Shutting down the possibility of any kind of slot machine gambling at the state’s pari-mutuels and giving the Seminoles the right to offer blackjack at any of their casinos could jeopardize Crist and the tribe’s agreement, said state Rep. Bill Galvano, the House’s chief negotiator on the proposed compact.

“Those are red flags,” Galvano, R-Bradenton, said. “We’ll review from here and see where we go.”

Lawmakers laid out a gambling deal for Crist and the Seminoles in a bill the governor signed into law earlier this year.

That proposal allowed the Seminoles to keep blackjack at its Hollywood and Tampa Hard Rock resorts and to offer it at its Brighton and Big Cypress locales in Broward County.

The bill also didn’t mention “Class II” slot machines that look and play like Las Vegas-style slots but are less lucrative for operators.

The compact signed by Crist and the tribe today gives the Seminoles the exclusive rights to operate slots of any kind – including Class II video lottery terminals – anywhere outside of Broward and Miami-Dade counties where Las Vegas-style slots are already allowed.

That could have a devastating impact on the state’s dog and horse tracks, pari-mutuel operators object.

The $12.5 billion deal Gov. Charlie Crist and the Seminoles signed today takes slot machines off the table for the Palm Beach Kennel Club.

Track owner Pat Rooney Sr., his lobbyists and track owner Pat Rooney Sr. and some influential lawmakers had pushed for a Palm Beach County referendum in which voters could allow the track to expand its gambling operations to include slot machines. Senate President Jeff Atwater’s district includes the dog track.

But even the possibility of slots of any kind in Palm Beach County was a deal-breaker for the Seminoles, sources close to the negotiations said.

The final deal, which lawmakers must sign off on before it goes into effect, won’t allow slot machines or “slots-lite” – video terminals that look and play like the more lucrative Las Vegas-style slots – in Palm Beach or anywhere outside of Broward and Miami-Dade counties, where they are already permitted.

The Seminoles have agreed to pay the state $150 million a year or more, depending on how much their casino operations bring in, for 20 years in exchange for giving them exclusive rights to slot machine gambling throughout the state.

The tribe also gets to keep its blackjack games at all of its seven location although lawmakers had wanted that limited to the Broward County facilities and another near Tampa.

Pat Rooney Jr. — the president of the Palm Beach Kennel Club dog track, restaurateur, attorney, radio personality, South Florida Water Management District board member and older brother of Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney — says he’s leaning toward running for a northern Palm Beach County state House seat next year and will announce his plans in September.

Rooney, a Republican, is eyeing the state House District 83 seat of state Rep. Carl Domino, R-Jupiter, who faces term limits in 2010 and is running for state Senate.

Republicans already in the race: Nancy Cardone, Francisco Rodriguez and Nick Wukoson. Former Palm Beach Gardens Councilman Hal Valeche — who ran against Tom Rooney in the 2008 GOP congressional primary — is also looking at the race. Democrats Tony Arena, Gary Lew and Mark Marciano have also filed for the District 83 seat.

Gov. Charlie Crist and the Seminole Tribe of Florida agreed to a gambling deal today, the deadline lawmakers gave to Crist to reach an agreement with the tribe.

The deal won’t be final, however, until the legislature approves the contract, probably during a special session in October.

The $6.8 billion, 20-year deal allows the Seminoles to offer blackjack at each of their seven facilities.

But that’s not what lawmakers ordered Crist to do.

They told him they would only agree to let the Seminoles have blackjack at their three Broward County facilities and another near Tampa.

Lawmakers must sign on off the deal before it can go into effect.

“Over the last two months, my administration has in good faith negotiated with the Seminole Tribe of Florida a compact that will reap financial benefit to the people of Florida,” Crist said in a statement urging lawmakers to approve the compact.

Palm Beach County commissioners are scheduled to vote Tuesday on extending longtime County Administrator Bob Weisman’s contract for another year. His current contract runs through the end of 2013. No change in Weisman’s current $251,593 salary is proposed.

Commissioners tapped Weisman, a former Water Utilities director and assistant county administrator, for the top job at the end of 1991 when former county administrator Jan Winters resigned. Weisman’s pay for 1992 was $105,000.

PATRICK FARRELL/MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Aida Perez of Summerville, S.C., plays the slot machines at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida and Gov. Charlie Crist have until today to agree on a gambling compact that would allow slot machines, blackjack and other banked card games at the tribal casinos.

The Seminoles voted to approve a compact at a behind-closed-doors meeting Friday, but sources say the council refused to accept some provisions sought by the Legislature.

If Crist signs the agreement, he is expected to call a special session in October to have lawmakers sign off on the deal, as required by law. (more…)

Call it the Klein-Craft Axiom: In Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, Democratic enthusiasm for a government-run public health insurance plan to compete with private insurers is inversely proportional to the percentage of Republicans in one’s congressional district.

Liberal U.S. Reps. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, and Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, are vocal cheerleaders for the “public option” that is a centerpiece of the health care overhaul pushed by House Democratic leaders.

Wexler and Hastings represent slam-dunk Democratic districts.

But in nearby Palm Beach-Broward District 22, which has slightly more Republican voters than Dems, U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, approached the topic cautiously in a “telephone town hall” with constituents last week.

During the teleconference, Klein sounded as if he’s leaning toward the public option and rejected the argument that putting the federal government in the market would drive out private insurers.

But he stopped short of embracing it.

“I’m still looking at it. I haven’t committed to it yet,” Klein said of the public option. And as for the entire 10-year, $1 trillion House plan, Klein said he has problems with the price tag and described himself as “not quite there yet on saying I’m supporting the bill.”

Striking a similarly cautious tone is Democrat Chris Craft, the St. Lucie County commissioner drafted by national Dems to try to unseat freshman U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, in Republican-leaning congressional District 16.

The public option, says Craft, “is an option that’s on the table. I’m not 100 percent sold on it.”

* * *

Marcia Andrews, a former teacher and principal and school district administrator, is considering a run for the school board seat of veteran incumbent Sandra Richmond.

School board seats are nonpartisan. But here’s what makes Andrews’ potential bid interesting: she’s a member of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party’s executive board. And Richmond, elected six times since 1988, is one of the county’s longest-serving Democratic elected officials.

Party leaders traditionally discourage challenges of incumbents from within the party. County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel says he’s not backing Andrews, but hasn’t discouraged her, either, because “I don’t know if Sandi’s running again.”

Richmond says she’ll “probably” seek reelection next year.

* * *

Cedrick Thomas, who lost to Mack Bernard in last week’s special state House election, has to give up his Riviera Beach council seat Sept. 22 because he ran for the House.

But he doesn’t rule out seeking reappointment by the council.

Thomas is also weighing a 2010 challenge of Bernard or taking on County Commissioner Priscilla Taylor, who was a key Bernard backer.

Democrats were quick to decry Gov. Charlie Crist’s appointment of former top aide George LeMieux to fill a U.S. Senate vacancy as cronyism. But this The New York Times politics blog post argues that Crist appointing LeMieux as a placeholder while he runs for the seat in 2010 isn’t much different from the Kennedy family arranging for Benjamin A. Smith II to keep John F. Kennedy’s Massachusetts Senate seat warm until Ted Kennedy was old enough to run for it in 1962.

A more recent parallel, writer Peter Baker notes, is this year’s appointment of Vice President Joe Biden’s former Senate chief of staff, Ted Kaufman, to hold Biden’s Delaware Senate while the VP’s son, Beau Biden, is expected to run for it next year.

More from Obama’s campaign trail
A year ago Friday, candidate Barack Obama proved he could fill a football stadium with 80,000 cheering supporters.

But as president, Obama has seen his rock star status begin to fade.

In some polls, he’s even slightly less popular now than George W. Bush was at this point in his first term. At town hall meetings on health care, the bulk of the passion seems to come from activists opposed to Obama’s agenda.

It’s a far cry from what many supporters might have expected on Aug. 28, 2008 — the mile-high summit of Obama’s history-making road to the White House.

That night, the young Illinois senator stood on a raised blue platform in front of an elaborately columned backdrop in Denver’s Invesco Field, spoke to the country and accepted his party’s nomination for president.

The iconic images from that speech reflected a campaign that inspired volunteers across the nation. As a candidate, Obama drew on the deep reach of his grass-roots organization, his skill raising money on the Web, and the desire of tens of millions of voters to turn the page on Bush.

Since then, strategists attribute Obama’s declining poll numbers to his decision to quickly confront a series of controversial issues without the benefit of the scapegoat Bush represented in the campaign.

“The Parthenon they built behind Obama has crumbled,” Florida Republican strategist Rick Wilson said.
(more…)

U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez:“I congratulate George LeMieux for being appointed by the governor to fill the remainder of my term. George is bright, capable, and an accomplished
administrator. My staff and I stand ready to ensure a smooth transition.”

Former House Speaker Marco Rubio, who is running against Crist in the GOP primary to replace Martinez: “This is a disappointing pick for Florida. George LeMieux is a talented political operative and the governor’s best friend, but that doesn’t make him the right choice to represent Florida in the Senate. Governor Crist had a wealth of consistent and principled conservative candidates to choose from, all of whom would have been a reliable check and balance on the excesses of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid agenda.”

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate: “Governor Crist was afforded a high responsibility with this appointment. Instead, he treated this process like a mockery, politicizing his selection by flying around the state at taxpayers’ expense, touring major media markets and drawing this selection out. Well respected Floridians with a wealth of elected service experience from Congressman Clay Shaw to Mayor John Delaney to various Hispanic leaders were in a position to hit the ground running if appointed, but that possibility is now nonexistent.”

Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer: “Once again, Charlie Crist has demonstrated his commitment to serving Floridians, by appointing George LeMieux who is well qualified, a dedicated public servant, conservative Republican and an excellent choice!”

Progress Florida executive director Mark Ferrulo: “It’s shocking. We wonder why Gov. Crist didn’t just appoint himself if he was going to pick his former chief of staff and campaign ‘maestro’. “The so-called ‘People’s Governor’ has made clear through this appointment that he places personal loyalty and his own political benefit above the interests of Floridians.”

Attorney General Bill McCollum, a Republican running to replace Crist as governor: “I congratulate George LeMieux on his appointment as Florida’s U.S. Senator. I have known George for a long time, both as a friend and as a former Deputy Attorney General, a capacity in which he served this office
well. I wish him the best in serving the people of Florida in the U.S. Senate.”

Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Hari Sevugan: “With Florida’s economy in shambles, Charlie Crist could have selected a Senator who would be able to hit the ground running in Washington to tackle the problems that face Floridians. In appointing a political crony as a placeholder until he can run for Senate himself, Charlie Crist is using the Governorship to advance his own political ambitions rather than advancing the lives of the Floridians he was elected to serve.”

U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, a Democrat from Boca Raton: “In short, George LeMieux will make an excellent Senator. I wish him great success and look forward to working with him in any way I can.”

Republican operative and political consultant Mac Stipanovich: “He was not the obvious choice.”

Marion Hammer, former NRA president who now lobbies for the same organization and the Unified Sportsmen of Florida: “The NRA and Unified Sportsmen of Florida are very pleased with Governor Crist’s appointment of George LeMieux as Florida’s new junior U.S. Senator. George is rated ‘A’ by the NRA and will be a strong supporter of the Second Amendment in the U.S. Senate. Gun owners can count on George LeMieux to fight to protect freedom and the Second Amendment.”

Florida Democratic Party spokesman Eric Jotkoff: “This is just one more example of the Republican leadership in Tallahassee putting cronyism and corruption above the people of our state. From Ray Sansom, to former lobbyist Bill McCollum, to George LeMieux, it is clear that we must stand together and pledge to end the Republican culture of cronyism and corruption in Tallahassee.”

Former U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw, who was a finalist on Crist’s list of possible Martinez replacements and for whom LeMieux once worked as an intern: “George is a very, very capable guy and I’m sure he’ll do a good job. He’s a quick study, he’s articulate, he’s very close to the governor. I think it’s a good choice.”

State Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, active with LeMieux in Broward County GOP politics since the mid-1990s: “He’s a smart guy, politically savvy, a hard worker. There’s nothing negative to say about George….He’s certainly smart enough to wade through the issues.”

Kirk Fordham, head of the Everglades Foundation: “George LeMieux is the right pick for Florida. He has a deep understanding of a wide range of regional issues that are unique to Florida. When it comes to protecting the people’s water supply and restoring the Everglades, we couldn’t ask for a better ally than we’ll have in Senator George LeMieux.”

Gov. Charlie Crist’s rival in next year’s Republican U.S. Senate primary, former state House Speaker Marco Rubio, blasted Crist’s appointment of former chief of staff George LeMieux to fill a U.S. Senate vacancy for the next 16 months.

Said Rubio: “This is a disappointing pick for Florida. George LeMieux is a talented political operative and the governor’s best friend, but that doesn’t make him the right choice to represent Florida in the Senate. Governor Crist had a wealth of consistent and principled conservative candidates to choose from, all of whom would have been a reliable check and balance on the excesses of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid agenda.”

Final figures are in from the “telephone town hall” on health care that U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, hosted Wednesday night.

The 70-minute event drew 6,350 callers and cost $12,964. That’s $2.04 per participant.

The expenditure comes out of the $1.5 million office budget Klein gets as a member of Congress for staff salaries, travel and constituent-service costs.

After weeks of intrigue, Gov. Charlie Crist made it official this morning: He’s appointing George LeMieux, his former chief of staff and close political mastermind, to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez.

LeMieux — a fellow Republican whom Crist has dubbed “the Maestro” — would serve as a placeholder, keeping the Senate seat warm until Crist can run for the post himself in the 2010 election.

“I know his soul,” Crist told reporters and others at the old state capitol building (now a museum) in Tallahassee.

Early on, Crist had ruled out appointing himself to the Senate seat, a gambit that could have alienated the voters he still would need to face next year. Crist also bypassed potential elder-statesman figures such as Jim Smith, a former Florida attorney general and secretary of state, or former U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw of Fort Lauderdale.

LeMieux said he is resigning immediately as chairman of the influential law and lobbying firm Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart. The firm has been representing U.S. Sugar Corp. in negotiating a proposed $536 million land deal with Crist’s water managers, although LeMieux has said he’s had no role in the talks. LeMieux also has been sitting in on the state’s casino gambling negotiations with the Seminole Indian tribe, even after leaving Crist’s office last year.

LeMieux, a Fort Lauderdale native, said he will move next week to Washington, where his top priorities will be health care and the budget deficit.
(more…)

U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, will appear with a pair of Republican congressional candidates from other districts at a health care forum next week organized by the Palm Beach County GOP.

Hastings contacted county GOP Chairman Sid Dinerstein after seeing a Dinerstein quote accusing Democrats of ducking public meetings with constituents on health care. Hastings is scheduled to appear with Republican Allen West, who challenged Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Klein of Boca Raton last year and is gearing for a 2010 rematch, and Ed Lynch, who challenged Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler of Boca Raton last year and is planning on another challenge next year.

Dinerstein said he’s trying to line up another supporter of Democratic health care reform proposals to join Hastings on the panel.

The event is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 3, at 1 p.m. at the county commission chambers in the Governmental Center in West Palm Beach. Seating is limited and those wishing to attend should call the county GOP headquarters at 561-686-1616 to reserve a spot.

The event carries almost zero political risk for Hastings. He represents a district that’s more than 4-to-1 Democratic and he was reelected with 82.2 percent of the vote last year.

Opponents of former House Speaker John Thrasher launched a new television ad yesterday blasting the lobbyist’s ties to trial lawyers.

Stop Tax Waste, a shadow political committee, accuses him of voting in favor of the trial bar and “against taxpayers.”

Thrasher is running in a GOP special election primary against former state Rep. Stan Jordan to replace the late Sen. Jim King, who died earlier this month after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

The Senate District 8 primary will take place on Sept. 15. No Democrats have filed for Jacksonville seat in a GOP-heavy district that stretches from the Florida-Georgia border in Nassau County to Volusia County.

The latest ad is the second Stop Tax Waste launched against Thrasher, accusing him of being a spendthrift with taxpayer money by, among other things, a lavish redecoration of the Speaker’s office.

During his “telephone town hall” meeting on health insurance reform Wednesday night, U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, fielded questions on abortion, illegal immigrants, whether there should be a government-run “public option” and whether the proposed overhaul would constitute a drift toward Marxism or socialism.

Klein’s office said about 6,460 people listened in. Seventeen people asked questions during the 70-minute teleconference.

Click here to read an article on the event.

More detailed excerpts are available after the jump….

(more…)

U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, told a “telephone town hall” meeting tonight that he likes some aspects of Democratic health care reform proposals, but has concerns about costs and other areas that he called “not quite ready for prime time yet.”

“I’m not quite there yet on saying I’m supporting the bill,” Klein said early in the 70-minute teleconference. Klein’s office said about 6,460 callers participated.

Klein, who represents a Palm Beach-Broward district with slightly more Republicans than Democrats, said he hasn’t taken a position yet on a government-run “public option” for health insurance that is a key issue for many Democrats.

“I’m still looking at it. I haven’t committed to it,” Klein said when a caller asked for his position on the public option. Later, he told another caller he would not support a public option that relied on taxpayer subsidy.

(more…)

Coming off a decisive win in a special state House election Tuesday, Mack Bernard said he wants to work on education issues and on improving the job skills of residents in his district.

Final results from Tuesday’s District 84 election showed Democrat Bernard getting 60.5 percent against Riviera Beach Councilman and fellow Democrat Cedrick Thomas.

Turnout was 4.7 percent. In a special Senate election three weeks earlier, turnout in Palm Beach County was 4.9 percent.

Bernard, who takes office Sept. 22, will replace Priscilla Taylor, who stepped down in July when Gov. Charlie Crist appointed her to a Palm Beach County commission seat.

“The top, top priority is the workforce,” Bernard said today. He said he wants to work with groups such as the nonprofit Workforce Alliance to help District 84 residents become more competitive in the job market.

(more…)

For more pictures of Sen. Ted Kennedy, click here.

To read about his and his family’s ties to Palm Beach, click here.

Don’t bother making signs, hiring a high school marching band or bringing a video camera in hopes of creating a YouTube sensation. Tonight’s town hall meeting on health care hosted by U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, is a telephone-only affair.

Those who wish to participate must call Klein’s office toll-free at 1-866-713-7303 by noon today to register. Otherwise, those who live in Klein’s Palm Beach-Broward congressional district can hope they have one of the 50,000 or more phone numbers that receives an automated call around 7:45 p.m. tonight inviting them to join in the teleconference.

Klein’s foes have accused him of being afraid to face his constituents on an issue that has sparked some heated exchanges as well as some viral video in other congressional districts this summer. But Klein, who drew about 75 people to a town hall meeting on health care in June, says the teleconference method is a more effective way to reach thousands of constituents. He’s pledging an “open dialogue” and no ducking of tough questions.