Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson called Tuesday for the Senate to hold hearings across Florida and other states where Republican-led legislative majorities approved strict new voting standards.

Nelson first made his request last week, in a letter to Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin, the Democrat heading a judiciary subcommittee overseeing the constitution and civil rights. But he echoed his demand Tuesday before the full Senate.

 “No state should have the right to make a law if it abridges people’s basic rights,” said Nelson, who wants the hearings held in Florida and 13 other states that have enacted new voting laws.

Boca Raton Democratic U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch last summer called for congressional hearings into the changes, which Democrats and their allies say are designed to block and disenfranchise voters, particularly minorities and Democratic-leaning college students.

The goal of these Republican-ruled state legislatures is to reduce voter turnout in next year’s presidential contest, critics say. The ACLU and other voting rights groups have already sued to stop implementation of the law.  A study by the Brennan Center for Justice found the laws could keep 5 million people from voting next year.

Supporters of the measures deny any partisan motivation, instead saying the stricter standards are intended to reduce voter-fraud.

 

Gov. Rick Scott was among a host of political figures Monday touting Boeing’s decision to open a commercial space capsule assembly facility at Kennedy Space Center — eventually bringing a projected 550 jobs to Florida’s economically ravaged Space Coast.

Scott said the assembly site — housed in an empty shuttle hangar — will yield 140 jobs by June 2013 and as many as 550 positions by December 2015.  Boeing received $131 million from NASA to develop the commercial taxi service to bring astronauts to the International Space Station, beginning in 2016.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, a Rockledge Republican, were expected to be on hand at KSC for the formal announcement Monday.

“Florida has five decades of leadership in the space industry, which makes our state the logical place for the next phase of space travel and exploration,” Scott  said. “Boeing’s choice of Florida for its commercial crew program headquarters is evidence Florida has the world-class facilities and workforce expertise needed for aerospace companies to succeed.”

The move comes only a couple weeks after the latest round of  layoffs in the region, tied to the closing of the shuttle program. When the Space Shuttle Atlantis’ completed its last voyage earlier this month, 1,600 employees of United Space Alliance were dismissed days later — part of wholesale reductions that over the past three years are likely to cost the region some 10,000 jobs.

“This positions our state well for future growth and a leadership role in NASA’s next generation human space exploration initiatives,” said Frank DiBello, president of Space Florida, the state’s economic agency for space ventures. “It is also a key factor in ensuring Florida’s space-related economy continues to thrive in the post-shuttle retirement.”

Scott wasn’t alone in courting Boeing. Among the organizations luring the aerospace giant were the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast, Enterprise Florida, the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners and Brevard Workforce.

 

 

 

Some elbows are already being directed at U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Cape Coral, as he gets ready to enter the crowded 2012 Republican Senate primary.

Former appointed U.S. Sen. George LeMieux welcomed Mack as “a friend,” but also slammed Mack for supporting earmarks and congressional pay raises.

Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner‘s communications director Douglass Mayer called four-term House member Mack “another Washington incumbent.”

After announcing in March he wouldn’t run, Mack has decided to enter the Republican primary against LeMieux, Hasner and businessmen Craig Miller and Mike McCalister. the four declared GOP candidates have been plagued by underwhelming poll numbers and fundraising as they vie to challenge Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012.

Read statements from LeMieux, the Hasner campaign and McCalister after the jump….

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After ruling out a Senate run in March, U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Cape Coral, appears to have had a change of heart.

With none of the Republican candidates showing impressive polling or fundraising numbers, a Mack aide told The St. Petersburg Times late Wednesday that the congressman would enter the race.

Republicans are trying to field a candidate to challenge two-term Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

Mack, the son of a former Senator and great-grandson of a Hall of Fame baseball legend with the same name, would bring a well-known name and presumed fundraising connections to the race. But Mack has occasionally run afoul of the GOP’s conservative base, most notably in opposing an Arizona-style crackdown on illegal immigrants.

Mack cited family concerns in passing up the Senate race in March, then endorsed state Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, in the primary. But Haridopolos dropped out during the summer.

Former appointed Sen. George LeMieux, former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner and businessmen Craig Miller and Mike McCalister have spent months on the campaign trail, but none has built a strong following in the polls.

Reports this month showed all of the Republicans far behind Nelson in fundraising. Nelson raised $2 million in the last quarter and has about $7.5 million in his campaign account.

LeMieux’s fundraising plunged from $951,558 in the second quarter to $402,916 in the third quarter. He has about $1 million in the bank. Hasner raised $535,000 in the last quarter and has $786,000 on hand.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson has sent a critical letter to Republican Gov. Rick Scott and plans to meet Wednesday with a Volusia County high school teacher whose student voter registration drive could violate Florida’s tough, new elections law.

The law is already being challenged in court by the ACLU and allied organizations. But Nelson is calling on Scott to push for revamping or repealing the measure following the case of Jill Cicciarelli, a New Smyrna Beach teacher and adviser to a local high school’s student government association.

Cicciarelli was registering students to vote since the beginning of the school year. But county Elections Supervisor Ann McFall said she was required to report Cicciarelli to the Florida Department of State apparently for violating the new  standard for those acting as third-party registration organizations.

Florida’s new law imposes strict regulation of third-party registration groups, including requiring that they submit voter  forms within 48 hours after they are signed. Formerly, such organizations had 10 days to submit forms. Either way, state officials said Cicciarelli appears to be in violation — although state elections officials say it’s unclear whether the teacher’s case will be referred to Attorney General Pam Bondi for further action.

Nelson, though, says the controversy points to flaws in the law — which critics say is designed to put hurdles before groups likely to assist minorities, students and other Democratic-leaning voters in advance of the 2012 elections. The League of Women Voters has already announced it has dropped third-party registration efforts.

“After this incident with the teacher, can anyone actually say we aren’t taking a step backwards in Florida when it comes to protecting one of our most fundamental rights?” Nelson asked in his letter to Scott.  “I hope that you and every Floridian, regardless of political party, will stop and re-examine this controversial law.”

Plant City businessman Mike McCalister raised about $71,000 during the third quarter for his Republican U.S. Senate bid, his campaign said today. That places McCalister — who served 33 years in the Army National Guard, Army Reserves and active duty and retired with the rank of colonel — financially far behind his three main GOP primary rivals.

Federal Election Commission reports were due Saturday but have not yet been posted on the FEC site.

Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner raised $535,000 in the quarter. Former appointed Sen. George LeMieux collected $402,916 and former Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse CEO Craig Miller raised $226,000.

McCalister’s total came from nearly 2,000 donors, consultant Buzz Jacobs said.

The GOP candidates together raised less than incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who raised nearly $2 million in the quarter.

Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton raised more campaign cash in the third quarter than GOP Senate primary rival George LeMieux — but neither one comes close to incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

Hasner raised $535,000 between July 1 and Sept. 30 and has $786,000 in cash on hand, his campaign said this evening. LeMieux, a former appointed Senator, raised $402,916 in the quarter and has a little more than $1 million in the bank.

Nelson, seeking a third term next year, said earlier this week that he raised nearly $2 million in the last quarter and has about $7.5 million in cash on hand.

A third Republican candidate, former Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse CEO Craig Miller, tonight announced he raised $226,000 in the quarter and has $145,000 cash on hand.

Also seeking the GOP nomination is Plant City businessman Mike McCalister, who has not yet announced his third-quarter fundraising totals. Federal Election Commission reports are due Saturday.

Hasner’s latest $535,000 haul compares to $565,439 he raised in the second quarter.

LeMieux’s third-quarter total is less than half the $951,558 he raised in the previous quarter.

Hasner and LeMieux together raised less than half the $1.9 million that U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, raised in the third quarter for his House reelection bid.

West’s fundraising prowess led some Republicans to urge him to enter the Senate race, but West turned down the idea during the summer.

Nelson (right) in a 2009 interpretation of Elton John’s “Rocket Man.”

Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and Sir Elton John teamed up this week to write a piece for Politico calling for more AIDS funding.

As odd as the pairing between the Space Coast lawmaker and Glam Rock survivor may seem, it isn’t Nelson’s first Elton John-related collaboration. Back in 2009, Nelson and Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., strained to hit the high notes on John’s 1972 hit Rocket Man in a duet captured on blackmail-worthy video.

The Senators had wagered on the Florida-Oklahoma BCS championship game. When the Tim Tebow-led Gators beat the Sam Bradford-led Sooners, Nelson forced Coburn to sing Rocket Man, which Nelson selected because he had flown on the Space Shuttle in 1986. Though Nelson won the bet, he joined with Coburn for part of the song.

Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson‘s campaign says it will report nearly $2 million in contributions for the third quarter when it files a Federal Election Commission report later this week.

The Nelson campaign also says it has $7.5 million in cash on hand for the two-term incumbent’s 2012 reelection bid. It says the third-quarter haul came from 5,133 individual donors.

Republicans hoping to unseat Nelson — former appointed Sen. George LeMieux, former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton, businessmen Craig Miller and Mike McCalister — have not yet announced their fundraising totals for the July 1-Sept. 30 period.

Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson is “inclined to support” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid‘s proposal for a 5.6 percent surtax on income above $1 million, a Nelson spokesman told PostOnPolitics.com.

The surtax is given little chance of passing Congress, where Republicans control the House and have enough Senate votes to filibuster the legislation. But it is seen as a way for Democrats to draw a contrast with the GOP heading into the 2012 elections. Nelson is up for reelection next year.

Reid first proposed a 5 percent surtax beginning in 2012, then changed it to a 5.6 percent tax beginning in 2013.

Said Nelson spokesman Dan McLaughlin in an e-mail: “If Sen. Nelson had his druthers, he wouldn’t have done it this way. He favors allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire for everyone making more than $1 million year. But it all comes out about the same under Sen. Reid’s plan. So, he’s inclined to support it.”

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio opposes the surtax, his office said.

Republican Senate hopeful Adam Hasner of Boca Raton further bolstered his conservative cred by landing the endorsement of the Family Research Council Action PAC, a national social-conservative organization that traces its roots to Focus on the Family’s James Dobson.

“Representative Hasner is a strong conservative who will work to protect the freedom of Americans by advocating for a limited government. He is pro-life, and consistent in his support of the traditional values that are the bedrock of our society,” said PAC Chairman Tony Perkins.

Hasner is running in a GOP primary against former appointed Sen. George LeMieux, Plant City businessman Mike McCalister and former Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse CEO Craig Miller. The winner will face Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson.

Hasner won last week’s Florida Conservative Political Action Conference Senate straw poll and has scored endorsements from FreedomWorks, Concerned Women for America and other national conservatives but so far has remained in single digits in polls.

CPAC has spoken.

Former House majority leader Adam Hasner won the U.S. Senate straw poll Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, drawing 34 percent support from those casting ballots, compared to 30 percent for second-place finisher Mike McCalister.

George LeMieux, who had a brief stint as Gov. Charlie Crist’s appointee to the U.S. Senate, finished third with 24 percent support. Former Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse boss Craig Miller rounded out the field, with support from 12 percent of the 1,500 CPAC delegates casting ballots.

The four leading Republicans are vying for the party’s nomination to go up against Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, stung by each of the contenders during their stump speeches to delegates Friday.

The Florida Commission on Ethics accepted an agreement Friday with Republican U.S. Senate candidate Adam Hasner, who acknowledged that he failed to submit his 2010 state financial disclosure form on time.

Hasner, a former House majority leader from Delray Beach, left the Legislature last November, but still was required by law to submit his disclosure statement for that year. Hasner said the form had been sent to him by certified mail from the Legislature, but was returned as “unclaimed” in error by the Post Office.

Hasner turned in his 2010 form within a month of being notified that it was missing.  But a Palm Beach County Democratic activist, Diana Demarest, filed an ethics complaint against Hasner and Friday said “he still thinks he’s above the law.”

As part of the legal stipulation with Hasner, Friday’s public report is likely to prove the only punishment leveled against the candidate. The commission can only recommend fines or other penalties. But final action against a former representative would come from the House, which has shown no interest in pursuing the matter.

Hasner is among four top Republicans seeking the party’s nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson. Neither Hasner nor his attorney attended Friday’s hearing. A spokesman for the campaign also denied comment on the outcome.

Demarest, a political consultant who openly supports Nelson, said she was unhappy with the commission’s action. “These guys leave office and just blow off doing what they’re supposed to do,” Demarest said.

Hasner is the latest in a recent string of legislators running afoul of financial disclosure laws.  Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Melbourne, who dropped out of the U.S. Senate race earlier this summer, was admonished last spring by the Senate for failing to fully disclose details about his finances from 2004 through 2008.

 

Leadership Florida and the Florida Press Association, which have hosted televised statewide debates going back to 2004, announced Wednesday another round during next year’s election season.

A debate among the Republican U.S. Senate candidates is planned in advance of the Aug. 14 primary. And when the field is set, the Republican nominee is scheduled to square-off against Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in October 2012 — before voters go to the polls Nov. 6.

More details are here: http://www.beforeyouvote.org/.   

 

Former state House Speaker Larry Cretul of Ocala has endorsed Republican Adam Hasner‘s U.S. Senate bid.

Cretul joins former Speaker Allen Bense in backing Hasner, who faces former appointed Sen. George LeMieux and businessmen Craig Miller and Mike McCalister in the GOP primary to challenge Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

Says Cretul: “I’m endorsing Adam because he is the Republican Party’s best choice to defeat Senator Nelson and take a mainstream conservative message to Washington. During his service in the Florida House Adam built an impressive record and was a forceful spokesman for the principles and ideas of our Party – even when it wasn’t popular. Adam is a fighter and the only candidate in the race with a consistent, limited-government record that voters can trust to be a reliable alternative to the agenda we see coming out of Washington today.”

Hasner, a former state House Majority Leader, has also snagged endorsements from current Majority Leader Carlos Lopez-Cantera of Miami, state Reps. Dennis Baxley and Scott Plakon and state Sens. Alan Hays and Anitere Flores.

New Florida polls by Mason-Dixon Polling Research for Ron Sachs Communications show President Obama with a 56 percent disapproval rating and losing a hypothetical race to Republican Mitt Romney while Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson holds a big lead over his potential GOP rivals.

In the presidential poll released Thursday, 41 percent of Floridians approve of Obama’s job performance and 56 percent disapprove. Romney defeats Obama by a 51-to-43 percent margin. Given the poll’s 4 percent margin of error, Obama is in a virtual tie with Texas Gov. Rick Perry (Perry up 46-45) and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann (Obama ahead 46-44).

Among Republicans, Romney leads with 28 percent, followed by Perry at 21 percent and Bachmann at 13 percent.

In the Senate race, Mason-Dixon finds 52 percent of Republicans undecided. Among announced candidates, former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton leads with 8 percent and former appointed Sen. George LeMieux has 7 percent. U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, who isn’t running, leads the GOP pack at 14 percent with U.S. Rep. Allen West, who ruled out a run last week, garnering 11 percent.

In a hypothetical general election race, Nelson defeats LeMieux by a 49-to-34 percent margin and beats Hasner 45-to-34.

Former state House Speaker Allen Bense, R-Panama City, who’s been mentioned as a potential 2012 GOP Senate candidate, announced this morning he’s endorsing Adam Hasner in the Republican primary and will serve as statewide chairman of Hasner’s campaign.

Former state House Majority Leader Hasner of Boca Raton is running against former appointed Sen. George LeMieux and businessmen Mike McCalister and Craig Miller for the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

“I’ve known both Adam and George throughout the years, and there’s no doubt in my mind that Adam is the principled conservative that Florida Republicans should support,” Bense said in a statement released by the Hasner campaign. “Adam has a long record of standing up for mainstream, conservative principles that no other candidate in this race can match. He’s earned a reputation as a fighter and a straight-shooter who sticks to what he believes, no matter which way the political winds blow. I know he’ll go to Washington and stand up to both parties when they stray from the common sense, limited-government reforms needed to turn our country around.”

Florida’s Presidency 5 event already has a Fox News nationally televised debate slated among the Republican presidential candidates.

Now, the GOP gathering next month at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center will also feature a “forum” with the party’s four leading contenders to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

The state GOP announced Thursday that candidates Adam Hasner, George LeMieux, Craig Miller and Mike McCalister will square-off Fri., Sept. 23 before the 3,500 delegates expected at the three-day event.

The presidential debate is scheduled for the night before.

 “For three days, the eyes of the nation will be on Florida’s Republicans,” said RPOF Chairman David Bitner. “We are thrilled that part of our agenda will include presentations from our top Republican Senate candidates. Bill Nelson’s time in the Senate needs to end in 2012, and these candidates will make that case to Florida.”

 

Conservative Club For Growth Prez Chris Chocola is underwhelmed by the four announced GOP Senate candidates in Florida.

“There’s nobody there right now that we think is at the Rubio level,” Chocola says in an interview with The National Journal’s Hotline On Call. Former House Majority Leader Adam Hasner has been the most aggressive candidate in likening himself to conservative freshman Sen. Marco Rubio; other candidates are former appointed Sen. George LeMieux and businessmen Mike McCalister and Craig Miller.

Chocola says he’s interested in talking to U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, who hasn’t slammed the door on the possibility he’ll run in 2012 for the seat held by Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

Former Palm Beach County commissioner and school board member Robert Kanjian and recent West Palm Beach commission candidate Diane Cantone are among 16 members of a Palm Beach County “grassroots leadership team” unveiled today by GOP Senate hopeful Adam Hasner of Boca Raton.

“Every campaign I’ve ever run has been built from the ground up, and this one won’t be any different. I’m grateful for the support of so many activists and community leaders who are willing to lend their passion and countless hours of hard work to our effort.”" said Hasner, the former state House majority leader.

He’s running against former appointed Sen. George LeMieux and businessmen Mike McCalister and Craig Miller for the Republican nomination to face Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

See Hasner’s local lineup after the jump…

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