring term limits to Washington. It’s a “highly unrealistic“ election year gimmick that would do nothing to help Floridians.

Just ask Adam Putnam.

Putnam, a former five-term Congressman, has spent years speaking out against term limits. In 2000, Putnam said that he opposed term limits because “voters are the ultimate term limit implementers.” In 2001, Putnam admitted that he voted no during Florida’s 1992 term limits referendum. In 2012, he even claimed that term limits had made Florida lawmakers less effective.

The term limits disagreement is just the latest point of difference between Scott and Putnam. Putnam has criticized Scott’s position on guns, his economic record, his failure to adequately fund public education, and his decision to scrap the opioid czar position.

Check out Putnam’s long opposition to Rick Scott’s central campaign promise:

In November 2000, Putnam Said, “I Have Always Believed That Voters Are the Ultimate Term Limit Implementers.” According to the Associated Press, “Canady and Fowler declined to seek re-election to keep term-limit promises, but neither of their successors has made such a pledge. ‘I have always believed that voters are the ultimate term limit implementers,’ Putnam said. ‘The voters are pretty effective at giving those two-year job evaluations.’” [Associated Press, 11/24/00]

In May 2012, Putnam Opposed Term Limits. According to a column by Daniel Ruth in the Tampa Bay Times, “Stricter ethics laws have made it more difficult for bipartisan collegiality. And term limits make sure members rarely develop any expertise on their assigned committees, only enhancing the influence of lobbyists. ‘The eight-year (term limit) time frame virtually guarantees the likelihood of someone spending more than one term as a committee chair is almost nil because it suggests you are ineffective,’ Putnam said. And so the rush is always on to move up to higher-profile, influential committees that have greater fundraising potential.” [Tampa Bay Times, column, 5/8/12]

Putnam Said He Voted Against a Term Limit Referendum. PRESS: “Do you believe in term limits? Have you taken the pledge? And are you going to stick by it?” PUTNAM: “Well, I don’t believe — I have not taken the pledge. I believe term limits are implemented every two years by the voting public for the House of Representatives. I voted against them when they were on the referendum in the state of Florida. And so therefore, I did not take the pledge.” [CNN, The Spin Room, 1/30/01]