House panels Monday narrowed the roster of proposed redistricting plans for Congress and the state House, – settling on new maps that proponents say help keep more cities and counties together within individual district boundaries.

In the House Congressional Redistricting Subcommittee, three proposed maps were approved  on 10-4 votes, with Democrats locked in opposition. The House earlier unveiled seven proposed congressional plans and five ways to redraw state House districts.

A separate panel Monday also reduced to three the number of House plans slated for later review by the full House Redistricting Committee.

Rep. Dwayne Taylor, D-Daytona Beach, who led opponents to the congressional proposals, said lawmakers should take the proposed plans on the road for another round of public hearings — similar to those conducted through the summer when no maps were available for review.

Another critic of the plans, Jim Roach, a Cape Coral businessman and Democratic candidate for Congress, also argued that the plans should be rejected because they tend to pack Democratic registered voters into districts.

Roach’s analysis of the proposals for 27 congressional districts — up from the state’s current 25 districts, because of population gains in the 2010 Census — showed that as many as 14 proposed districts are Republican leaning, in terms of registered voters. The plans create a maximum of 11 districts that are Democratic leaning, Roach said.

Democrats currently command a more than 500,000-voter advantage over Republicans in Florida.

But 19 of the state’s 25 members of Congress are Republicans — a disparity Democrats attribute to gerrymandering in the last redistricting go-around in 2002.

Roach said that in the proposed 11 districts where Democratic voters dominate, they outnumber Republicans by more than 20 percent — an overwhelming advantage that reduces the party’s overall strength and ability to compete in neighboring districts.

“That’s packing,” Roach said.

Rep. John Legg, R-Port Richey, co-chairman of the subcommittee, countered saying the proposed maps were drawn without consideration of voter registraion totals. Legg said voter-approved Amendments 5 and 6 to the state constitution require that lawmakers draw boundaries without consideration of political party or incumbents.

Legg said lawmakers and staff members steered clear of such data when crafting the maps.

Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, also said Taylor’s call for more public hearings would likely only prompt accusations that ruling Republicans were seeking to delay redistricting.  Another road show also could threaten the likelihood of getting new boundaries approved in time for candidate qualifying in June, Plakon said.

“It’s probably impractical to do,” Plakon said.

The three proposals approved Monday were scheduled to go before the full House Redistricting Committee later this month.

In Palm Beach County, the plans are identical. The most dramatic changes being made reduce the eight-county district now served U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, to four counties, including northern Palm Beach County. The Broward-Palm Beach county district held by U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, loses a key, Republican-dominated portion of the county’s north coastline to Rooney.

West’s district becomes more Broward-oriented and gains more registered Democrats, likely making his 2012 re-election bid tougher.

The three state House proposals all create a new, Hispanic-oriented district in Palm Beach County, centered in the Lake Worth-Palm Springs area.

To create the district, many of the voters are moved from the district currently served by Rep. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth. Clemens last month announced that he  expected to run for a still-to-be-determined Senate seat in Palm Beach County, saying he was frustrated by how voters in his District 89 were being scattered into other districts under House plans.

Florida Democrats said Thursday they’ve added a new honoree to their ‘Rickpublican’ hall of fame — Senate President Mike Haridopolos.

The Melbourne Republican gets the nod for recently acknowledging in a deposition that he tried to mislead a reporter months back when he was asked whether he agreed to give former Florida GOP Chair Jim Greer a lucrative severance package for leaving the party post. The deal fell apart, and Greer’s facing felony charges for allegedly directing thousands of dollars in party funds to an account he controlled.

“Backroom dealings and outright lies are a go-to in the Florida GOP playbook. While Haridopolos might not be able to remember much, he clearly hasn’t forgotten how to avoid the truth,” said Democratic Party executive director Scott Arceneaux.

In the deposition taken by Greer lawyers last month, Haridopolos said he was  “not telling the whole story” when he described what he knew of  the severance.

Haridopolos is among the first to be enshrined in the ‘hall.’ But with eyes on next year’s election season, state Democrats unveiled the website www.rickpublicans.com  in October to taunt state Republicans by tying them to Florida Gov. Rick Scott, whose poll numbers have languished most of this year. 

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.

UPDATE: Florida Republicans call the Dems new website “desperate.” This from Republican Party of Florida spokesman Brian Hughes: “With the most recent state reports showing RPOF outraised Florida Democrats by 5-to-1, it’s no surprise they are desperate to raise money. But this lame website demonstrates a level of desperation that is even worse than we thought possible. Instead of touting their anointed leaders, Barack Obama or Debbie Wasserman Schultz, they recycle ridiculous, cheap attacks. This tactic is more evidence why Floridians reject Democrats on Election Day.”

The Florida Democratic Party launched a new website today blaming Gov. Rick Scott and his fellow Republican lawmakers for the state’s dire economic straits.

The website accuses “Rickpublicans” of ethical lapses and causing teacher layoffs, among other things, and blasts Scott for “backsliding” on his campaign pledge to create 700,000 jobs over seven years as governor.

And the Dems remind viewers that Republicans have had a stranglehold on the state legisalture and governor’s mansion for more than a decade.

The site gives this definition of a “Rickpublican:”
[rick-puhb-li-kuh´n]
noun
1. Proper name for Florida Republicans wrought with greed and corruption who are hell-bent on selling out to the corporations and special interests while leaving Florida’s middle class families out-to-dry.

The Dems also use “Six Degrees of Separation” to link half a dozen GOP politicians – including Palm Beach County’s Adam Hanser and U.S. Rep. Allen West – to Scott, whose popularity among voters remains dim.

After months of promising action, the state’s largest teachers’ union looks ready to bring Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-ruled Legislature to court in an attempt to overturn a measure that creates a new merit pay standard and ends teacher tenure.

The legislation (CS/SB 736) was the first bill signed into law this spring by Scott. But it also marked was the culmination of a increasingly bitter clash between Florida Republicans and the Democratic-allied Florida Education Association, a struggle whose roots are deep.

FEA President Andy Ford and other leaders of the teachers’ group plan to outline the lawsuit they plan to file during a news conference and media call tomorrow.

The merit pay legislation requires that 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation be based on student achievement on tests — including the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) and other standardized exams, most of which must still be developed by state and local educators.

Under the bill, current teachers would retain existing pay schedules and contracts — even those spanning multi-years. They could lose their jobs, though, if they drew two subpar annual evaluations within three years.

Teachers hired after July 1, however, are limited to one-year contracts and would draw raises only if rated “effective” or “highly effective.”

Former Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed a similar bill last year. But during last fall’s governor’s race, Scott made ending teacher tenure and enacting merit pay a central portion of his campaign, with the FEA throwing in heavily behind Democrat Alex Sink.

The FEA is already squared off against the Legislature, having earlier this summer sued to overturn a proposed constitutional amendment put on next year’s ballot to lift the state’s more than century-old prohibition on tax dollars flowing to religious institutions.

Florida Democrats teed-off on Republican Gov. Rick Scott on Friday over July unemployment numbers, which showed the state losing 22,100 jobs that month.

The statewide  jobless rate held steady at 10.7 percent in July from a month earlier. In Palm Beach County, unemployment climbed to 11.2 percent that month, up from 11 percent in June.

Jobs, meanwhile, vanished.

Scott has been boasting of the state’s job creation levels, which had climbed by 85,500 positions since he took office in January. But with July’s drop, that level is down to 64,300 jobs, according to the state’s Agency for Workforce Innovation.

 Earlier this week, he told the Orlando Sentinel editorial board that he was well on his way to making good on his campaign promise of creating 700,000 jobs in seven years — even though he also made it clear to the paper that he was casting his pledge differently than last fall. 

Last fall, Scott promised to add the 700,000 positions on top of what economists forecast as a roughly 1 million additional jobs that will come with Florida’s population growth. Now, Scott said he’s counting every job toward his goal.

But Friday, he had to get out the eraser with July’s shrinkage.

Florida Democratic Party executive director Scott Arceneaux said the decline was “another indication that Rick Scott and the Republicans care more about promoting their Tea Party agenda then creating the jobs they promised and Floridians need.”

With the Legislature’s redistricting road show opening tonight in South Florida, Republicans and Democratic party bosses are doing their best to play the warm-up act.

Florida GOP Chairman Dave Bitner wrote his Democratic counterpart, Rod Smith, a stinging letter Monday, ripping him for claiming current legislative and congressional district boundaries make Florida “one of the most malapportioned states in the United States.”

Bitner pointed out in his letter that Smith, then a state senator, largely supported the map-making in 2002 that created the boundaries he’s now ridiculing.

Smith also was a member of a Senate Redistricting Committee that, like this year’s version, has failed to produce any proposed maps during its public hearing tour. Past news accounts produced by Bitner also place Smith – Zelig-like – behind moves that helped him win re-election, pulling Democrats from a fellow Democrat’s district and cutting adrift voters in Marion County who wanted to be included in the Senate district he served.

Instead, these Marion County voters were divided across four Senate districts in 2002. Such fracturing and incumbent favoritism would be outlawed under two new constitutional amendments approved by voters last fall and backed by Democratic allies.

“Chairman Smith, your hypocrisy is especially troubling because you are a former member of the Florida Legislature,” Bitner wrote. “You took an oath to uphold the constitution and the laws of Florida when you were sworn into office. You promised the citizens you represented that you would act in their best interest.”

Bitner concluded, “You can stop your boisterous partisan rhetoric that belies the documented legislative record that you undeniably possess.”

Smith fired back in a letter, noting that Bitner didn’t really refute how out of whack Florida district boundaries are, and that Republican lawmakers last year vigorously fought the constitutional amendment drive aimed at making districts more compact.

“Your letter is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to distract from producing the maps and the transparency Florida voters demanded,” Smith wrote. “Instead of writing letters, your party’s leaders should be opening the backroom door and sharing the maps.

 ”Let’s stop the political games,” the Democrat added. “Let’s make certain the will of the people is implemented by this very unwilling Republican Legislature.”

The Legislature’s current redistricting public hearing tour resumes tonight in Stuart, at the Blake Library, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Lawmakers move to Boca Raton Tuesday morning, for a hearing at Florida Atlantic University, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Running for a third term next fall, Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson can take some solace in this week’s Quinnipiac University poll that shows none of his potential Republican rivals so far emerging as a clear frontrunner.

A whopping 53 percent of registered Republicans told Quinnipiac they were undecided between former Rep. Adam Hasner of Delray Beach, former short-time U.S. Senate appointee George LeMieux, ex-steakhouse boss Craig Miller, and tea party courter Mike McAlister, who topped the field with support from 15 percent of voters.

Forty-six percent of respondents also told Quinnipiac they would support Nelson over any Republican, with the rival drawing 35 percent.

But before the Democratic incumbent gets too comfortable, he might look at his own disapproval rating among voters. Nelson plunged to 42 percent when Congress and President Obama forged their debt ceiling deal last week — the Florida senator’s lowest mark since his scraped 42 percent in August 2004.

But then, Nelson was still two years away from re-election. And that year, he faced off against politically damaged Republican Katherine Harris, in a non-presidential election year.

Post-debt deal, a plurality of those polled were willing to say Nelson deserved to be re-elected. But the 44-38 percent margin may be a little too close, especially since a frontrunning alternative is certain to emerge in coming months out of the pack of Republicans nipping at Nelson’s heels.

Three years of speaking on behalf of the Florida Democratic Party, apparently is enough for Eric Jotkoff.

The state party spokesman said Friday that he plans to put aside his Blackberry for a while before moving onto the next opportunity. Jotkoff’s replacement is expected to be named Monday, said the departing spokesman, who plans to stay on another couple weeks.

Jotkoff served under two party chairs, Karen Thurman and her successor, Rod Smith. He also was a Smith spokesman when the former Alachua state senator ran for governor in 2006.

Quick with the quote, tweet or email, Jotkoff on Friday fondly recalled Democratic successes with the Obama campaign in Florida, and Republican missteps with disgraced former House Speaker Ray Sansom and criminally charged ex-GOP chairman Jim Greer.

“Over the next few weeks, I will be taking some time off to relax and recharge before announcing my future plans. I look forward to spending several weeks without having my Blackberry basically surgically attached to my hand because I won’t need to respond to the scandal de jour,” Jotkoff’s wrote in signing off.

Under fire from a pack of Republican challengers, Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson raised more than $1.8 million over the past three months for his re-election, his campaign reported Tuesday.

Nelson’s campaign was quick to point out that the top Republican fund-raiser this quarter, George LeMieux, had collected half the Democrat’s total since April 1.

LeMieux collected $950,000 to Senate President Mike Haridopolos’ $900,000 over the past three months. Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Delray Beach collected $560,000. A fourth likely well-heeled Republican, former Ruths’ Chris steakhouse CEO Craig Miller was flying around the state Tuesday, making his formal entry into the race.

“The support so far is adding to the momentum that’s building for Sen. Nelson’s re-election,” said Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith. “It’s a sign of strength and broad-based support.”

The Florida Republican Party pulled in $3.5 million in the three months ending June 30, more than three times that collected by state Democrats during the span, new finance records show.

Health care companies, a private prison firm, and utilities were among the GOP’s biggest givers — cash that tracked some of the biggest issues of the 2011 legislative session, ongoing for most of the reporting period.

Still, a relatively modest $5,000 contribution from Jacksonville Greyhound Racing is noteworthy because of its timing. The check was posted by the party on May 6 — the same day the Orange Park dog track played a central role in the chaotic closing hours of the Legislature.

A duel between the House and Senate over a tax break for the track — a political favorite of Senate Rules Chairman John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine — forced the session to spill into overtime.

 The House insisted on removing the tax break from what was considered must-pass legislation, and Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Melbourne, later said he was “embarrassed” by the stand-off between the two chambers, which also drew veiled questions about the U.S. Senate contender’s leadership skills.

Other GOP contributions were more conventional — and cash-laden. U.S. Sugar Corp., donated $225,000, Nextera Energy, the parent company of Juno Beach-base Florida Power & Light, gave $250,000, and the Boca Raton-based Geo Group, which hopes to gain a big portion of the state’s plan to privatize prisons across 18 counties, including Palm Beach and the Treasure Coast, gave $100,000 to the Florida GOP.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott attended a secret, invitation-only meeting outside Vail, Colo., hosted by conservative billionaire GOP donors David and Charles Koch, the governor’s staff confirmed today.

The meeting wasn’t on Scott’s official schedule and his spokesman Lane Wright initially refused to confirm or deny whether the first-term governor would make an appearance, saying he would not “speculate as to what he has done, or will do on his personal time.”

But, after The St. Petersburg Times reported Tuesday Scott did attend the meeting, Wright confirmed that the governor was there but would not say whether Scott was in Colorado on Sunday or Monday.

“I told anybody who asked me,” Scott, in Washington, D.C., told the Times, without revealing too much about what took place.

“It was very interesting,” he told the Times. “They wanted to know basically… what am I doing in Florida.”

Scott, the self-proclaimed “jobs governor,” joined at least three other conservative Republican heads-of-state at the semi-annual meeting.

Govs. John Kasich of Ohio and Bob McDonnell of Virginia all dropped into the conference, entitled “Understanding and Addressing Threats to American Enterprise and Prosperity.” And Scott’s competitor-in-chief, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, addressed the group on Sunday, the first of the four-day meeting that wraps up Wednesday.

“The purpose of this conference is to develop support for the kind of free-market policies and initiatives that can get our country back on the path to economic prosperity and sustained job creation,” a spokeswoman for Koch Industries told The Denver Post last week.

Kansas-based Koch Industries, the second largest privately owned company in the United States, earned $100 billion in revenues in 2009, is controlled by Charles and David Koch, political activists who have donated more than $100 million to conservative GOP causes over the past three decades, according to a New Yorker profile. The pair have recently donated to tea party groups and organizations opposed to President Obama.

Florida Democratic Party spokesman Eric Jotkoff blasted Scott for secretly leaving the state during a state of emergency he declared because of wildfires.

“For Rick Scott to secretly leave the state during a state of emergency is completely irresponsible and shows why he continues to be the least popular governor in America,” Jotkoff said.

Former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre, a Democrat who endorsed Rick Scott in last fall’s governor’s race, was named Tuesday by the Republican governor to the state’s Transportation Commission.

Ferre, 75, was named to a three-year term — succeeding Marcos Marchena. The appointment must be confirmed by the Florida Senate.

After losing his Quixotic bid to become the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate — drawing 4.9 percent of the vote in losing to then-U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek — Ferre said Scott would be the first Republican he voted for in 54 years of casting ballots.

Ferre said he liked Scott’s plan for Florida’s economy. Ferre also said he was mad at the “exclusionary direction” of the state Democratic Party, which had cold-shouldered him in his run for Senate.

House Democratic leaders Tuesday asked the U.S. Justice Department to deny Secretary of State Kurt Browning’s request for approval of the state’s new elections law, which the Legislature’s ruling Republicans said is aimed at blunting the threat of voter fraud but which Democrats say is intended to discourage poor and minority voters from going to the polls.

Reps. Ron Saunders of Key West and Perry Thurston of Plantation cited the legislation’s (CS/HB 1355) shortening of the number of days available for early voting, penalties that could be imposed on voter registration groups, and new restrictions on changing voter registration at the polls as grounds for the Justice Department to reject the state’s request for needed preclearance in five counties under the federal Voting Rights Act.

The ACLU of Florida, the national ACLU, and Project Vote, a Washington, D.C., voters’ rights organization, sued earlier this mont in Miami federal court to stop statewide implementation of the law until Justice Department approval is obtained for the five counties.

Browning had said earlier that he would not seek to enforce the state’s new standards in Hendry, Collier, Hardee, Hillsborough and Monroe counties until receiving Justice Department approval.

But he ordered the new law to take effect in Florida’s 62 other counties, a move that triggered the ACLU legal challenge, which cited state and federal laws that require the state to have uniform elections laws.

In their letter to federal officials, Saunders and Thurston wrote, “The law has the purpose or effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race, color, or language minority group.”

Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam did the eenie-meenie-miney thing Monday with the three Republican contenders for U.S. Senate — choosing Senate President Mike Haridopolos as his favorite for taking on Democrat Bill Nelson next year.

“As a former congressman and state legislator, I know that Mike Haridopolos has what it takes to tackle the debt and spending problems in Washington because he has a record of accomplishment in Florida when it comes to balancing budgets and restraining government spending,” Putnam said.

Haridopolos, R-Melbourne, is battling former short-term U.S. Sen. George LeMieux of Fort Lauderdale and former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Delray Beach for the GOP nomination, in a contest that so far is marked mostly by fund-raising and endorsement announcements.

Putnam, elected agriculture commissioner last fall, is from a prominent Polk County ranching family, and could bring help Haridopolos open some contributors’ doors in the agri-business community.

The U.S. Justice Department was asked by Florida officials Wednesday to approve the state’s sweeping new elections law for five counties that need such preclearance under the federal Voting Rights Act.

Secretary of State Kurt Browning submitted documents detailing law changes under CS/HB 1355, which Gov. Rick Scott signed into law May 18 over opposition from legislative Democrats, the League of Women Voters, NAACP and other organizations.

Critics of the law said it is designed to blunt Democratic turnout and weaken voter registration efforts in advance of the 2012 elections.

 The ACLU of Florida, the national ACLU, and Project Vote, a Washington, D.C., voters’ rights organization, sued last week in Miami federal court to stop statewide implementation of the law until Justice Department approval is obtained.

Browning had said earlier that he would not seek to enforce the state’s new standards in Hendry, Collier, Hardee, Hillsborough and Monroe counties until receiving Justice Department approval.

But he has gone ahead and ordered the new law to take effect in Florida’s 62 other counties, a move which triggered the ACLU legal challenge.

State and federal law require the state to have uniform elections laws.

“It looks like Browning is now trying to speed-up the process in hopes of covering up the mistake he made by ordering the law to take effect,” said Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU of Florida.

Browning has defended his action, saying the new measure was to take effect upon becoming law. He acknowledged that preclearance was needed before the measure could be enforced in the five counties.

The Justice Department has at least 60 days to review documents submitted Wednesday by Browning.

Critics of the new law say it is designed to make registering to vote and casting ballots more difficult for minorities and low-income voters, who typically vote Democratic. Scott and Republican legislative leaders said the new standards

The law imposes strict regulation of third-party registration groups, including requiring that they turn in registration forms within 48 hours after they are signed. It also reduces the number of days available for early voting in Florida, although county election supervisors are required to maintain the same, 98 hours made available before Election Day.

House Speaker Dean Cannon went more public Tuesday with his endorsement of Senate President Mike Haridopolos, who is among three Republican contenders looking to knock of Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

Cannon met with the Senate chief Tuesday in Orlando, calling him a “trusted friend, a valued legislative partner, and a much needed voice for conservative principles in Washington, DC.”

Cannon, R-Winter Park, and Haridopolos, R-Melbourne, were close allies during most of this spring’s legislative session, their first as leaders. The wheels came off toward the end, with Haridopolos later saying he was “embarrassed,” by the standoff between the two sides over legislation.

Among the bills that failed to win approval was one sought by Haridopolos, giving wrongly convicted William Dillon of the Senate boss’ home Brevard County $1 million in compensation for serving three decades behind bars.

On Tuesday, though, any hard feelings between the two chamber leaders seemed forgotten. Cannon said of Haridopolos, “ I am confident that he is the candidate that can finally retire Bill Nelson.”

Haridopolos heard similar comments in February. At a kick-off fundraiser, billed as a “private strategy session,” Haridopolos raised $1 million from lobbyists just before the session dawned.

Cannon was among those attending, drawing some notice for pledging his support for Haridopolos. Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Delray Beach and former U.S. Sen. George Lemieux of Fort Lauderdale have since joined the race.

Politico reported Tuesday that former Ruth’s Chris steak house CEO Craig Miller, who lost a congressional run last year, is also considering running for the Republican Senate nomination.

“I couldn’t ask for a better partner in the Florida Legislature and I look forward to having the speaker join me on the campaign trail,” Haridopolos said.

Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith suspended Leon County State Committeeman Jon Ausman through next year’s presidential contest, but stopped short Wednesday of following a party panel’s recommendation that he be tossed off the executive committee.

Ausman has been under fire for taking sides in party primary contests in Leon County and also for backing Jeff Greene, who paid for his campaign work, over Kendrick Meek in last summer’s Democratic U.S. Senate contest.

A party disciplinary committee voted 5-1 May 2 to recommend Ausman’s removal for “conduct of such an outrageous nature as to violate the understood professional standards of our party.”

But Smith, in his ruling, seemed to look for a middle ground.

Instead, Smith ordered that Ausman be suspended from party activities until Dec. 1, 2012, although he would “entertain a petition for reinstatement,” after June 1.

“In support of my decision to mitigate, I have considered the best interests of the FDP and I find that a permanent removal should be avoided if a lesser penalty will send a sufficient message to the offender and deter such conduct in the future,” Smith wrote.

 Ausman has been a Democratic activist for more than 30 years, holding a number of leadership posts within the party.

 He also has an encyclopedic understanding of party rules — a skill he has used frequently in past party battles, including the 2008 delegate fight stemming from Florida’s presidential primary that violated national party rules.

Asked whether he would accept the suspension — and a Smith olive branch, Ausman said, “I’m thinking about it. I will probably do a press conference soon.”

Miami-Dade mayoral candidate Marcelo Llorente filed suit Wednesday, seeking to stop the Republican-ruled Florida Legislature’s rewrite of elections law that Gov. Rick Scott is expected to sign into law.

Llorente is seeking an injunction against Miami-Dade elections officials to stop the new elections measure (CS/HB 1335) from taking effect.

Llorente, a former Republican House member, maintains that a provision that would eliminate Sunday’s scheduled early voting in Miami — in advance of next week’s election – is unconstitutional.

State law, “cannot deny the right of the Miami-Dade County citizens to continue with a lawful and properly noticed election already under way,” Llorente said in his lawsuit filed in the county’s circuit court.

Llorente is among 11 candidates running for the post. But the legal challenge to the elections law comes even as Scott is mostly drawing heat from Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and a half-dozen members of Congress who want the Justice Department to block the elections law because they maintain it may interfere withe the federal Voting Rights Act.

Scott has until Saturday to act on the legislation. He told the Palm Beach Post on Wednesday that he was still making up his mind.

The governor also said he wouldn’t sign an elections bill he thought could hurt voters.

“I’m not going to sign a bill that discourages people from voting,” Scott said during a break in Wednesday’s hurricane conference in Fort Lauderdale. He added, “I want people to vote.”

Add elections advocates Wednesday to a growing roster of organizations urging Republican Gov. Rick Scott to wield his veto pen.

Environmentalists have already weighed-in, asking the first-year governor to turn back four bills affecting water management districts, conservation rules, wetland regulation and growth management.

Now, several voter groups are demanding that Scott veto the legislation (CS/HB 1355) pushed by ruling Republicans over Democratic objections. Republican lawmakers said the tougher standards the measure would set on those seeking to cast ballots in precincts where they are not registered,  and organizations that register voters, is designed to stamp out fraud.

Democrats and their allies said the measure is aimed at diminishing Democratic turnout.

Those calling for a Scott veto include groups not normally among the first the governor turns to for counsel: the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSMCE), the American Civil Liberties Union, Progress Florida, and the Florida AFL-CIO.

“These provisions needlessly infringe the voting rights of Floridians, particularly those among historically disenfranchised communities, including elderly, low-income voters, students and voters of color,” the group’s letter said.   “Instead of fixing real problems—such as expanding access to early voting —they would disenfranchise eligible Floridians, for no legitimate reason.”