Weird, I’ve been in Fl since 1988 and don’t remember any hub bub about him flying on the Space Shuttle.
It was in 85 - just before Challenger.
Bill Nelson's singular jaunt into space was a political stunt performed after he was an elected U.S. Congress Critter. Nelson was unable to capitalize on his "astronaut" experience with a failed run for FL Governor in 1990. He successfully campaigned using the space flight experience for U.S. Senate runs since 2000.