With 2010 almost ready to be counted out, one of the year’s top Florida stories – Republican Rick Scott’s election – will turn a new page, morphing into one of the New Year’s first major political events.

As the governor-elect readies for his Jan. 4 inauguration, the News Service of Florida asked a dozen lobbyists, elected officials and academics to look ahead and take stock of the early hurdles facing Scott.

As 2010 fades, let’s count down from 10 the top challenges facing the incoming governor in ’11.

10: A High Bar: Scott takes office promising to add 700,000 jobs to Florida’s feeble economy. Sure, he’s giving himself seven years to do this. But the new executive also says he’ll reach this goal on top of the roughly million jobs economists say Florida will add during that time, through normal growth and business expansion. Scott’s job creation promise will sit like a thermometer on the windowsill of the new administration. And it had better keep going up. Still, a University of Central Florida forecast this month warns the state’s unemployment rate won’t drop below 10 percent until early 2013.

9: An Impatient Public: Winning the closest governor’s race in modern Florida history means Scott doesn’t have a deep well of popular support. A survey this week by Public Policy Polling shows Scott’s unfavorability rating dropped from 54 percent when he was elected to 43 percent now. But Floridians, mired in a three-year economic downturn, likely won’t give the new guy a lot of time to make good on his campaign promises. If Scott wants proof, he just has to check how President Obama’s political fortunes turned in two years. “Scott has plans that go out seven years, but I think he’s only going to get seven months to make things happen,” said House Democratic Leader Ron Saunders of Key West.

8: Finding the Money: Scott’s got billions of dollars he wants to give away. A property-tax break would save Floridians $1.4 billion; eliminating the corporate income tax would slice more than $1.8 billion, and the incoming governor also wants to reduce unemployment taxes and cut more than $3 billion in electric utility costs for businesses. The state’s pension and employee health care system are vast repositories of money that could yield savings even with relatively modest changes. But while Scott wants to give money back – especially to businesses and homeowners – the state’s $3.5 billion budget shortfall shows the leaky ship of state is going to demand plugs.

7: Staffing his Administration: As a candidate, Scott fueled visions of America’s best and brightest flocking to Tallahassee eager to reinvent government. But with inauguration around the corner, the "help wanted" sign is still the most prominent feature on the new administration’s door. Scott’s transition teams have released hundreds of pages of proposals to revamp agencies, instill efficiencies, and eliminate wasteful spending. But the uncertainty about coming to work for an outsider CEO who doesn’t particularly like government seems to be slowing down the hiring process. After all, today’s agency job may look nothing like what it will if Scott gets his way with the Legislature. Scott also is discovering what lawmakers, corporate recruiters and local government officials have long known: Tallahassee can be a tough sell.

6: Fighting Red Tape Fanatics: Scott gets plenty of mileage deriding regulations he says are hampering the state’s economy. Growth management and environmental standards seem to commonly land in his crosshairs, along with duplicative regulations between competing state agencies. But the Capitol’s fourth-floor rotunda is frequently a swirling sea of lobbyists representing industries or individual companies seeking to get a leg up on a rival by imposing a department rule or landing a request for proposal. When Scott takes on regulations, he may also be taking on some influential lobbyists and their legislative patrons. The governor could soon be schooled in why some special interests are more special than others.