With a slew of lawmakers, including Senate President Jeff Atwater, running for higher office this year, Senate Rules Chairman Alex Villalobos delivered a stern warning to members about using staff for campaign purposes.

Villalobos, who would have been in Atwater’s presidential shoes were it not for a coup staged by Atwater and his backers more than two years ago, sent a memo to the Senate’s 40 members outlining what their aides can - and mostly cannot - while on the clock.

Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, is leaving office early to run statewide for chief financial officer. Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson, forced out because of term limits, is running for Congress, along with Democratic state Sens. Frederica Wilson of Miami, Charlie Justice of St. Petersburg and Palm Beach County’s own Ted Deutch of Boca Raton. Senate Majority Leader Alex Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami, is also expected to run for Congress.

And Sens. Dave Aronberg of Greenacres and Dan Gelber of Miami Beach are running statewide in a Democratic primary for attorney general.

Senate staff can’t use annual leave or comp time to work on campaigns, nor can they work on a campaign during their lunch hour, Villalobos wrote.

They can volunteer after hours, that means outside the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

But aides can’t take a paying job with a campaign unless they get permission from Atwater and take leave-without-pay first.

“A Senator who uses staff paid by the Senate to work on his or her campaign while ‘on duty’ may be liable for theft,” Villalobos wrote. If the employee earned more than $5,000 or more as a state worker, the crime is a felony.

And the staffer who works on the campaign could also be liable for theft.

Oh, and no using state equipment like telephones or computers for campaign stuff. That’s a misdemeanor.

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink said she learned a lesson from accused Ponzi-schemer Scott Rothstein, the Broward County lawyer and political powerhouse who pleaded guilty this morning to racketeering and other offenses.

Rothstein, a major GOP contributor, and his wife held a fund-raiser for Sink’s gubernatorial campaign in August and donated $200,000 to the Florida Democratic Party before being accused of bilking his law firm’s clients and others of $1.2 billion.

At The Associated Press annual gathering of editors and reporters, Sink said the “first rule of business is to know who you’re dealing with.”

When asked if she applied the same bromide to her dealings with Rothstein, she bristled.

“Well obviously I didn’t because he is an admitted con artist,” Sink said. “Here’s a guy who conned all of Ft. Lauderdale and most of South Florida.”

She ticked off the names of other lawyers whose political stars have fallen including Bernie Madoff and banker Allen Stanford.

“I learned a lesson there,” she said of Rothstein. “Ask more questions.”

A bitterly divided U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts of money on campaigns right up until the day of the election and upsetting more than 60 years of restrictions will radicalize elections, critics of the opinion say.

“It’s going to be the Wild Wild West,” said Ben Ginsberg, a Republican attorney who has represented several GOP presidential campaigns. “If corporations and unions can give unlimited amounts … it means that the public debate is significantly changed with a lot more voices, and it means that the loudest voices are going to be corporations and unions.”

Read the story here.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that corporations and unions can spend as much as they want on “electioneering communications,” the negative ads targeting candidates.

The ruling could have a sweeping effect on Florida campaigns, especially in battleground races like the U.S. Senate GOP primary between Gov. Charlie Crist and former House Speaker Marco Rubio.

The suit was filed by a group behind Hillary Clinton-bashing ads in her U.S. Senate campaign.

The court decided in Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission that banning corporations and unions from paying for the ads equates to a chilling effect on free speech.

“There is no basis for the proposition that, in the political speech context, the government may impose restrictions on certain disfavored speakers. Both history and logic lead to this conclusion,” the ruling reads. “Political speech is so ingrained in this country’s culture that speakers find ways around campaign finance laws. Rapid changes in technology—and the creative dynamic inherent in the concept of free expression—counsel against upholding a law that restricts political speech in certain media or by certain speakers.”

Common Cause said the ruling “creates political crisis” by paving the way for corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts of cash on elections.

“The Roberts court today made a bad situation worse,” Common Cause President Bob Edgar said in a press release. “This decision allows Wall Street to tap its vast corporate profits to drown out the voice of the public in our democracy. “The path from here is clear: Congress must free itself from Wall Street’s grip so Main Street can finally get a fair shake.We need to change the way America pays for elections. Passing the Fair Elections Now Act would give us the best Congress money can’t buy.”

National GOP staff breathed a sigh of relief upon Gov. Charlie Crist’s entree into the U.S. Senate race because they believed the governor’s prolific fundraising talents would mean they wouldn’t have to lend a helping hand financially to his campaign.

But that was before three of Crist’s top fund-raisers were targeted in federal investigations in the past nine months.

And now a fourth, Jupiter sports agent and real estate investor Marc Roberts, is facing a federal lawsuit alleging he defrauded a business partner out of $100 million to support his own “lavish personal lifestyle.”

Crist has “never discriminated” in whom he takes money from, said a former state Republican Party staffer with knowledge of Crist’s fund raising. “Now he’s facing the consequences of not being careful. And it raises questions about his judgment.”

Read the whole story here.

Last year's Leather Masked Ball at Purgatory

The Florida trial lawyers political organization - Florida Justice PAC - spent more than $23,000 on food and beverages since the November election, including a $1,700 bash at a Miami Beach nightclub and two inexpensive tabs at a Ft. Lauderdale gay bar, according to state campaign records.

The expenses were filed under “other distributions” unlike most other campaign filings which include food and lodging spending under “expenditures.”

State records show that the association’s political arm spent a total of $125 at Purgatory bar in Ft. Lauderdale - $45 on July 8 and $80 on Sept. 15. The bar’s web site boasts of hosting the annual Leather Masked Ball, the “premier leather event in South Florida.”

The lawyers PAC also spent $1,706.93 on May 14 at Set Nightclub on trendy Lincoln Road in Miami Beach.

Set is a high-end, VIP lounge popular with celebs. Last year, Kevin Federline dropped $1,500 at the hot spot (and left a $700 tip) according to the bar’s web site. Pamela Anderson and Justin Timberlake also made appearances there.

Check back later for a response from the trial lawyers, who are now huddling in Orlando for an executive meeting.

Palm Beach County voters can expect two blockbuster state Senate races if trends from recent campaign finance reports hold up.

In two primary battles among candidates hoping to replace Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, the candidates combined to collect more than $305,000 during the third quarter. The four have a total of $826,000 on hand, more than 10 months away from the August primary.

In the race to replace Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, collected $132,921 from July through September. About 20 percent came from insurers and attorneys.

Read the rest here. The story was printed in the Oct. 15 edition of The Palm Beach Post.

To see how all the bankrolls are shaping up for candidates in contested races on the Palm Beach County and Treasure Coast, click here.

After backpedaling on plans to deliver his campaign finance numbers in electronic form, Gov. Charlie Crist said today he was also not inclined to disclose his list of campaign bundlers. Last year, both Barack Obama and John McCain volunteered their list of bundlers, or the men and women who collect hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of checks on behalf of the candidate.

More on the bundling issue here. And background on previous questions about Crist’s bundling here.

Crist answered questions from the media today after visiting the state Department of Children and Families - the last in his tour of state offices around the Capital City.

Asked about news today of the deepening foreclosure problems in Florida, Crist said the best thing to do was hope the economy turns around.

Among the endless ways to slice and dice campaign finance reports, here is the list of top fundraisers of the 2010 election cycle among candidates state legislative office.

These figures include all money raised through June 30 and are largely dependent on the spreadsheet compiled by On3 Public Relations.

A few notes: The top five money raisers in the House and Senate so far are all Republicans and, with the exception of incumbent Dean Cannon, all are chasing open seats. The top Democratic fund-raisers in each chamber are both unopposed incumbents from Weston: Sen. Nan Rich ($185,029) and Rep. Franklin Sands ($53,800).

(more…)

From campaign finance reports due today (Contribution totals are for the 2nd quarter of the year and cash on hand is a total for the race):

Republicans

Adam Putnam: $258,523 raised, $672,982 on-hand.

Carey Baker: $61,787 raised; $230,964 on-hand

Democrats*

Eric Draper: $35,125 raised, $31,965 on-hand

Rick Minton, Jr.: $13,815 raised, $9,531 on-hand

Thad Hamilton: $4,600 raised, $4,297 on-hand

Randy Hatch: $3,300 raised, $1,643 on-hand

*Former Florida Democratic Party Chairman Scott Maddox recently said he will enter the race.

Republican Bill McCollum is expected to report a total of $1.06 million in contributions for the second quarter of fundraising, The Palm Beach Post has learned.

That’s less than the $1.28 million his probable Democratic opponent, Alex Sink, reported earlier today. But McCollum’s haul came in about half the time: he didn’t announce his campaign until May 18th and didn’t hold his first official fundraiser until June.

Democrat Alex Sink said today she raised $1.28 million in the second fundraising quarter, bringing her total to $2.4 million raised for her 2010 campaign. Sink reported that she ended the quarter with over $2.1 million cash on-hand.

“I am overwhelmed by the continued outpouring of support from everyday Floridians who are ready for a new and different kind of leader,” she Sink. “Floridians are coming together to send a clear message that they are tired of politics as usual in Tallahassee.”

Gov. Charlie Crist announced today that he raised $4.3 million in 50 days for his U.S. Senate campaign. That’s more than U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the Democratic frontrunner has in six months and dwarfs the $340,000 collected by Crist’s primary opponent, former House Speaker Marco Rubio.

The campaign says it hasn’t figured out how much is for the primary campaign and how much is for the general. But what is clear is this shatters Republican Mel Martinez’s Florida fundraising record in Florida of $1.75 million $2.3 million for a U.S. Senate race in a single quarter.

Delray Beach activist Nick Loeb said today he raised $225,955 in his bid to replace state Sen. Jeff Atwater, a North Palm Beach Republican (and sitting Senate president) who is leaving office to run for state chief financial officer.

Loeb is in a GOP primary against state Reps. Carl Domino of Jupiter and Ellyn Bogdanoff of Fort Lauderdale. State campaign finance reports are due on Friday.

Loeb also said he refunded a total of $2,500 to six people who requested their money when he changed races. Loeb initially announced his candidacy for House District 87 to replace term-limited Rep. Adam Hasner, but changed his mind when Atwater announced he would be vacating seat.

Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Marco Rubio announced today he collected $340,000 in contributions during the second quarter. More than 40 percent of that total came from online contributions. Rubio said he received a donation from each of the 50 states.

A quick note on that total: it’s more than the $255,000 he raised in the exploratory phase of his campaign in the first quarter, but less than the $363,000 that Democrat Dan Gelber raised for his U.S. Senate campaign during the first three months of the year. Gelber, who was in the state legislative session for a month of that time, was competing for dollars against U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek. Meek reported $1.5 million during the same time and Gelber later stepped away from the race and is now running for state attorney general. (Meek told us last night he’ll report about $1.2 million for the second quarter)

Of course, Rubio is running against a popular sitting governor, which makes his task considerably more difficult. (more…)

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, above left, said tonight that the country will probably need another round of stimulus money before long.

“There is more that needs to be done,” Meek said in an interview.

Meek, the frontrunner for the Democratic U.S Senate nomination, was responding to a story in the Palm Beach Post on Sunday that showed Florida is receiving fewer stimulus dollars per-person than any state in the country. Meek said he was planning to review the numbers when he returns to Washington.

“I’m going to pay very close attention to that,” Meek said. “It’s definitely worth looking at and seeing if there are future stimulus packages that Florida gets its fair share.”

Meek said the economy was not turning around as fast as Democrats had hoped. He said plenty of jobs had been saved with stimulus money, but not enough new jobs have been created.

(more…)

Here are the top fundraisers so far for 2010 state elections (italics notes an incumbent and click here for a collection of all contribution and expenditure totals from On3 Public Relations):

State CFO:

Democrat Alex Sink: $1.12 million

Commissioner of Agriculture:

U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow: $486,458

State Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis: $120,655

State Senate

1.) Hillsborough County Commissioner Jim Norman, Republican (SD 12): $250,850

2.) Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami (SD 38): $235,335

3.) Former Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach (SD 8): $220,441

4.) Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Indialantic (SD 26): $208,250

5.) Sen. Nan Rich, D-Sunrise (SD 34): $177,554

State House

1.) Miami attorney and former Apprentice contestant Jose “Pepi” Diaz, Republican (HD 115): $112,945

2.) Assistant State Attorney Andrew Jones of Oviedo, Republican (HD 33): $103,306

3.) Republican Italo Andres Zanzi, a 2006 Republican U.S. House candidate in New York (HD 119): $102,085

4.) Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Orlando (HD 35): $99,426
5.) Army JAG Corps Captain and Tampa attorney Greg Stuebe, Republican (HD 67): $61,142

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A federal indictment released this week claims Gov. Charlie Crist received 10 illegal campaign contributions of $500 each from these 5 homes in Southern California in 2006.

But campaign finance records show that Crist received a total of 40 $500 contributions on the same day from nearby neighborhoods, as shown in the map below.

View Larger Map

Crist said he won’t return any contributions because his campaign, which collected $2.5 million in 2006, has closed.

But there is precedent for “returning” money years later.

In 1998, then-state Sen. Katherine Harris was running for Secretary of State and sent $20,293 of her own money to the Florida Election Commission. She did so after a controversy erupted over donations she received in 1994 from Riscorp, whose founder was imprisoned in an elections scandal.

Read the story here.