Republican congressional hopeful Ed Lynch is facing a foreclosure lawsuit but says he’s attempting to work out a loan modification to stay in his house.
Lynch, who’s running in Tuesday’s special election to replace Robert Wexler, has missed mortgage payments since last June and owes $647,974 in principal, interest and other advances, according to a suit filed March 30.
“We’re just like anyone else. We’re not on a pedestal. We’re not holier-than-thou. We’re not different from anybody else except that we trusted the federal government,” said Lynch, who says his contracting business is owed at least $2.8 million for work on a veterans hospital in Miami.
Early and absentee voting statistics show there’s more interest in next Tuesday’s special congressional election to replace Robert Wexler than there was for the special Feb. 2 primaries in Palm Beach-Broward congressional District 19.
Monday’s opening of early voting drew 1,192 voters in Palm Beach County — a 136 percent increase over the first day of early voting before the Feb. 2 special primaries, when 504 people voted. A total of 2,825 people ended up casting early primary ballots in Palm Beach County between Jan. 25 and Jan. 31.
Broward County had 305 early voters Monday, compared to 650 early voters for the entire seven-day period before the primaries.
With a week to go, both counties have already received more absentee ballots than they did for the primaries.
Democratic state Senate hopeful Peter Burkert says he’s merely offering some legitimate, issue-based criticisms of his primary rival, state Rep. Kevin Rader, D-Delray Beach.
But after Burkert rapped Rader for an insurance vote and for failing so far to fulfill his promise of Acreage tax relief legislation, Rader’s campaign accused Burkert of “desperate…vicious and misleading” attacks. And some of Rader’s big-name backers — former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, Palm Beach County Commissioner Burt Aaronson and state Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach — accused Burkert of endangering the party’s chances of hanging onto the seat now held by Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres.
Remember Republican congressional hopeful Ed Lynch’s claim on Fox Business Network last week that he had seen a surge in contributions immediately after the House passed the health care bill?
“We’ve got probably a thousand percent increase since the bill was passed on Sunday (March 21) and then we’ve got about another thousand percent increase when it was finally signed into law (March 23). So it’s been going pretty well…It’s just a national movement that’s gone on,” said Lynch, who’s running in next week’s special election to replace Robert Wexler.
New Federal Election Commission reports, however, tell a less dramatic story….
We initially missed this Friday appearance by Republican congressional hopeful Ed Lynch on the Fox Business Network in which he says he’s received “probably a thousand percent increase” in contributions since Democrats passed a health care overhaul bill March 21.
Lynch also tells host Stuart Varney that “poling that we’ve done” shows him ahead of heavily favored Democrat Ted Deutch. Deutch’s consultant called that claim “just plain silly.”
Lynch, Deutch and independent Jim McCormick are running in an April 13 special election in Palm Beach-Broward District 19, a Democratic bastion that elected “fire-breathing liberal” Robert Wexler seven times. Wexler stepped down in January to head a Middle East think tank.
Democratic state Sen. Ted Deutch said this morning he won’t participate in a congressional debate this afternoon with Republican Ed Lynch and no-party candidate Jim McCormick because he needs to attend a Senate Ways and Means Committee hearing in Tallahassee.
The three are running in an April 13 special election to replace retired U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler.
WFTL 850-AM said it had lined up the three candidates for a 4 p.m. debate on The Jeff Katz Show.
But Deutch released a statement this morning saying his participation was never a sure thing because of his schedule in Tallahassee. Deutch says he hopes to schedule a debate at another date.
Lynch accused Deutch of short-changing constituents in Palm Beach-Broward congressional District 19.
The three candidates in the April 13 special congressional election to replace Robert Wexler are scheduled to appear together at 4 p.m. today on WFTL 850-AM for a debate.
Post On Politics will be part of the panel questioning the candidates. Submit a suggested question in the comments section below and maybe it’ll get asked. If it’s really good, Post On Politics might ask it and claim credit for thinking it up.
It isn’t just Republicans who are trying to capitalize on the tea party movement and Scott Brown’s surprise Massachusetts Senate win.
As the April 13 special election approaches to replace former Democratic Rep. Robert Wexler in Palm Beach-Broward congressional District 19, Democrat Ted Deutch’s campaign has sent a mailer to voters in the heavily Democratic district warning that “Republicans & The Tea Party Want To Capture YOUR Congressional Seat!”
TALLAHASSEE — Former Democratic state Rep. Irving Slosberg of Boca Raton was at the Capitol today to promote Safe Teen Driver Week with Florida Transportation Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos.
Look for him to file Friday as a candidate for his old Palm Beach-Broward state House seat.
Slosberg, was elected to the House in 2000 as a traffic safety crusader after his 14-year-old daughter was killed in a 1996 car wreck. He championed a variety of seat belt laws and other traffic safety measures before leaving in 2006 to pursue a state Senate bid. Slosberg lost a costly and bitter Dem primary to eventual Sen. Ted Deutch, who was boosted by the support of former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler.
This time around, former Wexler chief of staff and political consultant Eric Johnson is expected to help Slosberg’s bid for the District 90 House seat now held by Rep. Kelly Skidmore, D-Boca Raton. Skidmore is leaving to run for state Senate. Educator Sheldon “Klassy” Klasfeld, a Democrat, is the only other candidate in the race.
WASHINGTON — Republican congressional hopeful Ed Lynch might not be known by most of the attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
But “fire-breathing liberal” Robert Wexler is.
So Lynch, running in an April 13 special election to replace Wexler, was warmly received by thousands of conservatives this afternoon.
“He is a candidate for the next House election that’s going to occur…It’s the seat vacated by that loudmouth Robert Wexler in Florida that you might remember from cable television,” said Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund in his introduction of Lynch.
As freshman U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, seeks reelection this year, older brother Pat Rooney Jr. is running for a state House seat and younger brother Brian Rooney is trying to win a Michigan congressional seat.
Also: Read about how prosecutors want tougher residency standards in response to Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher’s frequent address changes when she was a state House member. And Robert Wexler returns to South Florida this week.
A week after losing a close GOP special primary, Joe Budd said he’s supporting Republican nominee Ed Lynch in the April 13 special congressional election to replace Democrat Robert Wexler.
During the primary, Budd and a third GOP candidate, Curt Price, criticized Lynch’s business dealings and said they wouldn’t support him if he won the primary. But Budd changed his tune at tonight’s Palm Beach County Republican Party meeting.
Budd
“If I made a mistake along the way it was probably saying I wouldn’t support Ed Lynch had he won the primary,” Budd told the GOP crowd. “Ed Lynch is the best candidate in the race. So I have to support Ed….Good luck in this race, District 19. I hope you win.”
Democrat Ted Deutch and no-party candidate Jim McCormick are also on the ballot.
For whatever it’s worth, Budd didn’t use the word “endorse” or any of its variants in his announcement. When asked afterward if his announcement constituted an endorsement, Budd said “it was announcing support…I believe he’s the best candidate standing.”
Three congressional candidates vying to replace Robert Wexler differed on terrorist trials, tax cuts and immigration reform during a debate west of Boca Raton this morning.
The West Boca Chamber of Commerce breakfast at Boca Lago Country Club was the first joint appearance by Democrat Ted Deutch, Republican Ed Lynch and no-party candidate Jim McCormick. The three are running in an April 13 special election to replace Wexler, who stepped down last month to head a Middle East think tank.
Deutch said accused 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed should not be tried in New York City, as originally proposed by the Obama administration. But Deutch said he supports trying some accused terrorists on American soil in American civilian courts and noted that several high profile terrorists were tried and convicted in federal court during the Bush administration.
No-party candidate Jim McCormick originally wasn’t invited to this morning’s West Boca Chamber of Commerce debate between Republican Ed Lynch and Democrat Ted Deutch.
But today McCormick has a place at the dais for the debate that’s set to begin soon. Chamber President Barry Epstein said the chamber changed its mind after McCormick sent an e-mail last night suggesting he might file a lawsuit if he wasn’t included.
McCormick, Lynch and Deutch are running in the April 13 special election for the District 19 congressional seat to replace Robert Wexler, who left office last month to head a Middle East think tank.
“We’re a chamber of inclusion, not exclusion,” said Epstein. On Monday, Epstein said McCormick wasn’t invited because he’s “not viable.”
Last Tuesday’s special GOP congressional primary was not an auspicious sign for Tea Party and 9-12 activists hoping to make a Scott Brown-type of national statement in the April 13 special election for Robert Wexler’s old U.S. House seat.
“I was really surprised with how lousy the turnout was. I was expecting at least twice as many voters as that,” said Ed Fulop of the local Glenn Beck-inspired 9-12 group. Ed Lynch won a Republican primary that had only 7.4 percent turnout after all three GOP candidates aggressively courted the Tea Party/9-12 vote.
Wexler: still has $637,967 in his campaign account
Democrat Robert Wexler announced in October that he was leaving Congress. But his congressional campaign committee still spent $346,998 during the fourth quarter of 2009, a new report shows.
The Wexler campaign paid more than $120,000 in “end-of-career bonuses” to Wexler congressional staffers who doubled as campaign workers and spent more than $87,000 on mailings. Wexler sent a 150,000-piece thank-you mailing to voters in Palm Beach-Broward congressional District 19 who elected the self-described “fire-breathing liberal” seven times.
Wexler left office Jan. 3 to head the nonprofit Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation.
Ben Graber was a state House member from Broward County from 1988 to 1994 and a Broward County commissioner from 2000 to 2006. But he’s lived in unincorporated Delray Beach since 2007. And with about 70 percent of congressional District 19 Democratic primary voters living in Palm Beach County, Graber today sent out a “Dear Neighbor” blast e-mail decrying the “false rumor” that he’s a Browardian.
Graber faces state Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, in Tuesday’s special primary. The general election to replace Robert Wexler is April 13.
GOP congressional hopeful Ed Lynch, one of three Republicans running in next week’s special District 19 primary, issued an apology today to Michael Solomon, a consultant who worked on Lynch’s failed 2008 campaign and who won a $5,000 judgment against Lynch last year.
Lynch’s statement says Solomon “left the campaign on his own accord under no pressure or direction from myself, I apologize if I have defamed his character in anyway, I wish him the best of luck to him in his future endeavors.”
Lynch said he issued the statement because “someone was saying that he got fired from the campaign.”
Solomon won a $5,000 judgment in Palm Beach County Circuit Court against Lynch last year for work he did on Lynch’s 2008 campaign against former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton.
Lynch said the judgment is “a situation that we’re dealing with and it will be dealt with pretty expeditiously.” He said he doesn’t “necessarily agree” with the amount of the judgment.
The latest Federal Election Commission reports show a financial mismatch in the special election campaign for Robert Wexler’s old congressional District 19 seat.
Democratic state Sen. Ted Deutch has piled up nearly $1 million in campaign contributions for the race and spent $684,578 while his rival in the Feb. 2 Democratic primary, Ben Graber, says he has raised and spent around $100,000.
In the GOP primary, contractor Ed Lynch reports that he has raised $59,277, including $19,500 of his own money, and spent $50,175. But Lynch’s report says he has $84,455 in cash on hand because of money carried over from his losing 2008 campaign.
Republican candidate Joe Budd raised $23,142, including $10,000 of his own money. A third GOP candidate, Curt Price, raised $2,411 from contributors and kicked in $53,500 of his own money.
GOP congressional hopeful Curt Price, one of three candidates in the Feb. 2 Republican primary for the congressional District 19 seat, will begin airing his first TV spot on cable Friday, his campaign says.
With Price, Joe Budd and Ed Lynch all running on conservative platforms, Price highlights his biography as “son of a shoe salesman,” former cop and small business owner who has “lived the American dream” and who pledges to vote against any bill that expands government.
Check out some of the other District 19 candidate ads here and here.
