Rick Scott and Charlie Crist have been flailing away at each other with attack ads, campaign trail zingers and various distorted truths. It's scary to think how nasty Florida's gubernatorial race will get when the two candidates are actually on the November ballot.

That should be taken care of with Tuesday's primaries.

Incumbent Scott only has to fend off a couple of obscure challengers in the Republican race and is expected to win decisively. Crist faces a respected former state legislator in Nan Rich, but given her lack of name recognition and funding, the only real suspense in the Democratic primary is whether she'll finish close enough to deep-seated voter disenchantment with the former Republican governor.

Scott and Scott have all but dismissed their primary foes, and while that has barely been an issue in the Republican primary, Crist's snub of Rich and refusal to debate her has brought a lashing from political pundits and some in the Democratic establishment.

Their point is that Rich, a 72-year-old lifelong Democrat who has battled hard for issues important to the party, deserved a fair fight from a man who hasn't been a Democrat for two full years and whose radical change in positions has called into question whether he cares more about winning than his convictions.

Rich has a loyal following in south Florida, especially among women, and by debating her, the Sun-Sentinel of south Florida said, Crist could "could have explained himself to skeptical Democrats" and not come off as ignoring a credible opponent who has spent 18 months campaigning across Florida.

Crist said Scott's huge advantage in fundraising has forced him to focus exclusively on the general election.

"I don't have the luxury of being able to take my eye off the ball," the 58-year-old St. Petersburg High graduate told the Sunshine State News. "As you know, I'm running against a man who has said he will spend upward of $100 million on this race. So I have to be focused on that and the challenge that it presents, and I am focused on that."

Rich calls herself the "only real Democrat in the race," a reference to the consistent progressive positions she has held on issues such as same-sex marriage, gun control and abortion in a career that includes 12 years in the state Legislature and service as the party leader in the Senate.

"These are core issues that are important to the Democratic base, and my positions have always been solid. I've never wavered." she told the Orlando Sentinel. "He's been all over the map on these issues."

Scott's real fight won't begin until after the primary. His immediate challengers are Yinka Adeshina, 42, a pharmacist from Tallahassee who has never held office and says she is running for "new age ruler," and Elizabeth Cuevas-Neunder, 60, a former candidate for the Sarasota County School Board and state House of Representatives.

Adeshina has twin sons, one of whom has autism, and writes on her website: "Imagine a new world with no pain and anguish. Strong, yet tender. Friends, live long, but enemies die young." She further promises "high quality service and customer satisfaction - we will do everything we can to meet your expectations."

Adesshina has not campaigned significantly, but she already has her sights set well beyond the Governor's Mansion. According to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, she filed a statement of candidacy papers to run for president three times since 2010 - twice as a Republican and once as a Democrat - and has filed to run for president in 2016 as both a Democrat and a Republican.

She also has filed campaign finance reports seeking matching public funds for contributions from donors whose addresses are Publix stores and a Best Buy store.

"I don't really have anything agains Rick Scott," Adeshina told the Palm Beach Post. "He's nice. He's like a father to me. What is he, 70 or something?"

Scott is 61.

Cuevas-Neunder founded the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce for Sarasota and Manatee counties and the Miss Latina Program, a mentoring program for teen Hispanic girls. She once hosted a TV program promoting Hispanic culture on a Sarasota station.

At a campaign forum in Fort Lauderdale this month, Cuevas-Neunder held up a flip-flop and said she wanted to "discipline" Scott with it for his changing positions.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she said, " This is used in our Hispanic community as a method of discipline to children. It is called la chancleta. In English, it's called a flip-flop. At the present time, we have two flip-flops running for governor. And I want to use this one to discipline them because they deserve the discipline."