Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz blasted Gov. Rick Scott for failing to use his clout to push the House to approve a Medicaid expansion that could cover 1 million uninsured Floridians.

The U.S. congresswoman from Weston also accused House Speaker Will Weatherford and the GOP-dominated House of “slavishness ideological dogma” behind their rejection of the Senate plan crafted by Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart.

“Sickness, illness and death…will be their legacy,” Wasserman Schultz told the Senate Democratic Caucus this morning.

Wasserman Schultz, a one-time Florida legislator who served in both the state House and Senate, also blamed Scott for “having a deathbed conversion” about the Medicaid expansion and failing to use his bully pulpit to push the House to pass it.

With three work days left until the legislative ends on Friday, Scott has focused primarily on his two priorities – $2,500 across-the-board pay raises for teachers and a manufacturing equipment tax break – and is scheduled to work from 8 a.m until 2:30 p.m. today, including photo opportunity for the last half hour of the day.

The final week is “the most frenzied, intense time of the entire legislative session,” Wasserman Schultz said.

“The governor and his staff should be in the trenches working the phones, working the halls, doing everything they can to pass their priorities,” she said. “It’s just demonstrative repeatedly of his utter lack of leadership.”

Scott, who is running for reelection, is “trying to have his cake and eat it, too” by publicly supporting the proposal to provide health insurance for the poor, which has broad support from voters, but doing nothing to force the House to act, Wasserman Schultz said.

“Leaders take the initiative. They don’t wait to be asked. We’ll need to elect somebody else.”

She sidestepped a question about whether former Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat, would be a better replacement.

“I have no idea and I’m not here to talk about that,” she said.

Wasserman Schultz also praised Florida House Democrats for “rightfully” slowing down the session with a procedural maneuver forcing all legislation to be read in full in retaliation for the GOP’s refusal to support the Senate Medicaid plan.

Former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, who also served as governor, also appeared at the Senate Dems meeting this morning.

He congratulated them for joining with several GOP lawmakers to defeat a controversial “parent trigger” bill and a pension overhaul for state workers.

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who delivered the keynote speech at last year’s Democratic National Convention, will be the keynoter for the Florida Democratic Party’s annual Jefferson-Jackson fundraising dinner on June 15 in Broward County.

It’s the second year in a row the party has tapped an up-and-coming Latino mayor for the headliner role. Last year, Los Angeles Mayor Anthony Villaraigosa keynoted an event that drew about 1,000 people and raised an estimated $750,000.

Sen. Bill Nelson and Democratic National Committee Chairwoman and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz will also be featured at this year’s $180-a-plate J-J dinner at the Westin Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood.

Former U.S. Rep. Allen West lost his re-election bid in November, but he still has the ability to set Facebook ablaze.

Republican West, whose Facebook page has 268,074 “likes,” made two Facebook posts on Sunday complaining about a $166 traffic citation he received earlier in the day at the PGA Boulevard exit on Florida’s Turnpike. According to West, he stopped to pay his toll in a lane that was closed, backed up his car to get into another lane and was cited for an illegal lane change.

As of 1 p.m. today, West’s two citation-related posts had received a combined 22,450 likes, been shared 3,945 times and generated 10,059 comments — pro and con.

By comparison, a pair of Sunday Facebook posts on Republican Sen. Marco Rubio‘s page about his seven TV appearances to discuss immigration reform generated a combined 6,247 likes, 842 shares and 1,393 comments.

Rubio’s Facebook page has 454,848 likes, far outdistancing West. But West remains a much bigger Facebook presence than Gov. Rick Scott (82,432 likes) or Democratic National Chairwoman and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (72,537) or Sen. Bill Nelson (16,219 likes) or West’s replacement, Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy (15,050).

The Democratic National Committee organized a conference call today to give a preemptive ripping to Republican Sen. Marco Rubio before Rubio delivers the GOP response to President Barack Obama‘s State of the Union address Tuesday night.

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., were joined on the call by a woman named Annette Capella, billed in an advance press release as a “Medicare recipient from Florida” and introduced by Van Hollen as “one of Sen. Rubio’s own constituents.”

Said Capella: “I’m a senior citizen living in St. John’s County, Florida. Like many Americans, I will sit down in my living room and watch President Obama’s State of the Union speech and Sen. Rubio’s response with great interest. And like many Americans, I want politicians, including my own Sen. Rubio, to stop the partisan bickering and start working toward common goals.”

Using sophisticated journalism techniques (Google.com), the Politics column noticed an Annette Capella listed as St. John’s County Democratic chairwoman and asked if the Capella on the call was the same person.

“I stepped down as chair. I’m now state committeewoman,” Capella answered.

A DNC press release afterward described Capella as “a Medicare recipient from Florida and former Chair of the St. Johns County Democratic Party.”

Fresh off President Barack Obama’s second inaugural speech, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Friday echoed Obama’s themes of gun control, equality for gays and lesbians, immigration reform and climate change prevention at The Forum Club.

“In every corner of America, from Boca to Milwaukee, Seattle to Cincinnati, millions of people rallied around this shared vision for our country,” said U.S. Rep Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, speaking in front of 600 at The Palm Beach County Convention Center.

As the debate over gun control heats up in Congress, Wasserman Schultz recalled the story of the assassination attempt of her close friend, former U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords, and then spoke about the recent mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn.

“When 20 six-year-olds lose their lives senselessly and needlessly because at the end of the day, no matter how deranged the individual was, he had access to weapons and high capacity magazines he had no business having access to,” she said. “There is no need for someone not in the military to have those (weapons) or else those little kids wouldn’t be dead.”

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Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democratic former Gov. Charlie Crist would easily defeat Republican Gov. Rick Scott in a hypothetical 2014 general election race, a new survey by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling says.

Crist would get 53 percent to 39 percent for Scott, according to a PPP survey of 501 Florida voters that has a 4.4 percent margin of error.

Crist left the GOP in 2010 to pursue a losing no-party Senate bid and endorsed President Barack Obama and spoke at the Democratic National Convention last year. He officially became a Democrat in December.

Crist’s standing among Democrats has steadily improved since last year, with the new PPP poll finding 58 percent of Dems name Crist as their first choice to run for governor next year. The 2010 Democratic nominee, Alex Sink, was a distant second, with 18 percent of Florida Democrats saying Sink was their preferred 2014 candidate for governor.

Crist is viewed favorably by 73 percent of Democrats and unfavorably by 17 percent in the new poll. Last July, Crist’s favorable/unfavorable score among Democrats was 50/31.

Scott remains plagued by dismal approval ratings. In the new PPP poll, only 37 percent of Florida voters approve of Scott’s job performance, with 57 percent disapproving. PPP says Scott would lose 47-40 to Sink, 43-39 to former Tampa mayor Pam Iorio and 44-42 to Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, but the Republican governor would edge Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and former state Sen. Nan Rich.

Palm Beach County’s Democratic Executive Committee endorsed Alan Clendenin for state party chairman tonight – putting the local party at odds with Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Sen. Bill Nelson and the county’s congressional delegation.

The county DEC’s endorsement of Clendenin over Allison Tant isn’t binding, but it heaps more pressure on wavering State Committeeman John Ramos, who signed an endorsement of Clendenin on Monday but announced today that he would support Tant.

After tonight’s DEC vote, Ramos said he was torn over how he should vote in the Jan. 26 election for state chairman in Lake Mary.

Ramos and State Committeewoman Bunny Steinman are the only people who will actually cast ballots on behalf of the county in the chairman’s race.

“I would say he’s morally bound (to vote for Clendenin), maybe not legally,” Palm Beach County Democratic Party parliamentarian Ira Raab said after tonight’s vote.

Ramos, who had left the meeting before the vote to endorse Clendenin, was told of the DEC’s action by a reporter and initially sounded unsure of how he’ll respond.

“I’m going to have to seek advice,” Ramos said. “As state committeeman, that’s my job to represent the party. That’s a quandary for me.”

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The two announced candidates for Florida Democratic Party chairman — Hillsborough County Committeeman Alan Clendenin and Leon County Committeewoman Allison Tant — are rolling out big-name endorsements as the Jan. 26 election approaches.

Clendenin and Tant both announced key labor endorsements Tuesday, with Florida AFL-CIO President Mike Williams announcing his support for Clendenin while the Service Employees International Union declared its backing of Tant.

Today, Tant announced the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and nine U.S. House Democrats, including Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and all four members of Palm Beach County’s House delegation — Reps. Ted Deutch, Alcee Hastings, Lois Frankel and Patrick Murphy.

Clendenin this afternoon unveiled the endorsement of Alex Sink, the party’s 2010 nominee for governor and a potential 2014 candidate. He also has the support of U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa.

Tant and Clendenin are vying to replace Rod Smith, who isn’t seeking reelection as party chairman.

A split U.S. Commission on Civil Rights decided Friday not to look into Florida’s election law, rejecting a request from the state’s Democratic Congressional delegation to hold a hearing on the matter.

But four of the commissioners – all Democrats – asked the Justice Department to conduct a probe into the law, passed last year by the GOP-controlled legislature and signed by Gov. Rick Scott. The four commissioners, including Chairman Martin Castro, sent the request to Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, chief of the civil rights division.

Florida’s Congressional Democrats asked for the hearing after The Palm Beach Post reported that former Florida GOP officials, including Gov. Charlie Crist, said that Republicans staff and consultants intentionally designed the law to inhibit Democratic voters.

U.S. Reps. Alcee Hastings, Ted Deutch and Debbie Wasserman Schultz – who is also the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee – and the three other members of the Democratic congressional delegation wrote to the commission late last month that the law “limited access to the polls for minorities, seniors and college students.”

The information raised in the delegations’ letter “raises some serious concerns,” Castro and Commissioners Roberta Achtenberg, Michael Yaki and David Kladney wrote in a letter to Perez dated Monday.

Kladney told The Palm Beach Post late Wednesday that he voted in favor of a commission study of the law because of the long lines experienced by Florida voters. In some places, including Palm Beach County, voters waited up to eight hours before casting their ballots during the early voting period shortened from 14 to eight days under the new law.

“Obviously a lot of people waited in line but others didn’t, voters of all different kinds of political persuasions and political beliefs,” Kladney said. “I think it would be good for the Civil Rights Commission to conduct a fair hearing on the subject because it’s within our charter.”

Florida’s Democratic U.S. House members, including Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, have asked the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to hold a hearing regarding Florida’s voting law that shrunk the number of early voting days, required more voters to cast provisional ballots and was intended to curb voter registration by outside groups.

The Democratic delegation asked for the hearing based on a report in The Palm Beach Post on Sunday that detailed how Republican Party of Florida consultants and staff sought to alter Florida’s early voting laws in the aftermath of the 2008 election to curb Democratic turnout.

“In light of these allegations, we are extremely concerned over the integrity of this law and the justification for its implementation,” U.S. Reps. Alcee Hastings, Corrine Brown, Kathy Castor, Ted Deutch, Frederica Wilson and Wasserman Schultz wrote to U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Chairman Martin Castro in a letter sent today. “As you know, trust in our democracy is what holds our country together. Voters must be able to trust that their elected officials are acting in their best interest.”

The commission held hearings in Florida in the aftermath of the protracted 2000 election and made numerous recommendations based on its findings, many of which were included in the Help America Vote Act passed by Congress in 2002.

Two miles and a few economic strata from the site of Mitt Romney‘s “47 percent” remarks, Vice President Joe Biden told a retiree crowd today that Romney and running mate Paul Ryan don’t understand America and have “bet against the American people.”

Biden stumped for President Obama‘s reelection at the Century Village of Boca Raton retirement community. The legendary Democratic condo bastion is just down Lyons Road from Marc Leder‘s house in upscale Long Lake Estates, where Romney was secretly videotaped telling big-dollar donors in May that 47 percent of Americans are “dependent upon government” and won’t vote for him.

Biden said Romney’s remarks, and remarks by Ryan about a “culture of dependency” on government, show the Republican ticket is out of touch with ordinary Americans.

“I don’t recognize the country they’re talking about,” Biden told the crowd that filled the large lobby of a clubhouse building.

“I know where I come from, Americans got knocked down but they’re getting back up. I know where I come from, nobody feels dependent, all they want is an opportunity. I know where I come from, these people are fighting back with every single thing they have. I don’t sense any sense of dependency. They’re just looking for a little opportunity, a level playing field, a fair shot,” Biden said to loud applause

“Ladies and gentlemen, I got news for Gov. Romney and Congressman Ryan. America and Americans are neither dependent nor in decline. And I’ll say to them, gentlemen, it has never, never, never been a good bet to bet against the American people.”

Biden is scheduled to visit another heavily Democratic retiree crowd this afternoon at Kings Point in Tamarac. He’s also scheduled to campaign in Fort Myers on Saturday.

Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and U.S. Reps. Ted Deutch and Debbie Wasserman Schultz also spoke to the crowd before Biden.

Biden made brief mention of Israel to heavily Jewish audience, while Deutch devoted a significant portion of his remarks to defending Obama’s support for the Jewish state. Republicans have tried to peel away traditionally strong Jewish support for Democrats by accusing Obama of being a weak ally of Israel.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Former Republican Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is attending his first Democratic convention tonight in Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz‘s box at the Time Warner Cable Arena.

“It’s awesome. People are so friendly and so kind and so nice. It’s just a wonderful atmosphere and we’re having a great time,” said Crist.

The former governor was accompanied by his wife Carole and attorney John Morgan, head of the Orlando law firm where Crist works.

Crist, scheduled to speak on Wednesday night, arrived on the arena’s Founders Level a little before 10 p.m.

“We’re going to Debbie’s — Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s,” Crist told an arena employee, who directed him to go up a flight.

Longtime Republican Crist switched his voter registration to no party affiliation in 2010 after Marco Rubio pulled ahead of him in a GOP Senate primary. Crist ran as an independent and lost. He endorsed President Obama on Aug. 26, just before Republicans held their convention in Tampa.

Asked if he plans to become a Democrat, Crist said, “I have no idea. I just have plans to help the president. Although Carole switched.”

Carole Crist became a Democrat last year.

“I feel right at home here in Charlotte,” she said.

Asked to preview his Thursday speech, Crist said, “I just want to talk about the president and how he tried to help Florida so much.”

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In a lineup that’s largely devoid of speakers from the nation’s largest swing state, former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, who represented a Palm Beach-Broward congressional district for 13 years, will speak tonight to the Democratic National Convention between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Wexler resigned in the middle of his seventh term to take a job as president of the Washington-based S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace in 2010.

Broward County U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who is chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, will play a prominent role in this week’s convention. And former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist is a featured speaker.

Beyond that, no other prominent Floridians are scheduled to speak — a reflection of the lack of Democratic star power in the Sunshine State. The only Democrat to hold statewide elected office is Sen. Bill Nelson, who faces a tough reelection challenge from Republican Rep. Connie Mack this year. Nelson is keeping a low profile this week, with his campaign saying he’ll only be at the convention today.

Republicans scheduled five Florida speakers for last week’s GOP convention in Tampa: Sen. Marco Rubio, former Gov. Jeb Bush, Attorney Gen. Pam Bondi, Mack, and Gov. Rick Scott. Scott ended up missing his speaking gig because of Hurricane Isaac.

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz gave Post on Politics a glimpse into what her party will do next week during their national convention in Charlotte.

Wasserman Schultz, in Tampa to counter the GOP’s national convention, also had a few snarky words for what she’d seen far from the opposition.

“Our convention next week is designed as being the most open, accessible, inclusive, participatory presidential nominating convention in history,” Wasserman Schultz said over a mushroom omelet at the Spain restaurant in downtown Tampa.

“We made a decision that our convention was not going to be the invitation-only, exclusive, only-the-elite-need-apply affair that this one has been,” she said.

“Ours is going to be one that, when we finish on Thursday night, will have shot President Obama out of a cannon into the fall campaign and leave with an enthusiastic, fired-up, broad base of supporters who understand that he’s been fighting for the middle class and working families and that he is someone who hasn’t done things the same old way.”

Here’s DWS’s take on the GOP’s glitzy fete thus far.

“I think that they have bent over backwards to run a fact-free convention,” she said. “Their convention has been a pretty nasty barrage of criticism that if they took a mirror and turned it around would be reflective of many of the policies that they’re criticizing that they themselves have embraced.”

Wasserman Schultz blasted GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, who blamed Obama for an auto plant shutting down in Ryan’s hometown, Janesville, Wis. She said the plant was slated for closure before Obama was elected four years ago.

That was “a big jaw-dropper,” Wasserman Schultz said.

“It’s utter malarkey,” she said. “My overall sentiment so far is it’s really disappointing how cynical they obviously are and how willing they are to just say anything to get elected. We should aspire to better things in American politics,” she said.

Taking opposition “bracketing” to a new level, Vice President Joe Biden will campaign in the Tampa area and other cities on Monday and Tuesday — the first two days of the Republican National Convention.

Both parties routinely make high-profile surrogates available in person or on conference calls to siphon some attention when a rival candidate is coming to town. The surrogate usually isn’t a member of the presidential ticket, however.

During Mitt Romney‘s last visit to Florida, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz made a bus tour of the state to counter Romney’s message. During the run-up to Florida’s Jan. 31 GOP primary, Romney supporter and U.S. Rep. Connie Mack attended several Newt Gingrich events to offer instant counterspin.

BOCA RATON — There’s no need to scramble for Democratic prebuttals and rebuttals to Mitt Romney‘s campaign trip to Florida today. Democrats have put together a busload of critics to slam Romney’s proposals and offer home-state counterpoints to new running mate Paul Ryan and Romney’s record as Massachusetts governor.

The “Romney Economics: Middle Class Under The Bus” tour rumbled from Miami Gardens to Palm Beach County today and is heading for Tampa with Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and others aboard.

Stopping here shortly before noon outside the office of Made In USA Certified, a company that verifies business claims that products are made in America, Wasserman Schultz noted that Ryan isn’t with Romney today but popularity-challenged Gov. Rick Scott introduced Romney at a morning event in St. Augustine.

“Both Mitt Romney and his newly announced running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan, have proposed massive tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires while throwing middle class Americans under the bus. Now, with Florida apparently being a no-fly zone for Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s team has finally been forced to turn to Rick Scott, the nation’s most unpopular governor, to introduce him this morning,” Wasserman Schultz said.

Romney is making his fifth trip to Florida since effectively clinching the GOP nomination. Today was the first time he’s appeared with Scott, who has posted consistently high disapproval ratings in polls. While Ryan isn’t accompanying Romney, he’s slated to visit Central Florida this weekend.

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Mitt Romney campaigns in Florida today with public events in St. Augustine and Miami.

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz will be part of three anti-Romney events, including one at 11:30 a.m. in Boca Raton.

After drawing big crowds Saturday and Sunday with newly named running mate Paul Ryan, Romney will be appearing solo in the Sunshine State while Ryan heads to Iowa.

Ryan is scheduled to make his first Florida visit as a member of the GOP ticket on Saturday or Sunday in central Florida. There, the Romney campaign says, Ryan “will highlight President Obama’s record of slashing Medicare for current Florida seniors to fund Obamacare. He will also note that the Romney-Ryan ticket is the only one with a bipartisan plan to strengthen Medicare for today and tomorrow’s seniors.” (more…)

HOLLYWOOD — While blasting Mitt Romney for not releasing years of income tax returns, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is rejecting an opponent’s call to release her own tax returns.

Wasserman Schultz, a congresswoman from Broward County, has been accused of hypocrisy by many Republicans. But she defended her position before Saturday night’s Florida Democratic Party Jefferson-Jackson fundraising dinner at the Westin Diplomat Hotel.

Republican congressional candidate Karen Harrington has repeatedly challenged Wasserman Schultz to release her tax returns, but Wasserman Schultz said the annual financial disclosure forms she fills out are sufficient.

“I’m fully compliant as a member of Congress in filing the financial disclosure that the law requires. Mitt Romney is running for President,” she said.

Wasserman Schultz also dismissed conservative criticism of her own investments. The conservative Weekly Standard reported last week that Wasserman Schultz previously invested up to $15,000 in a 401k, the Davis Financial Fund, that included investments in Swiss banks, foreign drug companies and the state bank of India. According to her 2011 financial disclosure form, she invested in the Davis Fund for a total of eight days in 2010.

The conservative magazine said her 401k made it hypocritical for Wasserman Schultz to criticize Romney’s Swiss bank account and other foreign investments. She flatly rejected that idea.

“Mitt Romney has his own money invested directly in Swiss bank accounts, in accounts and investments in the Cayman Islands. He personally has a Bermuda corporation. Every American, I think, can identify with 401k investments in which mutual funds are invested. There is absolutely no comparison,” said Wasserman Schultz.

As he seeks reelection this year, Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West will get to do something he’s never done before: vote for himself.

West recently transferred his registration from Plantation in Broward County to an address in Palm Beach Gardens, which is within the new Palm Beach-Treasure Coast congressional District 18 where West is running for a second term.

West switched his registration on May 23, listing a residence in PGA National, according to the county elections office. West’s office and campaign have not divulged details, but it does not appear that West owns the Gardens property.

West owns a house in Plantation in the district of liberal Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who is also Democratic National Committee chairwoman. While living in Wasserman Schultz’s District 20, West ran unsuccessfully in 2008 and successfully in 2010 for the neighboring District 22 congressional seat.

The U.S. Constitution does not require members of the House to live in the districts they represent, only to be “an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen.”

Former West Palm Beach mayor Lois Frankel, for example, is running in the newly drawn District 22 while living just outside its boundaries in the new District 20, where U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, is seeking reelection.

West’s house in Plantation is in the new District 22. But West opted not to run in that district after it was redrawn to give Democrats a 9-point registration edge.

Mitt Romney will make some money stops in Florida on Wednesday and Thursday, including a $50,000-a-plate dinner at private equity mogul Marc Leder‘s Boca Raton home.

Romney visits the Tampa home of Dick and Cornelia Corbett on Wednesday afternoon, then heads to Coral Gables for a reception at the Biltmore and a dinner at the home of Phil and Pat Frost. There’s also a Romney reception and private lunch in Jacksonville on Thursday before the presumptive Republican nominee arrives in Boca for a Thursday evening reception at Woodfield Country Club and then dinner at Leder’s nearby home.

In each city, Romney’s schedule includes a general reception for $2,500 donors, a VIP event with a photo opportunity for $10,000 contributors and a private meal for those who pony up $50,000.

Leder is the co-founder of Sun Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in Boca Raton.

Leder has given $125,000 to the pro-Romney superPAC Restore Our Future and showered contributions on a variety of Republican candidates, including Sen. Marco Rubio and Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown. In Florida’s 2012 Senate race, Leder gave $5,000 to Adam Hasner‘s GOP campaign before Hasner switched to a U.S. House race; Leder recently gave $2,500 to Rep. Connie Mack‘s Senate bid.

Leder also gave $4,800 to Charlie Crist‘s 2010 Senate bid before Crist bolted the GOP. And he has contributed to South Florida Democratic U.S. Reps. Ted Deutch and Debbie Wasserman Schultz and former Democratic Rep. Ron Klein.