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Rick Scott's Top Latino Fundraiser Quits After Mexican Accent Controversy

When Gov. Rick Scott's campaign finance co-chairman Mike Fernandez resigned abruptly last week, he said he wanted to spend more time with his family. Insiders speculate he might have been frustrated with the direction of the troubled campaign. Yet, now it's come to light that Fernandez was also upset about...
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When Gov. Rick Scott's campaign finance co-chairman Mike Fernandez resigned abruptly last week, he said he wanted to spend more time with his family. Insiders speculate he might have been frustrated with the direction of the troubled campaign. Yet, now it's come to light that Fernandez was also upset about two campaign co-workers speaking in an over-the-top Mexican accent while they were all on their way to a Mexican restaurant in Coral Gables.

Fernandez, a Cuban-born healthcare CEO with more than a billion in his bank account, has raised a few million for Scott's financially healthy but publicly struggling campaign. Fernandez resigned Thursday in a major shakeup.

The Miami Herald reports he had become upset with the "campaign's direction and the attitude of some of its workers."

The frustration apparently began last month with the Mexican accent incident. He sent out an email complaining about the accent jokes to Scott allies last month. The exact nature of those comments, however, have not been public.

Scott's campaign spokesman however tells the Herald that Fernandez was not in the van when the comments were made, and says that no one in the van actually remember the comments being made.

Fernandez won't comment on the email but did say that as a CEO he was perhaps too used to being the boss.

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