Democratic challenger Lois Frankel wasted little time Thursday challenging speculation that U.S. Rep. Allen West could head north — out of a redrawn, Democratic-leaning district and into a primary fight with fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney.

West’s chief of staff, Jonathan Blyth, downplayed talk Wednesday among Republican consultants that his boss was looking for friendlier turf, with the Plantation congressman eyeing the political backyard of Rooney, who lives in Tequesta.

Frankel, though, seized on the chatter, serving up some political trash talk.

“It looks like Mr. West is afraid of a real fight, which is what he will get when he faces me in a general election,” said Frankel, who faces a Democratic primary contest with Broward County accountant Patrick Murphy. “Mr. West: don’t cut and run…stay and fight. I am not retreating to anywhere. I am staying right here.”

 Blyth later fired back at Frankel.

“Congressman West is a 22- year veteran of the U.S. Army who served in real combat against enemies of our nation,” Blyth said. “Lt. Colonel West has never cut and run protecting and defending citizens of our nation.”

 

U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, raised an astounding $1.9 million during the third quarter of 2011, his campaign announced this morning.

West’s announcement comes a day after Democrats Lois Frankel and Patrick Murphy announced third-quarter fundraising totals of $415,000 and $313,000, respectively, in their quests for West’s Palm Beach-Broward congressional seat.

West, whose 2010 campaign was one of America’s richest with $6.4 million raised, has collected $4.1 million so far for his 2012 reelection bid.

West’s campaign said the $1.9 million raised between July 1 and Sept. 30 came from more than 42,100 individual contributors — an average contribution of about $47.

Actual Federal Election Commission reports, which show precise fundraising and expenditure totals and cash-on-hand figures, are due Saturday.

Former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel‘s campaign says she raised $415,000 in the third quarter for her Democratic congressional bid for the seat of U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation.

That tops the $313,000 quarter announced earlier today by Frankel’s primary rival, Patrick Murphy.

Both Frankel and Murphy have raised about $1.1 million since launching their campaigns in March. West had raised $2.2 million for his 2012 reelection bid through June 30.

Federal Election Commission reports covering July 1-Sept. 30 are due Saturday.

In one of America’s costliest congressional races, Democrat Patrick Murphy‘s campaign says it has topped $1.1 million in contributions as he seeks the Palm Beach-Broward seat of U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation.

Murphy raised $313,000 between July 1 and Sept. 30, his campaign said, after raising $352,449 in the first quarter and $456,223 in the second quarter.

Murphy and his Democratic rival, former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel, are among the top non-incumbent Democratic money-raisers in the nation. Through June 30, Frankel had raised $698,546.

The Dems will need big bucks to compete with West, who raised more than $6.4 million for his 2010 campaign and had collected more than $2.2 million through June 30 for his 2012 reelection effort.

Frankel and West have not yet announced third quarter finance figures. Reports are due Saturday.

Under former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel‘s administration, the city spent about $5 million on a police radio system that current Mayor Jeri Muoio wants to scrap, citing problems with the radios’ ability to penetrate some of the city’s high-rises and other buildings.

The controversy over the OpenSky system led to Delsa Bush‘s blazing exit as police chief last week.

Will it also cause trouble for Frankel’s Democratic congressional bid for the seat of Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West?

Read about it in this week’s Politics column.

As Palm Beach County’s Democratic Party considers a measure to protect incumbents from “unnecessary” primary challenges, it’s worth noting that some of the biggest local Democratic names of the last two decades were once outsiders who challenged incumbents in Democratic primaries.

Former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler first gained office by ousting Democratic incumbent Don Childers in a 1990 state Senate primary. Former U.S. Rep. Ron Klein‘s electoral debut was unseating Steve Press in a 1992 Democratic state House primary. County Commissioner Burt Aaronson won his seat by toppling Carole Phillips in a 1992 Democratic primary.

After giving up her state House seat in 1992 to pursue a failed congressional bid, Lois Frankel made a comeback in 1994 by challenging the one-term incumbent who had replaced her, former Frankel aide Mimi McAndrews, and defeating her in a memorably bitter Democratic primary.

Facing state House term limits in 2000, Addie Greene set her sights on the county commission and pushed aside veteran incumbent Maude Ford Lee in a Democratic primary.

State Rep. Irving Slosberg first gained office in 2000 by beating incumbent Curt Levine in a Democratic state House primary.

Tax Collector Anne Gannon made a failed try to defeat incumbent Suzanne Jacobs in a 1994 Democratic state House primary. Before winning his seat in 2010, state Rep. Steve Perman tried and failed to oust Richard Machek in a 2006 Democratic state House primary.

Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher won her nonpartisan office in 2008 by defeating incumbent and fellow Democrat Arthur Anderson.

Democratic congressional hopefuls Lois Frankel and Patrick Murphy — who are vying for the right to unseat U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, in 2012 — have both blasted the bipartisan debt-ceiling compromise that Congress and President Obama approved last week.

On the afternoon of the House’s 269-161 vote for the debt deal, both Frankel and Murphy said they were still studying the legislation and hadn’t taken a position on it.

But Murphy on Saturday called the deal an “utter failure” and Frankel, in a fund-raising letter today, refers to the deal as “the same deal that is threatening to put our economy back into a recession.”

House Democrats split 95-95 on the debt deal, with much of party leadership joining West in voting for it. Yes votes included House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., U.S. Rep. and Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, and U.S. Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., who heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Most Senate Democrats — including Florida Sen. Bill Nelson — supported the bill. Obama signed it Aug. 2.

While not going to the lengths of U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and comparing domestic political opponents to terrorists, the two Democrats in Palm Beach County’s congressional delegation — U.S. Reps. Ted Deutch of Boca Raton and Alcee Hastings of Miramar — likened Republicans and tea partyers to hostage-takers in the recent debt-ceiling showdown.

Democratic congressional hopefuls Lois Frankel and Patrick Murphy, vying for the right to challenge U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, both used the H-word to describe Republican tactics in interviews about the debt deal this week.

As the conservative Daily Caller enumerates (with more than a dozen examples from the last few days), the hostage metaphor has become the new talking point for liberal commentators from Al Sharpton to Chris Matthews.

And with debt debate dudgeon depleted, Democrats are now using the hostage-taking charge to slam Republicans over Federal Aviation Administration funding.

The National Republican Congressional Committee’s demand today that Democratic House hopeful Lois Frankel return “tainted dollars” from developer Dan Catalfumo produced some quick results — but not the ones the GOP wanted.

Frankel, who hopes to unseat U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, isn’t returning the $5,000 she got from Catalfumo.

But the campaign of U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, will give up $4,600 that Catalfumo contributed in 2008. The money will be given to a home for unwed mothers. Asked why Rooney is returning the Catalfumo cash, a spokesman referred a reporter to the NRCC.

After Frankel accused West of hating women, the NRCC blasted Frankel for accepting contributions from Catalfumo, who was charged with beating his ex-fiancee in a case that ended with a jury finding Catalfumo not guilty in 2005.

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Democratic congressional candidate Lois Frankel‘s exploitation of Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West‘s dust-up with Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is “quite disturbing,” a GOP spokeswoman says, because one of Frankel’s heavyweight donors was once accused — and found not guilty — of beating his ex-fiancee.

The National Republican Congressional Committee accused Frankel of accepting “tainted dollars” after political blogger Peter Schorsch of SaintPetersblog.com decried the “horrible irony” of Frankel suggesting West contribute to a battered women’s shelter when Frankel had accepted $5,000 in campaign cash from developer Dan Catalfumo.

Catalfumo was charged with aggravated battery after ex-fiancee Heather Hill said he pushed her through a picture frame in 2003, requiring her to get 53 stitches in her back and arm and five staples to close a gash in her head. Catalfumo said Hill fell through the frame.

A jury acquitted Catalfumo in a headline-grabbing 2005 trial.

Said Frankel: “This campaign is about me and Allen West and our country. I am very proud of my record standing up, in this case, for women on these issues….This is going to be Lois Frankel vs. Allen West and it’s not going to be about our contributors.”

Democratic congressional candidate Lois Frankel still hasn’t unveiled any policy positions on a campaign website, but she quickly launched a site last week to capitalize on the uproar surrounding Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West‘s email rant against Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

The Frankel campaign put up a site called WestHatesWomen.com.

Does she really believe West “hates” women? Read Frankel’s answer in this week’s Politics column.

UPDATED with response from West’s office.

EMILY’s List, the political action committee that backs female candidates (almost exclusively Democrats) who support abortion rights, accused U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, of a “sexist, ugly attack” for his scathing Tuesday e-mail to U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston.

Not long after the PAC put out its statement, Democratic candidate Lois Frankel — who has been endorsed by EMILY’s List and used it for money-raising help in her primary against Patrick Murphy — weighed in with a statement criticizing West’s “out of control, rude, sexist and completely inappropriate remarks.”

Murphy piled on this morning, saying the House should censure West.

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Former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel said Wednesday that she collected $440,000 for her congressional campaign over the past three months, keeping pace with Democratic rival Patrick Murphy, who earlier reported pulling in $450,000.

First-term Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West of Plantation, who Frankel and Murphy are targeting, eclipsed his rivals by collected $1.5 million during the year’s second quarter.

“We are working hard to make sure we have the resources necessary to communicated our message to voters in South Florida and send Congressman Allen West packing,” Frankel said.

West’s campaign said his latest round of fund-raising reflects cash came from 23,500 contributors — what it took as a sign of widespread support. Frankel, too, pointed to the scope of her donations, saying 90 percent came from Florida, with most coming from Palm Beach and Broward counties, which the 22nd district spans.

After drawing some questions following what some thought was a tepid first-quarter fund-raising, U.S. Rep. Allen West unveiled a $1.5 million take Monday for his second three months of the year.

West’s campaign said the cash came from 23,500 contributors — what it took as a sign of widespread support for the first-term, Plantation Republican in a Broward-Palm Beach county district that has been a battleground for the past decade.

West collected $433,000 through March, third in the nation among freshmen Republicans. But West also was burning through cash quickly — raising alarms.

The GOP incumbent’s $1.5 million also eclipses the $450,000 second quarter by challenger Patrick Murphy, a first-time candidate who is facing former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel for the Democratic nomination. Murphy’s total topped his $321,000 debut quarter.

Frankel hasn’t reported the latest quarter, after totaling $254,605 through March. But she hinted Monday that she expects to keep pace with Murphy.

Patrick Murphy, an accountant and vice-president in his family’s Broward County-based construction business, continues to surprise in his first few months as a registered Democrat — and candidate for Congress.

Murphy’s campaign said Thursday he raised $450,000 in the quarter ending June 30 — a total that eclipsed the $321,000 he collected in his debut quarter, running for the seat held by U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation.

Eric Johnson, a Murphy adviser, said his candidate had the best opening quarter of any candidate challenging a congressional incumbent. The latest haul is likely to also top the nation, Johnson said.

“None of it is his money, either,” Johnson said of the latest total. In the first quarter, Murphy ponied up about $30,000 from his own wallet, on top of his $321,000.

Murphy is vying with former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel for the Democratic nomination to challenge West for the congressional seat that spans Broward and Palm Beach counties, and will be subject to redistricting before voters go to the polls next fall.

Frankel raised $254,605 in the first quarter — starting her campaign roughly the same time as Murphy. Frankel on Thursday said she’ll be releasing her latest contribution figures next week.

West, who raised $433,000 through March, is expected to unveil his latest total Monday, a spokeswoman said.

U.S. Reps. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, and Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, today urged U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis to intervene in a long-running dispute between the Kravis Center and a stagehands union.

The union and the West Palm Beach performing arts venue have been at odds since 2000, when center officials broke off contract talks and stopped using union stagehands. A federal appeals court in 2008 upheld two lower court rulings that the center had engaged in unfair labor practices and ordered it to return to the bargaining table. Talks broke down in January.

“As this conflict dates back over a decade, we therefore request that you please take a stand to compel the Kravis Center to change their course of conduct once and for all,” Hastings and Deutch say in a letter to Solis.

Kravis Center officials didn’t immediately respond.

Union members have not gone on strike, but have conducted “informational pickets” outside the Kravis Center from time to time. During last year’s U.S. Senate campaign, former Gov. Charlie Crist and Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek refused to cross the picket line.

Former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel, who’s now a Democratic congressional candidate, and liberal comedian Bill Maher are among those who have crossed the informational pickets.

A conservative group wants the Federal Election Commission to look into how former West Palm Beach mayor Lois Frankel‘s Democratic congressional campaign raised $254,605 in March while reporting only $706 in start-up expenditures.

“Frankel for Congress Committee apparently has decided to run an off-the-books campaign with respect to campaign expenditures,” says a complaint filed Tuesday by the National Legal and Policy Center and quickly posted by the conservative Shark-Tank blog.

Frankel, one of two Democrats hoping to unseat freshman U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, signed her campaign statement of organization on March 21. The complaint says the FEC should determine why her report covering activity through March 31 didn’t list expenditures for her consultant and for items such as a campaign phone, registering as a Florida corporation, registering a domain name and renting a post office box.

Frankel consultant Brian Smoot said he didn’t submit a bill for his services during his first two weeks on the job. He called the complaint a “pathetic attempt” by West’s allies to smear Frankel.

(more…)

Union activists are trying to persuade liberal comedian Bill Maher to cancel or move a May 28 gig at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach because of an ongoing labor dispute there.

The stagehands union isn’t on strike, but has set up “informational pickets” at selected events. (They succeeded last fall in getting Senate candidates Charlie Crist and Kendrick Meek to skip a Forum Club of the Palm Beaches debate at the Kravis Center.)

Former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel, now a Democratic candidate for the seat of Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West, crossed an informational picket line on April 20.

Read about it in this week’s Politics column.

Potty parity in Florida would be wiped from the statute books, under legislation approved Wednesday by a House panel.

Citing a need to undo excess regulation, Rep. Ana Logan, R-Miami, proposed the measure that would repeal a 1992 law that created a ratio for men’s and women’s toilets in public buildings. A major advocate of the law had been then-Rep. Lois Frankel, the West Palm Beach Democrat and former mayor.

At the time the legislation was approved, analysts said the requirement would likely boost public construction costs by $2,500 per toilet.  The law requires that three women’s toilets be constructed for every two “male equivalents.”

But supporters of the repeal pointed out that current plumbing code standards can already lead builders to exceed the potty requirements of Florida law. Logan said she didn’t expect long lines to emerge at newly built or renovated theaters or sports arenas if Florida’s standard is lifted.

The findings should be enough to convince fellow lawmakers, Logan said. She opted not to offer a closing argument on the bill, adding, “I feel a little flushed today.”

Former Republican-turned-independent Gov. Charlie Crist gave $1,000 to the congressional campaign of Patrick Murphy, one of the Democrats who has opened a campaign for the seat of U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation.

The contribution, dated March 30, is included in a Federal Election Commission report posted this afternoon by Murphy’s campaign.

Murphy’s political consultant, Eric Johnson, was an adviser to Crist’s failed independent campaign for Senate last year.

Murphy raised $321,087 from contributors and chipped in $31,362 of his own money. His $304,262 in cash on hand means he has more money in the bank than West. West raised $456,873 in the quarter but spent big on direct-mail, leaving him with $242,614 on hand.

Former West Palm Beach mayor Lois Frankel raised $254,605 in the quarter for her Democratic campaign and has $253,899 on hand.