A race for an open Panhandle state Senate seat may stymie success of a jobs package.

State Rep. Dave Murzin, House Economic Development and Community Affairs committee chairman, took a swipe at the Senate’s jobs package sponsored by Sen. Don Gaetz.

Murzin, a Panhandle Republican who is running for a Senate seat neighboring Gaetz’s district, was asked about the Gaetz proposal at an Associated Industries of Florida event in Tallahassee yesterday.

“It’s a great package. If I had a $150 million it might be some good ideas. But quite frankly I don’t have $150 million. I think I stopped counting at about $150 million,” Murzin, R-Pensacola, told the crowd of business lobbyists.

Gaetz’ bill includes a $1,000 tax break for businesses that hire an out of work Floridian and a variety of other corporate tax breaks or incentives to induce them to put the unemployed back on the job and to get them off Medicaid and other state benefits.

Murzin said his package will be more realistic.

“So yeah, we’ll take a look at some stuff but quite frankly we’ll roll out a jobs package, an economic incentives package, an economy package that actually works, doesn’t necessarily cost a lot of money because …an economic package that Floridians can afford,” Murzin said. “I’m not really into it for the is still trying to figure out exactly how much it will cost and how much it could save).headlines. I’m actually into it to put Floridians back to work.”

Gaetz, who is backing Murzin’s opponent Rep. Greg Evers in the Senate race, expressed tongue-in-cheek surprise at Murzin’s inability to come up with the money to pay for the package. (Gaetz says his staff

“Well, Rep. Murzin is welcome to his opinions. I wish him well this session. And in his future. I wish him well in everything except his aspirations to be a senator. In all other cases I wish him well,” Gaetz, R-Destin, said.

The West Boca Chamber of Commerce breakfast at Boca Lago Country Club was the first joint appearance by Democrat Ted Deutch, Republican Ed Lynch and no-party candidate Jim McCormick. The three are running in an April 13 special election to replace Wexler, who stepped down last month to head a Middle East think tank.

Deutch said accused 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed should not be tried in New York City, as originally proposed by the Obama administration. But Deutch said he supports trying some accused terrorists on American soil in American civilian courts and noted that several high profile terrorists were tried and convicted in federal court during the Bush administration.

Lynch and McCormick took a harder line.

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McCormick

But today McCormick has a place at the dais for the debate that’s set to begin soon. Chamber President Barry Epstein said the chamber changed its mind after McCormick sent an e-mail last night suggesting he might file a lawsuit if he wasn’t included.

McCormick, Lynch and Deutch are running in the April 13 special election for the District 19 congressional seat to replace Robert Wexler, who left office last month to head a Middle East think tank.

“We’re a chamber of inclusion, not exclusion,” said Epstein. On Monday, Epstein said McCormick wasn’t invited because he’s “not viable.”

Deutch and Lynch won their respective primaries last week in Palm Beach-Broward District 19. Wexler left his seat last month to head a Middle East think tank.

A third candidate, Jim McCormick, is on the April 13 ballot with no party affiliation. West Boca Chamber President Barry Epstein said McCormick wasn’t invited because he is “not viable.”

The 7:30 a.m. breakfast costs $25. To make a reservation, call 561-852-0000.

Lynch

“I was really surprised with how lousy the turnout was. I was expecting at least twice as many voters as that,” said Ed Fulop of the local Glenn Beck-inspired 9-12 group. Ed Lynch won a Republican primary that had only 7.4 percent turnout after all three GOP candidates aggressively courted the Tea Party/9-12 vote.

Read about it in this week’s Politics column.

A proposal from President Obama to repeal a ban on gays serving openly in the military — better known as “don’t ask, don’t tell” — has split Florida’s U.S. Senate candidates along party lines.

“We are a nation at war. The governor believes the current policy has worked, and there is no need to make changes.”

–Republican Charlie Crist spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg.

“Marco Rubio supports the current policy and doesn’t see any evidence it needs to be changed.”

–Republican Marco Rubio spokesman Alex Burgos.

“Before the Civil Rights Bill passed, Everett Dirksen told Lyndon Johnson that, ‘This is an idea whose time has come.’ Well this is also an idea whose time has arrived.”

–Democrat Maurice Ferre

“Admiral Mike Mullen’s testimony that repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell comes down to an issue of integrity for citizens in uniform, and for the military as an institution were powerful words of conviction and truth. As a congressional cosponsor of legislation to promote a policy of nondiscrimination in the Armed Forces on the basis of sexual orientation, and having spoken to senior commanders about this issue, the position voiced by the military is a welcome one.”

–Democrat Kendrick Meek

“Unfortunately, that gets a lot of attention.”

That quote from Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio wasn’t about this embrace or this sign of affection, he was talking about this one.

Rubio said on CNN on Thursday that “the hug” between Gov. Charlie Crist and President Obama gets too much attention. Crist’s support of the stimulus plan was what was really important, he said.

It was the Rubio campaign, however, that called a picture of Obama and Crist the “MOST POWERFUL ONLINE FUNDRAISING SITE IN FLORIDA HISTORY” in November.

The site is no longer active, but the picture is on a fund-raising page on Rubio’s campaign Web site. A money bomb for Rubio features Crist and Obama embracing.

Today, Rubio is announcing that he’ll return to the site of the Fort Myers rally on Wednesday - the one-year anniversary of the Obama-Crist get-together.

The event, coordinated by FreedomWorks PAC, will feature former House Republican Leader Dick Armey.

From Rubio’s press release today:

“Every day, I am encouraged by the growing support I see for limited government principles throughout Florida and our nation,” said Rubio. “February 10 marks the first anniversary of Governor Crist’s embrace of a failed stimulus policy that has neither stimulated our economy, nor prevented the dramatic job losses that have taken a toll on over 1 million Floridians and families.”

Detert

In July, about four months before Dockery entered the race, Republican Bill McCollum announced that Detert, a Venice Republican and head of the Senate K-12 Committee, was part of his extensive “Statewide Campaign Leadership Team”.

A McCollum spokeswoman said Detert told the campaign about her intention to join Dockery’s effort in November, when she accompanied Dockery to the state elections office to file official campaign papers.

Former Gov. Jeb Bush continues to thinly veil his support in the U.S. Senate race. From his interview today with WGCU in Fort Myers:

“I’m proud of what Marco has been able to accomplish in the campaign, but there’s a long, long way to go.”

Klein: Top-10 Dem moneyman

Klein’s Republican rival, Allen West, began 2010 with $707,150 cash on hand — the second-highest figure for all GOP challengers, according to CQ.

West: No. 2 for GOP challenger money

Klein’s District 22 covers parts of Palm Beach and Broward counties. It was represented by Republican Clay Shaw for 26 years but has grown more Democratic and voted 52 percent for Barack Obama in 2008.

Gov. Charlie Crist, who has lost a string of straw polls in the U.S. Senate GOP primary, when asked this morning how much straw polls matter:

“Not a lot, as I’ve said before. You know, the only poll that matters is Election Day and I can’t wait for it.”

Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, in one of two e-mails last week announcing straw poll victories in the Republican primary for attorney general:

“I am extremely excited to win the FFCR (Florida Federation of College Republicans) straw poll.”

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune that illegal immigrants should not count in the census, a position that would cost the state federal money and one that puts him at odds with Gov. Charlie Crist — his primary opponent — as well as the Republican-controlled legislature.

Rubio’s spokesman told the paper that his position was based on “rightful representation in Congress and ensuring that every voter has an equal voice.”

Today, Crist, trailing Rubio in recent polls, called the former state House speaker’s position “absurd.”

“Florida deserves to have her fair share. And I think making sure that we count every single Floridian is vitally important. That’s why I went to the school yesterday in North Miami,” Crist said.

“It is important. It’s important to our state, it’s important to our people. And the notion that you would not want to accept federal funding to make a political statement is absurd.”

Lynch

Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher said Joe Budd lost 9 votes when elections officials re-checked their numbers early this morning in response to discrepancies between the number of ballots cast and the number of voters who signed in at precincts. Bucher said a few votes had been double-counted in precincts that used two optical scanners rather than one.

New numbers still haven’t been posted on Palm Beach County’s elections Web site, but Bucher this morning said Budd got 2,585 votes in Palm Beach County (down from 2,594 posted Tuesday night), Lynch got 2,547 (unchanged from Tuesday night) and Curt Price got 1,195 (down from 1,199).

Lynch beat Budd by 84 votes in Broward County.

Based on the latest numbers, when totals from Palm Beach County’s 263 precincts are added to totals from Broward County’s 93 precincts, Lynch leads Budd by 46 votes out of 8,160 cast. That’s a 0.56 percent difference. State law requires a machine recount if the difference is 0.5 percent or less.

If outnumbered Republicans in Palm Beach-Broward congressional District 19 were fired up by Republican Scott Brown’s upset victory in heavily Democratic Massachusetts, they didn’t show it Tuesday.

About 7.4 percent of Republican voters cast ballots in the special GOP congressional primary.

Democratic turnout was about 12 percent.

Democrats have more than a 2-to-1 registration edge in District 19, where “fire-breathing liberal” Robert Wexler’s resignation to head a Middle East think tank created the need for a special election to fill the seat. The general election is April 13.

Lynch

While Broward County posted final numbers about 11 p.m. Tuesday for its 93 precincts, as of 6:45 a.m. the Palm Beach County elections office hadn’t posted results that include provisional ballots on its Web site.

Once Palm Beach County posts its final numbers, if the overall margin of the race remains closer than 0.5 percent, it would trigger an automatic recount.

Lynch declared himself the winner shortly before midnight.

The Democratic primary, meanwhile, had no drama, with state Sen. Ted Deutch racking up 85 percent of the vote.

Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher said all the ballots have arrived at the elections tabulating center in Riviera Beach. As of 10:35 p.m., 40 of 263 Palm Beach County precincts remain uncounted for the congressional District 19 primary.

In the Republican race, Ed Lynch holds a 42-vote lead over Joe Budd. Ted Deutch handily won the Democratic primary.

Bucher also said electronic cartridges from seven precincts aren’t reading properly, so the paper ballots will have to be fed through a scanner at the elections office to be counted.

While the Democratic primary in congressional District 19 was a quick knockout for Ted Deutch, the GOP race remains too close to call with 62 of 356 precincts outstanding as of 10:20 p.m.

In the Republican race, Ed Lynch has 2,954 votes and Joe Budd has 2,907. Curt Price is in third place with 1,383 votes. The 62 precincts are all in Palm Beach County.

“We’ve got our first endorsement for the general election,” victorious Democrat Ted Deutch just told supporters after taking a concession call from primary rival Ben Graber.

Deutch appears headed to more than 80 percent of the vote in the Democratic congressional District 19 primary.

The GOP race is too close to call. With about two-thirds of Palm Beach County precincts still outstanding, Ed Lynch has a lead of 2,205 to 1,851 over Joe Budd.

Broward County results are complete. View them here.

The primary winners and no-party candidate Jim McCormick will appear on an April 13 general election ballot to replace retired U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler.

As early Democratic returns show Ted Deutch getting more than 80 percent of the primary vote over Ben Graber, Palm Beach County Commissioner Burt Aaronson just told a crowd at a Deutch election-night party: “Let’s be good winners.”

Deutch is speaking to the group now at a homeowner association clubhouse in West Boca. He was interrupted by a campaign aide who said the Associated Press has called the race for Deutch.

“This is an extraordinary evening,” Deutch said at the beginning of his remarks.

As of 8:50 p.m., 75 of 93 Broward County precincts have reported results and 0 of 263 Palm Beach County precincts are in for the congressional District 19 primaries.

Based on early and absentee ballots and the Broward precincts, Ted Deutch is running away with the Democratic primary.

On the Republican side, Ed Lynch has a lead of 1,518 to 1,180 over Joe Budd, with Curt Price trailing with 592 votes.