Florida Gov. Rick Scott has a brother in Texas who has coped with alcohol and drug abuse. The governor’s late mother, Esther, said in his first campaign in 2010 that Scott’s birth father was an abusive alcoholic who abandoned the family when Scott was an infant. And that, he told the Miami Herald, will play a role in his decision whether to sign a bill eliminating Florida’s “liquor wall” that keeps groceries from selling distilled spirits even though they can sell beer and wine.
Scott’s office had received more than 3,000 emails and phone calls on the issue through Tuesday, with opponents leading supporters by nearly a 7-1 margin.