Billionaire real estate developer Jeff Greene officially entered Florida's gubernatorial contest Wednesday, joining a Democratic field he says is full of candidates lacking the financial resources to rebuff a "Republican onslaught" in the fall.

  • Greene plans to spend $200 million on campaign
  • Will also push funds into state legislative races
  • Policy positions do not stray far from other Democrats in race

After filing his qualifying paperwork at the state's Division of Elections, Greene was met by a crush of media reminiscent of the one present in 2010, when Rick Scott - then a wealthy Naples resident with a pockmarked history as CEO of the scandal-torn Columbia/HCA hospital corporation - qualified to run for governor.

Scott went on to win the office after spending $75 million of his personal fortune.

In contrast, Greene plans to spend $200 million on his gubernatorial campaign. Should he win the Democratic nomination, he's pledging to pump large sums of money into state legislative races, potentially boosting Democratic prospects in a game Republicans have long dominated.

The GOP has also held the Governor's Mansion for nearly 20 years, a record Greene argues is a result of the party's superior campaign spending. 

"Look at the last election. Charlie Crist spent, I was told, $50 million, and Rick Scott, somebody said, $130 million," Greene said.

"Any way you look at it, the Democratic message is the winning message in the state of Florida," he continued. "I think more independents actually lean Democratic. The problem is we have not had the funds to compete with this Republican onslaught, this Republican amount of money that’s been two to three times what we’ve been able to spend. So, will I put my money behind my message? Yes, I will."

But Greene's put his money behind his message before, only to come up short. In 2010, he spent more than $24 million on a campaign to capture the Democratic nomination in Florida's U.S. Senate race. The investment won him 31 percent of the vote, well short of former U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek's 58 percent.

In a five-way Democratic primary race, however, Greene's showing from eight years ago could win him the party's nomination. And while he doesn't appear to differ from the rest of the field on the standard-fare Democratic policy positions that have so far defined the race - increased funding for education, actions to improve income equality and tougher gun control measures, to name a few - he does have something the other candidates don't: billions of dollars in his bank account.

"Great ideas are wonderful. It's nice that they have them. But, you know what? I want to win this election, and that's why I'm coming in with the great ideas and the funds that are needed to get the message out to win this election," Greene said.