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.”
Nick Loeb and Sofia Vergara talk politics with Billy Bush on the Golden Globes red carpet in this Access Hollywood video.
Palm Beach County has seen one rich guy with Hollywood ties enter a U.S. Senate race. But wealthy Delray Beacher Nick Loeb, considering a 2012 GOP run for Sen. Bill Nelson’s seat, tells The Palm Beach Post he’s nothing like 2010 Dem candidate Jeff Greene.
Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene, who lost a self-financed Democratic Senate primary bid in August, has been sued by a Washington-based consulting firm that claims it’s owed $394,000 for media work it did late in the campaign, the South Florida Business Journal is reporting.
Greene said through his attorney that he has a right to challenge some of the charges sought by the Devine Mulvey firm, the Business Journal reported.
One nugget: Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene lost his precinct 2-to-1 to Kendrick Meek in the Democratic Senate primary. That’s not a ratio of 2-to-1. It was literally 2 votes for Meek and one for Greene, presumably his own. Greene’s wife isn’t registered in Palm Beach County.
Only 26 Democrats are registered in Greene’s precinct, compared to 84 Republicans. Marco Rubio carried the precinct 26-0 in the GOP Senate primary.
Another tidbit: Greene’s mother’s Century Village precinct was more competitive. Meek won it 115 votes to 107.
Meek carried Palm Beach County with 64.4 percent. He got 57.6 percent statewide.
In the two weeks leading up to Tuesday’s Florida primaries, most polls showed GOP establishment favorite Bill McCollum rebounding from outsider Rick Scott’s summer surge and regaining a lead in the Republican governor’s primary.
The most notable exception: Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, which on Monday said its weekend polling showed Scott up by 7 points. Scott appears to have won by just under 3 points.
And here’s its rundown of Democratic Senate primary polls. Everyone had this race trending toward Kendrick Meek, who ended up beating Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene by 26.5 points. PPP’s day-before poll had Meek up by 24 points.
While supporters prepare a hotel ballroom for Jeff Greene’s campaign party, the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate is monitoring results from his home in Palm Beach, said spokesman Luis Vizcaino.
Vizcaino said Greene is at home with his wife, mother and 10-month-old son, and feels very optimistic despite initial results that show him trailing behind Kendrick Meek in the race.
“He’s received a very positive response. It’s been a tough fight, it’s been a good fight that has been able to shape the debate about the economy,” Vizcaino said.
Greene is expected to join his supporters at the West Palm Beach Marriott tonight, but campaign officials did not say when he would arrive.
In his final interviews before precincts close at 7 p.m. tonight, Democratic Senate candidate Jeff Greene told voters he was the only “jobs creator” in the race and the only solution for Florida’s economic problems.
“This country is in big trouble, and Florida is in big trouble. I’m not going to be satisfied to see these career politicians run our country,” said Greene at the West Palm Beach Marriott, where his supporters will gather later tonight to watch election results.
Greene said his day started at 6 a.m. with visits to several residential communities, and that he and his wife campaigned in six cities on Monday, including West Palm Beach, Miami and Tampa.
Greene thanked his supporters and volunteers, and said his experience as a businessman would help solve Florida’s housing crisis and reduce unemployment.
“We need some new faces, bold ideas, and I’m going to fight for the people of Florida,” he said. “I’m theonly jobs creator in this race who understands how this economy works.”
Although a July poll had Greene leading the race against rival Kendrick Meek, more recent polls give Meek a 28 percent edge over Greene.
The latest poll by Jensen’s Public Policy Polling says likely Republican Senate nominee Rubio (assuming he beats William Escoffery III and William Billy Kogut in today’s GOP primary) gets 40 percent of the general election vote, with independent Gov. Charlie Crist at 32 percent and Meek at 17 percent. If Palm Beach billionaire Greene wins the primary, Rubio holds only a 1-point lead over Crist, with Greene at 13 percent.
Crist has led some earlier polls, but PPP finds that if Meek is the nominee, many Democratic voters who might vote for Crist will instead come home to their party.
The general election poll sampled 567 likely voters over the weekend and has a 4.1 percent margin of error.
PPP on Monday released polls showing Meek leading Greene by 24 points and, in the GOP governor’s primary, Rick Scott topping Bill McCollum by 7 points.
Supporters of Democratic Senate rivals Jeff Greene and Kendrick Meek wave signs outside the West Palm Beach library
WEST PALM BEACH — While supporters of Democratic Senate establishment favorite Kendrick Meek sat in air-conditioned comfort inside the city library late this afternoon waiting for their candidate, outsider Jeff Greene’s campaign seized the initiative.
About 10 Greene backers had the sidewalk in front of the library to themselves to wave signs and hand out literature before a Meek event.
Their advantage soon evaporated, however. The Meek folks got wind of the insurrection and descended to the sidewalk, where they quickly outnumbered and outshouted the Greene contingent.
Will the Democratic Senate primary play out the same way?
Four-term U.S. Rep. Meek’s frontrunning campaign was knocked on its heels by Palm Beach billionaire Greene’s outside-the-Beltway candidacy. Greene surged to a 10-point lead in one late July poll, but subsequent polls suggest Meek is back on top heading into Tuesday’s primary.
Public Policy Polling and Quinnipiac University both surveyed Florida Republican voters over the weekend on the Bill McCollum-Rick Scott gubernatorial bloodbath. They came up with vastly different results.
As noted earlier this morning, Democratic-oriented PPP found Scott with a 47-to-40 percent lead over McCollum in the Republican primary. Quinnipiac’s poll shows McCollum with a 39-to-35 percent lead over Scott.
One huge difference: PPP found Republican voters have an overall positive view of Scott, with 46 percent expressing a favorable view and 33 percent unfavorable. Quinnipiac found GOP voters with an overall negative view of Scott — 31 percent favorable and 40 percent favorable.
McCollum’s favorability ratings are underwater in the PPP poll — 38 percent positive and 45 percent negative. In the Quinnipiac poll, McCollum’s favorable/unfavorable score is 39/37.
PPP’s Republican sample was 304 likely voters and has a 5.6 percent margin of error. Quinnipiac surveyed 771 likely GOP voters and has a 3.5 percent margin of error.
Both polling firms find Kendrick Meek with a double-digit lead over Jeff Greene in the Democratic Senate primary.
Surveys by the Democratic-oriented Public Policy Polling firm show Rick Scott with a 47-to-40 percent lead over Bill McCollum in Tuesday’s GOP primary for governor and U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek holding a 51-to-27 advantage over Jeff Greene in the Democratic Senate primary.
The polls were taken Saturday and Sunday. The sample of 324 likely Democratic primary voters has a 5.4 percent margin of error and the GOP sample of 304 likely voters has a 5.6 percent margin of error.
Kendrick Meek is playing up his presidential connections while Jeff Greene is underscoring his outsider status as the Florida Democratic Senate primary rivals make their final pitches to voters this weekend before Tuesday’s election.
Former President Bill Clinton recorded an automated phone message calling four-term Miami U.S. Rep. Meek “my friend” and mentioning that President Obama is also backing Meek’s Senate bid. Both Clinton and Obama campaigned for Meek in South Florida this week.
While Meek stresses his Washington ties, Palm Beach billionaire Greene is taking the opposite tack in a new TV spot released today.
“If you want to send Washington a wake-up call, send me to the Senate. I’ll shake things up and never let you down,” Greene says in his new ad.
Three weeks after a Quinnipiac University poll showed outsiders Jeff Greene and Rick Scott holding double-digit leads in their Democratic Senate and Republican governor’s primaries, a new Quinnipiac survey shows their establishment-backed rivals are back on top as next Tuesday’s elections approach.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek now holds a 35-to-28 percent edge over Palm Beach investor Greene in the Democratic Senate primary — reversing Greene’s 33-to-23 percent lead in late July.
In the GOP governor’s primary, Attorney General Bill McCollum has opened a 44-to-35 percent lead over Naples businessman Scott. Scott had a 43-to-32 percent lead over McCollum in the July poll.
The latest poll was taken Aug. 11 through Monday. The sample of 807 likely Republican voters has a margin of error of 3.5 percent while the 814-voter Democratic sample has a 3.4 percent margin of error.
Tyson — former heavyweight champ, convicted rapist and best man at Greene’s 2007 wedding — also mentioned that he’s a vegan.
The Greene campaign is circulating the Politico item to defuse the latest round of yacht-related questions that have swirled around Greene’s candidacy.
TV personality and attorney Star Jones has recorded a get-out-the-vote robocall for Jeff Greene as next week’s Democratic Senate primary looms. Greene’s rival, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, has been getting telephonic support from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
According to celeb politics tracker Newsmeat.com, Jones’ previous political activity includes donating $1,250 to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 Democratic presidential campaign.
President Obama’s Friday night Ramadan dinner declaration of support for the construction of a mosque near Ground Zero had Florida’s leading statewide candidates issuing a variety of reactions today.
In the midst of it all came a Panhandle clarification by Obama, who said he wasn’t commenting on the “wisdom” of putting an Islamic center blocks away from the site where Islamists killed more than 2,700 people on Sept. 11, 2001.
See what candidates for Senator and governor have to say about the mosque and the president’s position after the jump….
UPDATE:Kendrick Meek’s statement: “Our nation was founded on the pillar of religious freedom and construction of the mosque should not be denied on religious grounds, but this is ultimately a decision for the local community in New York City to make.”
Democratic Senate candidate Jeff Greene today said President Obama is wrong to support construction of a mosque near the spot where Islamic jihadists killed more than 2,000 people by crashing planes into the World Trade Center.
Greene’s statement:
“President Obama has this all wrong and I strongly oppose his support for building a mosque near Ground Zero especially since Islamic terrorists have bragged and celebrated destroying the Twin Towers and killing nearly 3,000 Americans.
“Freedom of religion might provide the right to build the mosque in the shadow of Ground Zero, but common sense and respect for those who lost their lives and loved ones gives sensible reason to build the mosque someplace else.
“President Obama had the chance to show leadership by calling on the mosque’s supporters to find a more appropriate location.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is the latest big-name Dem to vouch for establishment favorite Kendrick Meek in his Aug. 24 Democratic Senate primary against Palm Beach investor Jeff Greene.
The Meek camp is touting this robocall recorded by Pelosi on Meek’s behalf. Meek will campaign with former President Bill Clinton in Delray Beach, Davie and Miami on Monday. And Meek will be “joining” President Obama in some capacity Wednesday when Obama comes to Miami for a fund-raiser.
Democratic Senate candidate Jeff Greene, the billionaire Palm Beach outsider seeking to paint primary rival Kendrick Meek as an out-of-touch Washington insider, is highlighting previously published reports that Meek uses a portion of his annual House member’s allowance to pay for a $977-a-month lease on a GMC Yukon “flexible fuel” vehicle for official use.
GMC Yukon -- stock image
“As more than one million Floridians go without work, Kendrick Meek drives around in a $977 per month leased car and has voted to give himself thousands of dollars in pay increases,” a Greene campaign statement says.
House members get annual allowances of about $1.3 million apiece to pay staff salaries and travel costs and purchase office supplies and equipment. The Wall Street Journal last year — in an article that noted local Democratic U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings’ $24,730-a-year lease on a Lexus hybrid sedan — said about 100 members of Congress use their allowances to lease vehicles for official use.
Meek spokesman Adam Sharon said Meek’s personal cars are in Washington, so he leases a vehicle for business in his district. The lease is so expensive, Sharon said, because members serve two-year terms and therefore must enter two-year leases under House rules. The rules also forbid using the allowance to make a downpayment, Sharon said, which also raises the monthly cost.
Sharon said Meek doesn’t use his Yukon for personal or political business.
“A member of Congress needs a car to get around to perform their job and do constituent services and represent the district,” Sharon said.
Kendrick Meek’s campaign this afternoon said its internal polling shows the Miami congressman with an 8-point lead over Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene in the Democratic Senate primary.
A late July Quinnipiac poll showed Greene with a 10-point lead, while a Mason-Dixon poll last week gave a 4-point edge to Meek.
Read Meek pollster Diane Feldman’s memo after the jump….
