CLEARWATER, Fla.  As the Senate race heats up in Florida, so does the red tide blame game.

Gov. Rick Scott recently completed a statewide bus tour as part of his senate bid and he received a lot of heat from residents demanding change. 

But Scott says the issue lies in longtime senator Bill Nelson's hands. 

It is more likely that Scott did not cause the red tide impacting Florida beaches this year and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson didn’t either.

But for the voting public, it’s hard not to take a side as Scott and Nelson are in a heated senate race right now. And both sides are spending millions to convince voters it’s the other guy's fault.

Environmental activists and political groups plan to hold a red tide rally Thursday against Scott at Pier 60 in Clearwater.  

Demonstrators will say Scott gutted Florida’s environmental protection agency and in 2010 favored a delay in more stringent water testing of lakes and streams, to appease political donors.

But groups supporting Scott for Senate are also on the attack. An ad this summer claimed Nelson had done nothing in more than two decades to combat red tide.

And that 2010 delaying of regulations that Scott supported? Nelson supported it too.

"We need a much more vigorous program in order to actually help the politicians frame these issues and kind of depoliticize them," said Dr. Steve Murawski, a professor of population dynamics and marine ecosystem analysis at the University of South Florida.

The real cause of red tide as it is understood by science today is an upwelling of nutrients far out and deep in the ocean that can infect waters close to shore.

"These issues are naturally occurring," Murawski said. "And the issue of whether or not near shore pollution is a culprit here is unresolved, so it's really hard for us to say one decision verse the other is the problematic one."

So with the millions of dollars flying around right now to politically frame red tide, scientists say more investment is needed in the actual science to find the root of why these algae blooms happen.

They do say the political fight over red tide is at least, for now, keeping a spotlight on the problem, but they fear once the election is over, the attention on red tide will also go elsewhere.

Meanwhile, both Nelson and Scott have taken action in the red tide fight. 

Since early August, Scott has infused several groups with almost $4 million in funds to study and combat red tide. 

And Nelson teamed up with Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio on a bill that pushes federal resources to attack the toxic algae blooms in south Florida.