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LaMarca
“I clearly want to look at it and see what the feel of the voters is,” LaMarca said this morning. “I count Adam as a friend, but I need to look at this.”
Hasner
LaMarca says he’ll probably decide within a week whether to pursue the congressional bid.
Democrats Lois Frankel and Kristin Jacobs are also running in District 22.
Marx
Marx, a former assistant state attorney, was entertaining the idea after McAuliffe announced last month that he would not seek reelection this year. McAuliffe later announced he’s leaving office in March to take a job with West Palm Beach-based Oxbow Carbon, which means Gov. Rick Scott will appoint a replacement to serve the last nine months of McAuliffe’s term.
Former Democratic state Sen. Dave Aronberg is the only candidate to open a 2012 campaign for McAuliffe’s job.
Scott’s office says it has received one application for the state attorney appointment, from Wesley Forrest White, an assistant state attorney in Nassau County near Jacksonville. White said he would move to Palm Beach County if he got the appointment. He said he is not interested in running for a four-year term.
It’ll be more of a candidate forum than a back-and-forth debate this month when the Florida Federation of Republican Women hosts the first meeting of Republican U.S. Senate candidates since Rep. Connie Mack, R-Cape Coral, got into the race.
Mack, former appointed Sen. George LeMieux and businessman Mike McCalister are scheduled to participate in the Feb. 19 event in Tallahassee. The three are vying to run against Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in November.
Candidates will appear together and make brief opening statements, then appear individually for 15 to 20 minutes apiece to answer questions from the audience and a moderator, said Federation 3rd VP Kim Carroll. While one candidate is answering questions, the others will be offstage and won’t hear the exchange with the audience, Caroll said. The candidates will then appear together at the end for a brief wrap-up.
“We don’t want to set it up so it’s a bash-my-fellow-candidate debate,” said Carroll, who said debates with all the candidates on stage together tend to devolve into “name-calling sessions” that distract from the issues.
Ron Klein
Klein, however, said he’s not a lobbyist and the registration listing him as one was a “mistake” by someone at Holland & Knight, the law and lobbying firm that hired attorney Klein last year.
“I brought the client in in my business-development work, but we have other people that do lobbying on Capitol Hill,” Klein said in an interview.
A form filed with Congress last month by Holland & Knight lists three lobbyists for Miramar-based Spirit: Klein, former Tampa Democratic Rep. Jim Davis and Lisa Barkovic, who was an aide to former Republican Rep. Mark Foley.
Klein said he’s not doing any lobbying, but is active in bringing clients to the firm and recently took a trip to Israel to recruit high-tech businesses. Klein said he’s also been active in raising money for Democrats, including Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston.
Dinerstein
Dinerstein was asked about Rick Santorum‘s victories Tuesday in nonbinding contests in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado and whether they indicate that Romney has a problem with the party’s conservative base.
“There’s less there than meets the eye. As long as there are primaries, there will be conservatives who will vote for some conservative who isn’t Mitt Romney. When the primaries end or when everyone gives up, the conservatives will support Mitt Romney,” Dinerstein said.
“At the end of the day, you can’t catch Mitt…This was decided with the Florida primary,” Dinerstein said.
“I am running because I believe we need an unwavering Democrat in the state Senate and, simply put, Maria Sachs is not a real Democrat,” a Rader press release says. He notes that Sachs contributed to George W. Bush (she made $500 contributions in 1999 and 2000) and says Sachs “steadfastly praised Governor Jeb Bush.” Rader also notes that Sachs voted in December for a Republican redistricting plan. Sachs said that was a “procedural vote” to move the process along; her explanation was accepted by Palm Beach County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel.
Sachs wasn’t immediately reachable for comment this afternoon.
Rader served in the state House for one term, leaving in 2010 to make an unsuccessful state Senate bid against Republican Lizbeth Benacquisto.
Murphy
Murphy called West a “coward” last week for leaving his Palm Beach-Broward District 22 to run in a new District 18. Murphy, an accountant who lives in Fort Lauderdale, announced this morning that he’s making the same move — and standing behind the “coward” charge.
West
With the Florida legislature expected to make District 22 a Democrat-leaning seat, West’s maneuver lets him run a district with a roughly even Republican-Democrat divide. Murphy’s move puts him in a tougher district for a Democrat, but it also lets him avoid a potentially costly Democratic primary with former West Palm Beach mayor Lois Frankel and Broward County Commissioner Kristin Jacobs. And it allows Murphy, a political unknown before launching his congressional bid, to continue raising money using West as a foil.
Murphy’s decision to sidestep a primary drew plaudits from big-name Dems: U.S. Rep. and DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel of New York and Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith.
Gov. Rick Scott will speak at this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, joining a lineup that includes encore performances by Sen. Marco Rubio and U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation.
CPAC is the conservative movement’s premiere annual showcase. Rubio’s status as a rising star of the right was confirmed when he was booked for a featured 2010 speaking gig while former Gov. Charlie Crist was still the establishment favorite for Florida’s GOP Senate nomination. Tea party megastar West keynoted last year’s conference.
Mitt Romney‘s 2012 presidential bid arguably began four years ago at CPAC when he chose the venue to announce he was dropping out of the 2008 Republican nomination hunt. Romney, who has had his troubles firing up the GOP conservative base this year, was considered the conservative alternative to John McCain in 2008.
Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are all scheduled to speak at this year’s CPAC, which begins Thursday and ends Saturday.
Hasner: Jumping into District 22; others could move in or out as well.
A day after freshman U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, announced he’s leaving the district to run in a more Republican-friendly district to the north, former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton confirmed this afternoon that he’s abandoning his Republican U.S. Senate bid to pursue the District 22 seat.
Hasner begins the congressional campaign with about $670,000 in cash from his Senate run. He also picked up an endorsement from West, who said, “I wish him the best, believe in him wholeheartedly and look forward to working alongside of him on Capitol Hill.”
District 22 is divided nearly evenly between Republicans and Democrats now, but state legislators are expected to approve a map that gives District 22 a pronounced Democratic tilt.
Many Republicans regard the 2008 election as a low point for GOP enthusiasm. But Florida Republicans were more amped about the state’s presidential primary four years ago than they were this year.
Not quite 1.7 million Republicans cast ballots in Tuesday’s Florida Republican presidential primary — about 276,000 fewer than in 2008. Turnout Tuesday was 41.1 percent — down from 51 percent four years ago, when Florida effectively handed John McCain the Republican nomination.
Evidence of an enthusiasm problem in the GOP?
“I don’t think we have an enthusiasm gap,” says Republican Party of Florida spokesman Brian Hughes.
“I would argue you had more competitive top candidates who were putting money into get-out-the-vote,” in 2008, Hughes said.
The 2008 GOP field included McCain, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee. Tuesday’s race was essentially a two-man contest between Romney and Newt Gingrich as Rick Santorum and Ron Paul spent little or no time or money in the state.
Also, the 2008 primary ballot included a statewide property tax-limitation question that helped drive turnout. There were no other statewide ballot questions or races on Tuesday’s ballot.
Facing a tough reelection fight in a district that was redrawn with a Democratic tilt, U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, announced today that he will instead run in a more Republican-leaning district to the north that’s home to U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta.
Rooney will run in a newly created rural district that extends from western Martin and St. Lucie counties to Charlotte County on Florida’s west coast and north into parts of Hillsborough and Polk counties. Rooney represents much of that area now.
With no Republican incumbent in West’s current Palm Beach-Broward congressional District 22, sources close to former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton said Hasner is considering dropping his U.S. Senate bid and running for West’s congressional seat.
West’s current District 22 is nearly evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. But a plan approved by the Florida Senate and up for a vote in the state House this week creates a district where Democrats have a 9-point registration advantage and Barack Obama got 56.6 percent of the vote in 2008.
If approved by the House, the new congressional map could still face legal challenges under a new anti-gerrymandering law approved by voters in 2010.
Two Democrats — former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel and Fort Lauderdale accountant Patrick Murphy — have been running in West’s District 22 and have raised about $1.4 million apiece.
“We chased Allen West out of the district,” crowed Frankel campaign adviser Bret Wask, who said Frankel would continue to run in District 22.
Romney talks to reporters outside his Florida headquarters in Tampa.
“In South Carolina we were vastly outspent with negative ads attacking me and we stood back and talked about President Obama and suffered the consequence of that, plus also I think some good debates from Speaker Gingrich. We came to Florida and Speaker Gingrich didn’t have two good debates — I did,” Romney told reporters.
“We responded to attacks that were coming to us and I’ll tell you, when we’re attacked, I’m not just going to sit back, I’m going to fight back and fight back hard.”
Romney pointed to a Suffolk University poll in which 37 percent of Florida voters said Gingrich ran the most negative campaign, compared to 31 percent who said Romney was the most negative.
“He really can’t whine about negative campaigning when he launched a very negative campaign in South Carolina and when the people in Florida looked at the two campaigns and decided he was the most negative,” Romney said.
DUNEDIN — Several polls show Mitt Romney with a big lead over Newt Gingrich heading into Tuesday’s Florida Republican primary, but Romney — who saw his big South Carolina lead turn into a Gingrich victory — isn’t easing up on the former House speaker.
As he has done in almost every opportunity over the last eight days, Romney today criticized Gingrich for working as a consultant for troubled government-backed mortgage giant Freddie Mac. After pounding home the issue all week and in two nationally televised debates, the only change for Romney is that he’s been striking a tone of mockery rather than outrage the last few days.
“I know the speaker’s not real happy, Speaker Gingrich. He’s not feeling very excited these days,” Romney told a crowd of more than 500 that filled a local park here. “I know, it’s sad. He’s been flailing around a bit trying to go after me for one thing or the other and you just watch it, you shake your head. It’s been kind of painfully revealing to watch. I think the reason he isn’t doing so well is because of those last two debates, don’t you think?”
Gingrich’s company received $1.6 million from Freddie Mac for what Gingrich says were his services as consultant and historian; Romney calls it lobbying.
Romney said voters turned on Gingrich when they found out he “made money from Freddie Mac, the very institution that helped stand behind the huge housing crisis. Here in Florida, if you’re part of the housing crisis you’re probably not going to get elected president. So the people here in Florida said we’re not going to get behind Newt Gingrich, we’re going to get behind Mitt Romney.”
Former Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse CEO and former National Restaurant Association Chairman Craig Miller is leaving the crowded Republican U.S. Senate race and says he’ll run instead for a new coastal congressional district that’s expected to include parts of Volusia, Flagler, St. Johns and Putnam counties.
Miller recently snagged the endorsement of fellow restaurateur Herman Cain for the Senate race.
Miller leaves without endorsing any of the other GOP Senate hopefuls — former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton, U.S. Rep. Connie Mack of Cape Coral, former appointed Sen. George LeMieux and businessman Mike McCalister.
“There are several very qualified candidates in the U.S. Senate race to represent our party, some with more name recognition and resources than our campaign. Therefore, I have chosen to shift my focus to serving the people of the new Coastal District,” Miller said in a statement released this morning.
“Having grown up on the Intracoastal Waterway and having spent a lifetime working in the Hospitality and Tourism industry, including opening and operating businesses in Volusia and St. John Counties, this new District offers me a unique opportunity to serve.”
Romney outside the Casa Marin restaurant in Hialeah
Romney lost the Hispanic vote to John McCain by a 53-to-21 percent margin statewide in the 2008 GOP primary and lost Miami-Dade County, where three-quarters of voters are Hispanic, by a 49-to-16 percent margin.
“You’re going to see an overwhelming victory for Romney this year” predicted former U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart. Diaz-Balart backed McCain four years ago. This year, he’s endorsing Romney. So is his brother, U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, and U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami.
“They trust Ileana, Mario and me, they trust us,” Lincoln Diaz-Balart said of Cuban-American voters. “They know that he (Romney) is listening to us, that he is our friend, and thus that our community will have a friend in the White House. So you’re going to see a very dramatic difference in the vote on Tuesday from four years ago.”
Romney was accompanied today by the Diaz-Balarts and Ros-Lehtinen and U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Cape Coral. He also brought his youngest son, Craig. Speaking in Spanish, Craig Romney told the crowd of a few hundred outside the Casa Marin restaurant that while his father doesn’t speak Spanish, he speaks the language of the economy, prosperity and liberty. The remark got big applause.
As he did in Naples earlier today, Romney bashed chief GOP rival Newt Gingrich for his work for mortgage giant Freddie Mac.
Romney also called President Obama soft on Cuba.
“With Cuba he says, OK, we’re going to open up remittances and we’re going to extend travel to Cuba as a show of kindness and a gift. And of course gifts to people who are fundamentally evil are always accepted and never returned. The right course for America is to stand with strength against despots, to stand with strength against tyranny and to stand with strength for the principles of this great land,” Romney said.
Romney works the crowd in Naples.
The crowd at a downtown retail area topped 2,000, one Naples police officer estimated.
Former U.S. Sen. Connie Mack and his son, U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Cape Coral, introduced Romney at the midday event. Romney campaigns later today in Hialeah and Pompano Beach.
Romney, who dominated a pair of GOP debates last week, accused Gingrich of being “like Goldilocks” because he complained a Monday night debate crowd was ordered to be silent and one of his aides said the Romney camp “packed the room” for a louder Thursday debate.
“He’s now finding excuses everywhere he can. He’s on TV this morning going from station to station complaining about what he thinks are the reasons he’s had difficulty here in Florida,” Romney said.
NAPLES -- Big turnout for Romney's first event today.
Here’s the latest polling roundup from RealClearPolitics.
Gingrich, who got Herman Cain‘s endorsement Saturday night in West Palm Beach, vowed on ABC News this morning to press his fight for the nomination all the way to the Republican convention in Tampa this summer.
Romney has a campaign stop here around noon, then heads to Hialeah, Pompano Beach and Jacksonville today.
Gingrich attended church in Lutz near Tampa this morning, then heads to The Villages and Jacksonville.
Rick Santorum called off morning appearances in Florida today because his 3-year-old daughter was hospitalized in Pennsylvania. But he may still make it to events later today in Sarasota and PUnta Gorda.
A Quinnipiac University poll conducted Tuesday through Thursday shows Mitt Romney pulling ahead of Newt Gingrich in advance of Tuesday’s Republican presidential primary.
Romney holds a 38-to-29 percent lead over Gingrich, turning back a Gingrich surge after his victory in Saturday’s South Carolina primary. The new poll finds Ron Paul at 14 percent and Rick Santorum at 12 percent.
Quinnipiac’s last poll showed a statistical tie between Romney and Gingrich, with Gingrich leading 40-34 among voters surveyed after the South Carolina vote.
The new survey of 580 likely GOP primary voters has a 4.1 percent margin of error. Check out the complete poll here.
U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Cape Coral, introduces Mitt Romney. Business owner Jon Cummins and wife Maria are at left. Ann Romney and U.S. Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., are at right.
About 200 people crowded into the parking lot of Paramount Performance Marketing, where an “Obama Isn’t Working” sign was set up. Owner Jon Cummins blamed the demise of his business on a combination of foreign competition, the rise of electronic communications and burdensome federal regulations. Cummins said about 50 people worked at his business four years ago and 24 were left when he closed the business last month.
“I don’t know anybody that has a crystal ball that knows how long this uncertainty is going to last, so we just quit the fight,” Cummins told the crowd.
“Jon asked how long is this going to go on,” Romney said. “The answer is, it’s going to go on until January of 2013 when we take over.”
U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Cape Coral, and his wife, U.S. Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., accompanied Romney, as did Romney’s wife.
Romney didn’t mention any of his Republican rivals, but clearly referred to main rival Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, when he said: “I’ve never lived in Washington, D.C., I’m not part of the culture of Washington, D.C. I’ve spent my life out of Washington, D.C. I’ve lived my life on Main Street and on other streets across this country. I want to use the experience I’ve had working in the real economy to go to Washington, D.C., and fix it.
Mitt Romney gets more support from Florida’s independent voters than Newt Gingrich and would be a stronger Republican presidential nominee against President Obama in November, a new Quinnipiac University poll says.
Romney and Obama are tied at 45 percent in the poll while the president would defeat Gingrich by a 50-to-39 margin in Florida the poll says.
The big difference between the Republican frontrunners: while Romney and Obama are virtually tied among independent voters, the president would defeat Gingrich by a 50-to-33 percent margin among independents in Florida.
Obama’s approval rating remains underwater in Florida, with 46 percent approving of the way he handles his duties and 52 percent disapproving. Only 43 percent of independents give Obama a positive job approval score, with 53 percent negative.
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