the clemency rules issued by Scott in 2011 as among the most restrictive in the country. Approval ratings In early 2011, a poll found that Scott was the least popular governor in the country, with a 57% disapproval rating and 29% approval rating. In December 2011, a Quinnipiac poll found that his approval rating had fallen to 26%. By June 2012, his approval rating had risen to 31%. By June 2013, his approval rating had improved further, with 40% approving and 42% disapproving. In November 2015, his approval rating sat at 44%, with 47% disapproving. In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in 2017, Scott's approval rating saw a high of 58%, with 31% disapproving. Shortly before he left office, his ratings had dropped to 47% approving and 41% disapproving. U.S. Senate Elections 2018 After months of speculation about a potential run, Scott officially announced on April 9, 2018, that he would challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Bill Nelson in the 2018 election. Scott defeated Rocky De La Fuente in the Republican primary. In the general election, Scott's involvement in a large Medicare fraud case stirred controversy. Scott responded with ads accusing Nelson of having cut Medicare benefits and stolen from Medicare; fact-checkers found that both of Scott's assertions were false. During the campaign, Scott called Nelson a "socialist", an assertion PolitiFact described as "pants-on-fire" false. During the campaign, Scott sought to avoid mentioning Trump and at times criticized or distanced himself from actions of the Trump administration, whereas in the past he had used his friendship with Trump to boost his profile and had been an early and vocal supporter of Trump in 2016. Trump endorsed Scott for Senate. The initial election results showed Scott leading Nelson by 12,562 votes, or 0.15% of the vote. Under Florida law, a manual recount is triggered if election results show a margin of less than 0.5% of the vote. Both candidates filed lawsuits in connection with the recount. After the recount, Florida elections officials announced on November 18, 2018, that Scott had prevailed. Scott received 50.05% of the vote to Nelson's 49.93%; the margin of victory was 10,033 votes out of 8.19 million votes cast. Nelson then conceded. It was the most expensive Senate race in the nation in 2018. After the race, Scott's Super PAC, New Republican PAC, received criticism from across the political spectrum for its aggressive practices and was the