Rooney endorses Benacquisto in Senate 27 race
by George Bennett | June 12th, 2009
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- Benacquisto
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- Rooney
Another heavyweight Republican endorsement for Wellington Councilwoman Lizbeth Benacquisto in her state Senate bid: U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, is backing her in the 2010 race for the seat of Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, who’s running for attorney general.
Rooney called Benacquisto “a tireless advocate” for Wellington “and I know she will bring the same dedication to Tallahassee.”
Earlier this week, Benacqusito picked up endorsements from three big Senate Republicans: President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, Majority Leader Alex Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami, and former Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie. The three Senators are hosting a fund-raiser in Tallahassee for Benacquisto this month.
Benacquisto was also endorsed this week by Lee County Republican Matt Caldwell, the GOP’s unsuccessful 2008 candidate for the seat.
Benacquisto is the only announced Republican in the Senate race, though former Republican state Rep. Sharon Merchant has said she’ll probably run. Democratic attorney Peter Burkert is also likely to enter.
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June 13th, 2009 at 9:07 am
Despite her ego,this will cause Merchant to drop out. She needs to retire from politics and tend to the family business.
June 13th, 2009 at 10:35 am
This was shaping up to be one of the more interesting primaries, but Benacquisto has left Merchant in her dust. The only Republican ally Merchant has who is in a “leadership” position is Karen Marcus, but that’s not going to help much with fundraising when you’re up against the alignment of leadership that’s supporting Benacquisto.
Merchant will likely fall behind in raising money, and she’s already behind with voters because she has not been involved in the District other than as a lobbyist for the Solid Waste Aurthority in their attempt to locate a dump next to the western communities.
If Merchant looks at the situation realistically and is getting objective advice, look for her to drop out.
Being a four-time loser will knock her out of the political world completely and her lobbying clients will disappear.
June 13th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
This isn’t fair to Merchant. How is she going to raise money and compete? If the purpose of these types of endorsements is to avoid competitive primaries (that can deplete resources for the general election and sometimes create animosity) then change to a convention or caucus system.