With 2013 dawning, soon-to-be-sworn-in U.S. Reps. Patrick Murphy and Lois Frankel, whose battleground districts include parts of Palm Beach County, have just completed a fund-raising rush before the ball fell at midnight last night.
It’s all part of an attempt by the two newly elected Democrats to replenish campaign accounts and look like they have some influential backing as they enter Congress. Most of all, brandishing a robust bank book as of the Dec. 31 fund-raising deadline may help ward-off possible challengers in 2014.
After weeks of getting slammed on Florida TV in opposition ads, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson will begin airing his own ‘getting-to-know-you’ spots Thursday across the state — in advance of the Aug. 14 primary.
Nelson’s campaign said the two-term Democrat has been on the receiving end of more than $10 million in critical advertising this summer, the bulk of it coming from Crossroads GPS, the political commitee allied with Karl Rove, the former adviser to President George W. Bush.
“It’s time the people of Florida started getting the truth,” said Nelson Campaign Manager Pete Mitchell. The campaign declined to elaborate on other details of the ad buy.
Nelson’s 30-second spot includes some fuzzy black-and-white photos from the lawmaker’s boyhood before segueing into his support for environmental issues, Medicare and education. It concludes with “Bill Nelson, Fighting for Florida. Always has. Always will.”
Nelson, who has held office in Florida almost continuously the past 40 years, faces self-styled opponent GlennBurkett, a health care consultant, in the Aug. 14 Democratic primary. Nelson has $10 million cash-on-hand for his re-election campaign and the ad buy is likely a defensive move to remind supporters to come out for him in what is certain to be a low-turnout summer primary.
Plenty more ads will air this fall, when Nelson is expected to face Republican Connie Mack in one of the nation’s most-watched Senate races. Mack is looking to link Nelson with Obama as a pair of “lockstep liberals.” The Democratic senator is cautious about engaging Mack — yet.
Indeed, even with a no-sweat primary currently facing him, Nelson has been wary of saying too much.
Asked recently by the Palm Beach Post if his pre-Aug. 14 strategy would include a round of statewide television advertising to reintroduce himself to voters, Nelson ducked. “That’s campaign strategy, and I can’t telegraph that to you or my opponent,” Nelson said.
Florida Democrats were dealt another blow in redistricting Monday when a Leon Circuit Court judge denied their bid to have the 27-seat congressional plan declared invalid.
The ruling by Judge Terry Lewis comes after the Florida Supreme Court on Friday upheld the Republican-ruled Legislature’s map for redrawing Senate boundaries. Democrats and allied organizations also had sought to have the Senate plan ruled unconstitutional for favoring incumbent Republicans and hurting minority voters.
Earlier in the day Monday, the House also announced that the U.S. Justice Department had concluded its review of the House, Senate and congressional maps and determined that they complied with the Voting Rights Act. The preclearance determination is a key step in assuring that the redistricting plans will be in place for candidate qualifying, June 4-8.
Democrats did not immediately respond to the actions. But Republicans cast the federal approval as effectively the end of the redistricting fight.
“Today’s preclearance by the U.S. Department of Justice signifies the final approval of the state legislative and congressional maps passed by the Florida legislature,” said House Redistricting Chairman Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel. “I appreciate the hard work of my colleagues and all of the input we received from Floridians throughout the process. With their help, we were able to draw fair and compact maps that puts the interests of Floridians over the interests of politicians.”
A Leon County Circuit judge said Friday that he is ready to begin trial April 16 on whether the Legislature’s plan for redrawing state congressional districts is unconstitutional.
Judge Terry Lewis did not directly dismiss the state Senate’s motion to delay action on legal challenges until after the November elections. But asked following the half-hour hearing whether prospects for a post-election delay was unlikely, Senate attorney Peter Dunbar said, it “might be.”
“At a time that you could appropriately get there, we would like to have certainty in our election process,” Dunbar said. “This is not about the House, or the Senate or the Department of State. This is about 18 million Floridians and the certainty for them to participate in the electoral process.”
The Florida Democratic Party, League of Women Voters, La Raza and Common Cause-Florida filed their lawsuit in February, immediately after the Legislature approved new congressional boundaries. The state Supreme Court has since upheld the Legislature’s plan for redrawing House seats, but rejected the Senate’s remapping as designed to protect incumbents and preserve Republican control of that chamber.
A 15-day special session to redraw the Senate plan began Wednesday.
In Friday’s half-hour hearing, Lewis acknowledged that it would prove difficult to complete a trial quickly, without interfering with candidate qualifying scheduled for June 4-8. But Lewis said he would likely borrow computer software used by the Supreme Court in developing its ruling, while also seeking to narrow the range of issues in dispute between the sides.
Lewis said working toward a speedy resolution was necessary.
“If I were running for office right now, I’d be concerned,” Lewis said.
Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith disputed Tuesday the claim by Senate Republican leaders that the plan for redrawing the chamber’s 40 districts was mostly approved by the state Supreme Court.
The court last week ruled eight of the districts were invalid, including two seats spanning Broward and Palm Beach counties. Justices also had “concerns” with another two districts which divide the city of Lakeland.
Echoing an earlier comment from Senate Reapportionment Committee Chairman Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, said Monday that means, “three-fourths of the current plan has been deemed valid.”
Not so fast, Smith said.
“An entire redrawing of a Senate map is required,” Smith said, calling last week’s ruling by justices an “historic rejection” of the Legislature’s Senate plan.
Because the boundaries cited by the court are contiguous to other districts, it’s impossible to just make a few fixes, as Smith said Republicans are trying to cast the approach to a special session which begins Wednesday.
The court’s 233-page ruling provides, “enough instruction by the court for the Legislature to draw a map that will pass muster,” Smith said. “But there is no such thing as…(just) tweak the map.”
Smith also said he was pleased with the Supreme Court’s adherence to standards for compact districts and not drawing lines that favor a party or incumbents. These new provisions were included in the state constitution by voters in 2010, who approved Amendments 5 and 6.
While Amendment 5, which controlled legislative redistricting, was applied by justices, Smith said he is optimistic a Leon County Circuit Court will follow the same standard in reviewing the Legislature’s plan for redrawing congressional districts. Florida Democrats and allied organizations have sued to overturn that plan, based on the demands of Amendment 6, which covered congressional redistricting.
Smith also said that party leaders are still considering further action against the House redistricting plan, which was upheld by the Supreme Court. Smith said it’s possible legal challenges to a select number of districts would be filed in lower courts by Democrats.
Smith, meanwhile, acknowledged that he’s been fielding phone calls from Senate Democrats whose districts also could be dramatically redrawn in coming days.
Sen. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, currently serves a heavily minority district that snakes from Broward County through Palm Beach County, mostly clinging to the Interstate-95 corridor. Smith’s district, and that of a parallel coastal district held by Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, were declared invalid by the court.
Under redrawn maps, it’s possible that Smith’s district change to become primarily rooted in far western Palm Beach County, while reaching in to include mostly black voters in Mangonia Park, Riviera Beach, and parts of West Palm Beach. Bogdanoff’s district, meanwhile, looks potentially destined to be confined to Broward County — and turn Democratic-leaning.
“I think you’re going to see a very different Senate makeup when Palm Beach and Broward districts are redrawn,” Smith said.
Gov. Rick Scott acknowledged Tuesday that he’s been lobbied by Florida members of Congress on the redistricting plan expected to be sent his way soon.
But the Republican governor didn’t want to mention any names.
“Oh, I don’t think anybody wants me to talk about any of those conversations,” Scott said, when asked if U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, was among those contacting him.
West last week announced that he would leave his battleground congressional district, straddling Palm Beach and Broward counties, to run this year in a proposed new district, which includes Martin and St. Lucie counties, and part of Palm Beach.
West’s decision emerged as part of a GOP three-step dance – touched off by U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, who said he’d run in a newly drawn, mostly rural and interior Florida district.
Former House majority leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton completed the moves by announcing he was abandoning his U.S. Senate run to run in the district that West was exiting.
House and Senate redistricting leaders say they have kept their distance from members of Congress, mostly in an effort to comply with constitutional amendments approved by voters in 2010, which ban new electoral boundaries from favoring incumbents or parties.
Scott, though, said at least some in Florida’s delegation have reached out directly to the executive office. While Scott isn’ authorized to act on legislative maps, he can veto the congressional plan.
“I’ll review it when I get it,” Scott said of the congressional proposal. “I’ve had a few phone calls from some people that have had questions about it. My response is, ‘send me what your proposal is, and I’ll review it at the time.’
Senate Reapportionment Chairman Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, said Scott’s contacts with unnamed members of Congress doesn’t strike him as out of line — or unconstitutional.
“Any citizen is entitled to petition their government for the redress of grievances,” Gaetz said.
House Redistricting Chairman Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, has reached an accord with Senate counterpart Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, on redrawing political boundaries for the Legislature.
The Senate this week unveiled plans only for the Senate and Congress. And the House next week will follow suit with proposals that rework lines only for Florida’s congressional seats and the House.
In other words, the House will accept senators’ proposals for redrawing their own boundaries — and the House expects the Senate to accept its proposal for reshaping those districts. Only the state’s congressional lines would be subject to competing plans from the two chambers, under this approach.
Weatherford made the deal known Friday in a letter to members of the House’s redistricting panels. The House proposals are slated to be showcased Tuesday.
Democratic challenger Lois Frankel wasted little time Thursday challenging speculation that U.S. Rep. Allen West could head north — out of a redrawn, Democratic-leaning district and into a primary fight with fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney.
West’s chief of staff, Jonathan Blyth, downplayed talk Wednesday among Republican consultants that his boss was looking for friendlier turf, with the Plantation congressman eyeing the political backyard of Rooney, who lives in Tequesta.
Frankel, though, seized on the chatter, serving up some political trash talk.
“It looks like Mr. West is afraid of a real fight, which is what he will get when he faces me in a general election,” said Frankel, who faces a Democratic primary contest with Broward County accountant Patrick Murphy. “Mr. West: don’t cut and run…stay and fight. I am not retreating to anywhere. I am staying right here.”
Blyth later fired back at Frankel.
“Congressman West is a 22- year veteran of the U.S. Army who served in real combat against enemies of our nation,” Blyth said. “Lt. Colonel West has never cut and run protecting and defending citizens of our nation.”
Tarring Democratic opponent Bill Nelson as one of President Obama’s “lockstep liberals”, Republican U.S. Rep. Connie Mack said Tuesday that Floridians are looking for a change in the U.S. Senate.
“It’s pretty clear to me that this country, our country, is moving in the wrong directions,” Mack said in a conference call with reporters from his Fort Myers hometown.
Mack made his candidacy official Monday night in an appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox-TV show. Mack, first elected to Congress in 2004, is the fifth Republican in the race to unseat Nelson, who is seeking his third term.
Mack is looking to win the same seat held by his father and namesake, former Republican U.S. Sen. Connie Mack. His dad defeated Democrat Buddy MacKay in 1988 after taunting him with the phrase, “Hey Buddy, you’re liberal.” And on Tuesday, the political apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
“Bill Nelson has become one of Barack Obama’s leading guys in the United States Senate,” Mack said, deriding his Democratic rival for supporting the president’s push on health care, stimulus spending, and energy cap-and-trade legislation.
Nelson is among the “lockstep liberals in Washington” the president depends on to advance his agenda, Mack said. The Republican contender, however, disputed that he, like his father, is looking to win by demonizing liberals.
“It’s not an attempt to demonize,” Mack said. “It’s to point out the differences.”
When those close to Mack confirmed a few weeks ago that he was planning to enter the race, the congressman immediately became the favorite, according to polls.
A Quinnipiac University survey earlier this month showed Mack with a formidable lead over the four Republicans already in the race. A Rasmussen Reports poll also showed Mack could be trouble for Nelson, with the congressman favored by 43 percent of voters to 39 percent for the Democrat. The survey of 500 likely voters had a margin-of-error of plus-or-minus 4.5 percent.
Republican Connie Mack is shaping up as big trouble — not only for his fellow GOP contenders for the U.S. Senate nomination, but two-term Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson, a poll shows Friday.
Mack, a Cape Coral congressman, is the favorite of 43 percent of Florida voters, to 39 percent for Nelson, according to the survey of 500 likely voters conducted Thursday by Rasmussen Reports. The poll has a margin-of-error of plus-or-minus 4.5 percent.
The survey also shows Nelson holding comfortable leads over other Republican contenders, former U.S. Senate-appointee George LeMieux and former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner. A Quinnipiac University poll released last week showed Mack holding a formidable lead over the four GOP candidates already in the U.S. Senate race.
Mack’s father, who shares the same name, represented Florida in the U.S. Senate from 1989 to his retirement in 2001, when he was succeeded by Nelson.
But a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday shows President Obama may be winning the war of words.
The survey of 2,311 voters across the nation, shows:
*Voters will blame Republicans over Obama 48 – 34 percent if the debt limit is not raised;
* Voters say 67 – 25 percent that an agreement to raise the debt ceiling should include tax hikes for the wealthy and corporations, not just spending cuts;
* Voters say 45 – 37 percent that Obama’s proposals to raise revenues are “closing loopholes,” rather than “tax hikes.”
And who do voters blame for the nation’s lousy economy?
“”Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of President Obama’s handling of the economy, but by 2-1 they pin the blame on former President George W. Bush rather than Obama, who is now more than 60 percent through his term of office,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
Former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel said Wednesday that she collected $440,000 for her congressional campaign over the past three months, keeping pace with Democratic rival Patrick Murphy, who earlier reported pulling in $450,000.
First-term Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West of Plantation, who Frankel and Murphy are targeting, eclipsed his rivals by collected $1.5 million during the year’s second quarter.
“We are working hard to make sure we have the resources necessary to communicated our message to voters in South Florida and send Congressman Allen West packing,” Frankel said.
West’s campaign said his latest round of fund-raising reflects cash came from 23,500 contributors — what it took as a sign of widespread support. Frankel, too, pointed to the scope of her donations, saying 90 percent came from Florida, with most coming from Palm Beach and Broward counties, which the 22nd district spans.
Term-limited state Sen. Mike Bennett abruptly ended his bid to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor on Monday, blaming a “fire in the belly” problem and frustration with spending most of his time fund-raising.
Bennett, 66, a Bradenton Republican who doesn’t live in Castor’s Tampa-area district, announced his candidacy late last month.
At the time, Bennett said he was prepared to move to challenge the Democratic incumbent if redistricting next year didn’t tuck him into the boundaries served by Castor.
On Monday, Bennett called it quits.
“In all honesty, I quickly realized that the ‘fire’ I was feeling was heartburn over constant fundraising, travel and the other demands of running for federal office. Traveling the world and fishing are candidly things I’m looking forward to catching up on when my term in the Florida Senate comes to an end,” Bennett said.
The Democratic Campaign Congressional Committee began airing radio ads Tuesday targeting Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Young and others in senior-heavy districts nationwide for supporting a budget proposal that could reduce Medicare spending.
Young, 80, is the longest serving Republican in Congress and represents Pinellas County. That’s also home to politician-in-waiting, former Gov. Charlie Crist, an ex-Republican turned independent — oft-rumored to be considering becoming a Democrat.
But in Tallahassee this week for the unveiling of his gubernatorial portrait, Crist downplayed such talk.
“I’ve heard a lot of that speculation,” Crist said of the party-switch scenario. But I’m paying all my attention to (wife) Carole and the rest of my family. And working hard for the people at (Orlando-based trial lawyer firm) Morgan & Morgan. I’m enjoying being an independent, it’s a great place to be.”
Crist also seemed to distance himself from running against Young, or looking to succeed him should the veteran congressman choose to retire. Asked if he might be on the 2012 ballot, Crist replied, “I doubt it.”
Gov. Rick Scott is taking some credit for the last-minute federal budget deal — saying the $2.4 billion in high-speed rail money he blocked from coming to Florida helped settle the standoff between President Obama and Republicans in Congress.
“I am proud to have brought this waste to the attention of those in Washington,” Scott said Monday in a statement issued by his press office. “These funds should either be returned to taxpayers as tax cuts or applied to reducing the burden that our national debt is passing to future generations.”
If anybody had any lingering questions about how Scott feels about the high-speed rail project, his first reference to the project labeled it a “boondoggle.”
With environmental spending under fire in Tallahassee and Washington, a survey Monday showed two-thirds of Floridians support Everglades restoration, with a majority also opposed to reducing dollars flowing to the effort.
The Everglades Foundation released the survey, saying it supports the organization’s push for state lawmakers to steer clear of Gov. Rick Scott’s proposal to reduce restoration funding from $50 million to $17 million. Scott also wants water managers, including the South Florida Water Management District, to reduce property taxes by 25 percent, which environmentalists say could further drain dollars needed for Everglades work.
“Our message to the governor is that he can partner with the conservation community to create jobs and protect our water supply at the same time,” said Kirk Fordham, the foundation’s chief executive officer. “If we want to grow that supply of fresh water, the only solution out there is Everglades restoration.”
President Obama’s budget blueprint increases spending on restoration. But the Republican-led U.S. House has proposed sharp cuts in environmental programs and funding for the Army Corps of Engineers, which is responsible for much of the Everglades work.
The Everglades survey was conducted by the Tarrance Group, which does polling for Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, other Republican senators, and GOP members of the Florida congressional delegation.
The survey showed that 84 percent of voters rank maintaining Florida’s fresh water drinking supply as “very important.” Seventy-nine percent agreed that to attract new business and industries to the state, access to a stable water supply is necessary.
The survey of 607 voters was taken Feb. 13-14. It has a 4.1 percent margin-of-error.
Senate President Mike Haridopolos hasn’t yet officially said whether he will abstain from fundraising for his U.S. Senate campaign during the legislature’s upcoming 60-day session that begins on March 8.
This week, Haridopolos, a Merritt Island Republican who frequently speaks of the classes he teaches University of Florida students in the Capitol, said to ask his Democratic opponent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson whether he would forego fundraising while the Senate’s in session.
Politico recently reported that Haridopolos has 15 fundraisers scheduled over the next 30 days to build up his campaign war chest, meaning he intends to keep filling his coffers during session. Florida legislators are barred from collecting campaign contributions for state or legislative races during the 60-day session.
Now, the state party chairmen have waded into the “to fundraise or not to fundraise” sphere.
In a press release, Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith demanded that Haridopolos “either step-down as Senate President” or “immediately stop abusing the power afforded to him by not fundraising until the legislative session ends.”
That prompted Republican Party of Florida Chairman Dave Bitner to issue a press release demanding that Nelson do the same.
“Chairman Smith should clarify his statement about fund raising activities during legislative sessions. Did he mean to say that Senator Bill Nelson will not be accepting any money leading up to, or during the federal legislative session? Will he also request that the Senator return any of the approximately 1.2 million dollars he has accepted from lobbyists during the legislative sessions since 2002?” Bitner said in his statement.
That means Nelson would have to quit his job to raise money to keep his job if he agreed to Bitner’s demand.
As constitutional expert Haridopolos no doubt knows, the problem is that Congress is always in session. Their session (which is not a legislative session, but a Congressional one) begins the day members are sworn in and ends after the two-year Congressional terms are up.
“Article 1, section 3 of the Constitution provides a system of staggered six-year terms for senators. At the conclusion of each two-year congress, the terms of only one-third of the 100 senators expire, allowing two-thirds of the senators to continue serving without interruption. As a consequence, the Senate is a continuing body, which allows the Senate to make any changes in its leadership, or to change committee assignments prior to opening day,” the U.S. Senate website reads.
As promised by Senate President Mike Haridopolos yesterday, GOP lawmakers will get a visit from one of the likely 2012 presidential contenders – former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty – next week.
Tea party darling Pawlenty, slated to speak Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., will be the first of the presidential candidates to come to what the Merritt Island Republican, who’s running statewide for U.S. Senate, calls ground-zero in the 2012 race.
“T-Paw,” as he calls himself on his Website, has set up a political committee called “Freedom First” backing conservative candidates like himself, including Florida Gov. Rick Scott and new U.S. Reps. Daniel Webster and Steve Southerland.
Perhaps Haridopolos, hoping to unseat incumbent Democrat U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in what may be a crowded field, will get his endorsement (although Haridopolos was a Mike Huckabee supporter three years ago.) Haridopolos happily labels himself Florida’s most conservative senate president ever.
Haridopolos said that Florida is “the most important state in the presidential election” and will also likely determine who the next GOP nominee is.
“I think it will be beneficial for Florida to find out some of the ideas because we face a multitude of problems in the state and if a person is seeking the presidency I think they should come to Florida and let us know what they think,” Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, told reporters yesterday.
Florida will gain two congressional seats and become an even more coveted presidential prize with two additional electoral votes as a result of new census data released today.
Florida, which has 25 U.S. House seats now, will have 27 beginning with the 2012 elections. The perennially up-for-grabs Sunshine State will have 29 electoral votes in the 2012 presidential election, up from 27 in 2008.
The 2010 census pegs the U.S. population at 308,745,538 — up 9.7 percent from 2000. Florida’s population is 18,801,310 — a 17.6 percent increase over 2000.
Florida remains the fourth most populous state in the U.S. — trailing California (37.3 million), Texas (25.1 million) and New York (19.4 million).
Florida and New York will both have 27 U.S. House seats. Only California (53) and Texas (36) will have more.
The Sierra Club has pumped $800, 000 into last minute television ads for three Democratic Party Congressional campaigns around the country and one of them is the District 22 race in South Florida.
“With ‘Big Oil’ doing everything they can to try to buy back Congress, today the Sierra Club launched three new television ads in key congressional races – Michigan’s 7th District, Arizona’s 8th District, and Florida’s 22nd District,” said a press release by the environmental group.
In District 22, U.S. Rep. Ron Klein,D-BocaRaton, is locked in a tight race with GOP contender Allen West.
The ad being screened in South Florida pictures smoke spewing from British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon rig, which exploded April 20 and was finally plugged Sept. 9, not before dumping millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The ad also shows a pelican covered in oil and then superimposes West next to an offshore oil rig.
“For five months BP spewed oil into the gulf – polluting Florida beaches and devastating our economy,” says the narrator. “ But Allen West still supports drilling for oil off the Florida coast. And West says he ‘sees nothing about the situation in the Gulf that will change his mind’”
“No wonder West received thousands in contributions from oil companies,” continues the ad. “Ron Klein has a better way – protect our beaches and develop alternative energy to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Ron Klein for Congress.”
The Klein/West race is believed to be the most heavily financed Congressional contest in the nation. (more…)
