Crist owes no money to 12 of 20 Republicans who asked for their cash back
by Michael C. Bender | May 5th, 2010
Gov. Charlie Crist laughs before signing a bill with officials from the Seminole Tribe of Florida at the Seminole Casino in Hollywood on Wednesday. (AP)
UPDATE: We missed one donor. A $2,400 donation from Thomas Petway doesn’t show up in a search of the FEC’s electronic files. But the paper records clearly show his contribution. So of the 20 Republicans who signed the letter, nine donated to Crist and eight still have money in his campaign. The blog has been updated to correct the error.
Twenty Republican fund-raisers signed a letter today calling on newly independent Gov. Charlie Crist to return campaign contributions he received from GOP donors.
“As part of your transition into this new phase of your political career, we respectfully request that you return every penny of donor money from every donor who asks for a refund. For those of us who have donated to your Senate campaign, you can start by refunding in full the contributions we have made,” the letter reads.
But just eight of the 20 have any money sitting in Crist’s campaign coffers, records show.
One of the 20 who signed the letter, Gay Gaines of Palm Beach, hasn’t given to Crist in at least 15 years. She donated $2,400 this year to Crist’s GOP rival, Marco Rubio, whose campaign circulated the letter. .
Gaines
Former U.S. Ambassador Al Hoffman helped write the letter, but he asked for — and received — his cash back in February, just weeks after Hoffman helped push former state GOP chairman Jim Greer out the door.
“When I discovered, in my view, that Charlie was complicit in the Jim Greer debacle, I couldn’t swallow it,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman said he believes Crist was aware that Greer and Delmar Johnson, then the party’s executive director, were diverting 10 percent of all party donations their LLC known as Victory Strategies.
“How could he not have been aware of that?,” Hoffman said. “If he wasn’t aware of it it means he was totally incompetent. If he was aware of it, he was complicit. Either way it’s pretty damning.”
Here’s our story of the day’s events in the U.S. Senate race.
And keep reading for the text of the letter along with the list of which signatories actually gave to Crist’s Senate campaign.
May 5, 2010
The Honorable Charlie Crist
State of Florida
The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
Dear Governor Crist,
As longtime and loyal contributors to Republican causes and your many campaigns, this letter is not easy for us to write. But your actions have forced us to take action.
We are both saddened and disappointed in your decision to abandon the Republican Party during this important election. Republicans across Florida and America are again rallying around the fundamental values that have sustained our party for more than 150 years. As a party we are more united than ever.
For years you have been one of the Republican Party’s most outstanding and vocal leaders. But now, because of simple self-interest and political calculation, you are walking away from the people and principles that you often told us defined you “to your core.”
We helped to support, and yes to bankroll, your political career. For years you have been asking us for money. And for years we have put our names and credibility on the line by asking our friends to donate to you. Those days are over.
As part of your transition into this new phase of your political career, we respectfully request that you return every penny of donor money from every donor who asks for a refund. For those of us who have donated to your Senate campaign, you can start by refunding in full the contributions we have made.
Recent reports with the Federal Elections Commission indicate your campaign is sitting on a stockpile of approximately $7.6 million dollars in contributions.
Charlie, that is not your money.
That money represents 7.6 million promises you broke to the people who entrusted their money to you in the hopes that they were supporting a leader who would stand on the common values all Republicans share.
Every dollar represents a contributor who believed you when you promised to serve proudly in the Party of Reagan, Roosevelt and Lincoln. Every dollar represents someone who sacrificed during these difficult economic times to contribute to a Republican they thought they could trust.
You have asked the voters of Florida to believe you when you insist your sudden change of heart is sincere, and not a last ditch effort to prolong your political career. Honoring the trust you entered into with the people who contributed to your campaign, and who are now asking for their money back, is absolutely necessary to prove your willingness to abide by your own words when you said, “I probably would give a donor his money back,” as well as adhere to a higher ethical and moral standard.
You used to be fond of quoting Abraham Lincoln. While you no longer belong to his party, hopefully you can still appreciate his words when he said, “If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem.”
Thus it is that we hereby request all donations be returned to those of us who contributed to your Senate campaign, and call upon every one of your Republican supporters to request the same.
Sincerely,
Bill Becker, Vero Beach, FL ($0)
Wayne Berman, Washington, D.C. ($0)
Al Cardenas, Miami, FL ($4,800)
Sid Dinerstein, Palm Beach Gardens, FL ($0)
Ed Easton, Key Biscayne, FL ($2,400)
Peter Feaman, Boynton Beach, FL ($500)
Gay Gaines, Palm Beach, FL ($0)
Phil Handy, Winter Park, FL ($0)
Mike Hightower, Jacksonville, FL ($0)
Charlie Hilton, Panama City, FL ($0)
Ambassador Al Hoffman, North Palm Beach, FL ($4,800)*
Congressman Gary A. Lee, Ft. Myers, FL ($0)
Anita Mitchell, West Palm Beach, FL ($0)
Tom Petway, Jacksonville, FL ($2,400)
Ambassador John Rood, Jacksonville, FL ($4,800)
Peter Rummell, Jacksonville, FL ($4,800)
Frank Schwerin, Naples, FL ($0)
Jason Steele, Satellite Beach, FL ($0)
Chris Sullivan, Tampa, FL ($4,800)
Jason Unger, Tallahassee, FL ($2,400)
Note: donations added by The Palm Beach Post, according to the most recently filed campaign finance reports
*Hoffman received his money back in February.
Tags: Al Hoffman, Anita Mitchell, Charlie Crist, fund-raising, fundraisers, Gay Gaines, independent, Peter Feaman, Republicans, Sid Dinerstein, top fund-raisers
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Sentenced to die for crimes judged heinous and cruel, inmates await execution in a 9 feet by 6 feet cell.
May 5th, 2010 at 9:19 pm
ha ha ha - that’s pretty funny.
May 6th, 2010 at 12:25 am
This makes no sense, They each would have to prove how much they expect to have returned to them right? What… They thought nobody would check, or were their contibutions made directly to the State Republican Party on his Charlies behalf and the reporter never checked there? It just makes no sense!
May 6th, 2010 at 7:10 am
Video of Jon Stewart on Crist vs. Rubio: ‘It’s like John Hamm versus Mario Lopez’.
http://bit.ly/aY15ca
May 6th, 2010 at 8:18 am
These people are funny…
May 6th, 2010 at 8:44 am
You stupid Dems can’t even read.
Quote: “For those of us who have donated to your Senate campaign, you can start by refunding in full the contributions we have made,”
These people have steered money to his campaign. Most were smart enough not to donate to His Gayness themselves.
May 6th, 2010 at 11:13 am
Wha, Wha, Wha. Republican cry babies. Maybe they need that money back to use at spending sprees at ‘bondage themed lesbian” strip clubs.
OOOOOOOOOOHHHH, I’m feeling stimulated by the Republican “stimulus” plans.
May 6th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
If, in fact, they personally gave NO MONEY,
they are NOT entitled to any return or a refund. If they steered money from someone else, that’s NOT a reason to request the repayment to them personally. These false claims should be considered fraudulant and all persons should be brought up on attempted embezellment charges. This just shows the arrogance of and results of a broken system that is called “political campaign finance”. What a farce !!!!
May 6th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
Return nothing. Let them eat cake.
May 6th, 2010 at 5:44 pm
This donors are all probably millionaires. Why are they crying about a couple thousand dollars? Republi-Teaheads are just a greedy, untrustworthy lot and I wouldn’t give back a single penny to people like that.
May 6th, 2010 at 6:39 pm
@ AS - you’re hilarios. I have yet to see Republicans act as cry babies. That’s all the Dems do is whine, kick and scream until they get a pacifier from Obama and his cronies. Open your eyes, read UNbiased papers (which would not be the Post) and start paying attention.
May 6th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
Sidenote: I love when the Post mentions an error and it’s in small print. Subscriptions down? Hmm. I wonder why. ALL of your readers are not Liberal, Post. So, possibly you could turn up the heat in your division and talk about something other than Crist and Obama.
June 1st, 2010 at 7:41 am
Writers are not appreciated enough, thank you for taking the time to post this.