A sweeping elections bill was approved 12-6 by a House panel Thursday, over opposition from unions and voter advocacy organizations who accused ruling Republicans of trying to tamp-down voter participation in next year’s elections.

The legislation (CS/HB 1355) would put tight restrictions on groups that register voters — making them submit their list of prospective new voters to elections supervisors within 48 hours or face as much as a $1,000 fine.

It also creates new standards that critics warn could endanger ballots cast by voters away from their home counties — a move some see as designed to blunt the participation of Democratic-leaning college students in next year’s presidential contest.

Ben Wilcox, representing the non-partisan Florida League of Women Voters, said the measure was “good, old-fashioned voter suppression.”

“Maybe rather than trying to keep people from voting, it’d be better to give people a reason to vote,” Wilcox said, who condemned the bill as “full of bad policy.” (more…)

Rep. Esteban Bovo, a Hialeah Republican, announced his early exit Friday from the Legislature — saying he is quitting immediately to head home and run for Miami-Dade County Commission.

Without Bovo, Republicans still hold a commanding 80 seats, a two-thirds majority in the 120-member House. A heavily Republican district, the GOP is virtually assured of keeping the seat.

“The place is going to be in good hands,” said Bovo, first elected in 2008.

A special election is expected to soon be ordered by Gov. Rick Scott. But Bovo’s successor may be hard-pressed to make it to the Capitol before the session’s scheduled May 6 end.

A measure that would bar the Florida Supreme Court from stripping proposed constitutional amendments off the ballot because of deficiencies in the ballot title or summary narrowly made it through its first stop in the Senate this morning.

The proposal (SB 1504) also would impose more restrictions on petition gatherers.

House Speaker Dean Cannon and Senate President Mike Haridopolos have gone after the court for tossing a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow Florida to opt out of the federal health care law. The proposal would require the court to send an amendment back to the state department with instructions on how to fix it and allow the secretary of state to alter it and then place it directly on the ballot without further court review.

The measure, sponsored by Sen. David Simmons, R-Maitland, would also:
-Require the paid signature gatherers to be eligible vote in Florida;
- Prohibit them from being paid by the petition;
- Require that their names be on all the petitions;
- Reduce from four years to 20 months the amount of time the petitions are valid.

The bill passed on a 7-5 vote, with Republican Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, joining Democrats in opposition.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos wants the Sunshine State to get No. 5 billing in next year’s presidential primaries to help secure Florida’s role in selecting the 2012 GOP presidential nominee.

That would make Florida the first big state to hold a GOP primary and avoid the loss of convention delegates by skipping in front of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, as Republicans have threatened should Florida keep its current January 31 primary date.

“We’re not looking to go first or second or even third or fourth,” Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, said. “Our goal is usually to be Number 1; we want to be Number 5. I’m okay with Number 5. So the idea is, how do we make us Number 5. We do not want to lose delegates, obviously.”

Haridopolos, a U.S. Senate candidate whose name will be on the ballot in the GOP primary in the fall, believes a Florida win in the presidential primary will determine the next presidential nominee, pointing to U.S. Sen. John McCain’s Florida victory in 2008.

“It makes a lot of sense that if you can win in Florida, that you can find a lot of success nationally,” Haridopolos said. “Because, candidly, I’d like to have a new president. I’m not going to support Barack Obama. I know I’m breaking news here, but I’m not going to support him for re-election.”

A measure pushed by the state’s former Republican Party chairman which creates major roadblocks on the political activity of Democratic-allied unions, was narrowly approved Monday by a Senate committee.

Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, who last year led the state’s GOP in campaigns which tightened the party’s grip on power in Florida, said the measure is designed to “empower unions,” while also severing the role of state and local governments in collecting union payroll deductions.

“I frankly don’t understand the concerns,” Thrasher said, after a parade of union representatives testified before the Senate Community Affairs Committee against the bill (CS/SB 830).

The panel approve the meaure 5-4, with Republican Sens. Paula Dockery of Lakeland and Jim Norman of Tampa joining a pair of Democrats in opposition.

“This is nothing more than an attempt to eradicate the voice of union members,” said Jeff McAdams, a union representative for the Gainesville Police Department and Alachua  County Sheriff’s Office.

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Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature’s ruling Republicans have kicked over a political hornet’s nest by promoting budget cuts, pension overhauls and civil justice changes, which are now emerging as targets for statewide rallies by Democratic-allied organizations.

The GOP’s tough medicine for a state pocked by foreclosures and almost 12 percent unemployment may be breathing life into a Florida Democratic Party, virtually left for dead after wholesale election defeats last fall. It also may effectively prove the opening round of the 2012 presidential contest in the nation’s biggest battleground state.

“Democrats last fall were down and outspent,” said Susannah Randolph, campaign manager for defeated Orlando Democratic U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson and now an organizer of the March 8 rallies.

“Now we’re seeing that we have to respond to a threat level like DEFCON 1,” said Randolph, who also is a leader of Florida Watch Action. “And sure, we want to keep this energy going.”

Using a Facebook page, “Awake The State,” organizers are planning events in most major Florida cities on the legislature’s opening day. Although locations are still being determined, teachers and public employees’ unions, including police and firefighters, are forming the core of those protesting expected cuts in education, pensions and government workforces.

Counter-punching, tea party supporters are rallying behind Scott, and looking to converge on the state Capitol for the session’s launch, which coincides with the new governor’s first State of the State address.

Florida’s spring training season goes beyond baseball.  The parties are gearing up for the 2012 campaigns by energizing their political bases around Scott and the Legislature’s plans.

UPDATE: Gov. Rick Scott and the Senate prez disagree on whether Florida should move back the presidential primary from January to March.

Here’s what Scott said on the issue today:

“My belief is I don’t want to lose any of the delegates, so I want to have it as early as we can. But I don’t want to lose any of the delegates,” Scott told reporters. That sort of sounds like he doesn’t want to anger national GOP leaders who will punish the state by slashing its number of delegates if the primaries aren’t later.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos says he’s “comfortable with where we’re at right now” regarding Florida’s early primaries that caused partisan turmoil three years ago.

“I didn’t see it as chaos. I thought it was great. I thought that Florida was a player,” said the Merritt Island Republican who’s seeking a spot on the national stage in the U.S. Senate. “Florida influenced in a huge way not just who won the presidency but who the nominee was. I think that was a good thing.”

Sen. Arthenia Joyner, a Democrat from Tampa, filed a bill this week that would push back Florida’s presidential primary until March after Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith asked his GOP counterpart Dave Bitner to support the move.

(more…)

UPDATE: A spokesman for Gov. Rick Scott responded to his withdrawal of redistricting amendments for federal approval.

“Consistent with Governor Scott’s effort to assess the rules, regulations and contracts of the previous administration, he has withdrawn the letter requesting a DOJ review of Amendments 5 and 6. Census data has not been transmitted to the state yet and the Legislature will not undertake redistricting for months, so this withdrawal in no way impedes the process of redrawing Florida’s legislative and congressional districts,” Scott spokesman Brian Hughes said in an e-mail.

In his first few days on the job, Gov.Rick Scott quietly withdrew the state’s request for a federal go-ahead to move forward with two redistricting amendments overwhelmingly approved by voters in November.

Scott sent the request to the U.S. Department of Justice, which has to sign off on any changes to Florida elections laws affecting voters’ rights, on Jan. 7, just two days after he announced the reappointment of Department of State Secretary Kurt Browning. After Browning left Gov. Charlie Crist’s administration last year, he headed up a political committee that fought Amendments 5 and 6, aka the “Fair Districts” amendments. Crist’s temporary secretary of the state department submitted the application for “preclearance” to DOJ officials on Dec. 10

Scott’s move, offered with no explanation to the feds and no public announcement, left Democrats and supporters of the amendments hopping mad, and the state’s top Democrat is demanding Scott resubmit the preclearance application.

(more…)

Rick Scott’s TV campaign in the Republican gubernatorial primary focused heavily on making Bill McCollum appear indecisive on immigration issues.

But now Scott’s own running mate doesn’t seem to be up to speed on the topic. Asked whether she supports one of Scott’s top priorities — bringing an Arizona-style immigration law to Florida — Carroll said the two haven’t talked about the “nit-picky” details. It’s also unclear whether she knew what an “Arizona-style” law entails.

Carroll also says she hasn’t read the immigration bill from state Rep. Will Snyder, R-Stuart, who based his proposal on the Arizona law and the immigration debate that dominated the GOP gubernatorial primary and could tilt the November general election.

Four weeks after Rick Scott blasted the state’s plan for Everglades restoration as a “bailout” for U.S. Sugar, the head of that company’s top rival will host a $10,000-per-head fundraiser for the Republican gubernatorial nominee.

Florida Crystals executive José “Pepe” Fanjul and his wife, Emilia, will host the event at their Palm Beach home on Sept. 14. For a $10,000 check made payable to the Republican Party of Florida, you can get into the VIP reception.

After spending $50 million of his own money on the primary, Scott is looking to the special interests he has blasted from the campaign trail to help pay for his race against Democrat Alex Sink and to help replenish the state party’s low reserves.

Now referring to the political establishment as “statesmen,” Scott held a fundraiser at the Associated Industries of Florida office in Tallahassee this morning with some of the state’s top lobbyists. He has another money event this afternoon at the Johnson Blanton firm, which lobbies for Bank of America, Florida Power & Light, Florida Crystals and a host of health care companies.

After winning the Republican nomination for governor, Rick Scott told confidantes that he wanted a female running mate with a strong law enforcement-type background.

He found her in state Rep. Jennifer Carroll, a Jacksonville-area Republican who is the former secretary of the Florida Veteran Affairs Department. According to her Florida House bio, she enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1979 and served for 20 years. (Scott is also a Navy veteran — he served on active duty aboard the USS Glover as a radar man.)

Carroll worked as a jet mechanic and retired as a Lieutenant Commander Aviation Maintenance Officer with the Meritorious Service Medal; two Navy Commendation Medals; two Navy Achievement Medals; National Defense Service Medal; Overseas Ribbon; two Coast Guard Special Operation Ribbons; and the Expert Pistol Medal.

Carroll, the second African-American woman picked as a Republican lieutenant governor nominee, helps balance the ticket for Scott. Scott is running against Democrat Alex Sink, who is trying to be the state’s first female governor.

Here’s the e-mail Scott sent supporters this morning about his pick…

(more…)

Univision will host the first debate with Florida’s top three U.S. Senate candidates on Friday, Sept. 17.

The debate with Republican Marco Rubio, Democrat Kendrick Meek and independent Charlie Crist will be taped at 1 p.m. and the hour-long meeting will air at 11 p.m. on the station’s Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Fort Myers/Naples affiliates.

The three have also agreed to an Oct. 24 debate in Tampa.

From Politico:

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will get a late fundraising burst for his independent Senate bid from Penthouse CEO Marc Bell, according to an invitation obtained by POLITICO.

The evening event will be held at Bell’s Boca Raton home on Oct. 7, less than a month before Crist faces Republican Marco Rubio and Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country.

One tidbit to ad: Crist’s 2006 primary opponent, Tom Gallagher, was Bell’s candidate of choice. Crist’s campaign was critical of $3,000 Gallagher received from Bell and his other companies and Gallagher eventually returned the money. (Crist that year returned $1,000 he got from the owner of Peek-A-Boo, a Bradenton strip club.)

Bell told The Palm Beach Post at the time that the returned contributions were “disappointing, but understandable.”

The St. Pete Times and News Service of Florida are reporting that Bud Chiles is dropping his independent bid for governor.

Polls show that Chiles, the son of Lawton “Bud” Chiles — the last Democrat elected governor, was pulling votes almost equally from the two main party nominees, Democrat Alex Sink and Republican Rick Scott.

But many strategists predicted Chiles would be the most trouble for Sink. Chiles hinted last week that he would end his campaign if he was not a “viable” candidate. A Rasmussen poll last week showed Chiles with 4 percent of the vote.

With Rick Scott in the midst of his Republican unity tour, West Palm Beach City Commissioner Kimberly Mitchell, Fort Pierce Mayor Bob Benton and Okeechobee Sheriff Paul May were among 10 GOP local officials pledging their allegiance to Democrat Alex Sink’s gubernatorial campaign.

“Alex Sink has the experience and problem-solving approach that we need in our next Governor,” Mitchell said in a statement. “Sink understands the needs of Florida’s business owners and will make sure the Florida’s small businesses have the right support to thrive and grow.”

(We noted Mitchell’s interest in Sink last year.)

Here’s the press release from Sink’s campaign:

(more…)

Democratic operative Steve Schale predicts that independent Gov. Charlie Crist will not win the three-way race for U.S. Senate against Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek. From his blog:

In this political environment, absent some significant and unfortunate event that would thrust [Crist] back into the spotlight, the odds of him finding 15-20 points of political approval in the next nine weeks are slim, at best.

Therefore, for Crist, who after 20 years of being a GOP insider, his only path to victory is to find a way to be Democratic enough to win enough Democrats, Republican enough to win enough Republicans, and to do that in a way where he doesn’t anger Independents. Not exactly the easiest thing to do, when Democrats now have a plausible alternative in Meek and Republicans in Rubio. If Greene had won, it might be a different story.

Democrats who support Crist keep saying to me, “well, we just need Dems to vote for Crist,” but that just isn’t going to happen in the margins he needs to win.

Today, Rubio has the clearest path to victory, but once Democrats figure out that Meek is their only option, his path will get much more clear as well.

Bill McCollum appears no closer to uniting behind Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott than he was last week.

Some have compared it to the 2004 Republican U.S. Senate primary, when Bill McCollum waited two weeks to endorse fellow Republican Mel Martinez. Back then, McCollum was upset about Martinez’s decision to run an ad calling McCollum “the new darling of the extreme homosexuals.”

But apparently dropping outlandish campaign ads (the attack related to McCollum’s support of a hate crimes bill) is not a reflection of character or integrity.

Here’s what McCollum told WESH in Orlando over the weekend:

“I never had any questions raised either before or after the election about Mel’s integrity or honesty or character, and I’ve had those questions raised about Rick Scott and they were raised very seriously. And it’s not something that would just idle in the campaign.

“There are still questions that are out there, I think unanswered questions that trouble me a great deal from his past, particularly at Columbia/HCA.”

From the Associated Press today:

There’s a word Republicans are no longer using when they talk about gubernatorial nominee Rick Scott: fraud.

Many in the Republican establishment backed Attorney General Bill McCollum in the primary as McCollum repeatedly pointed out Scott was CEO of Columbia/HCA when it settled criminal Medicare fraud charges by paying $1.7 billion.

But on Monday, the Republican establishment stood with Scott and touted him as a business leader that would create jobs.

Scott was with state lawmakers and party leaders at a unity rally in front of less than 100 people.

Asked about the whether he’ll be able to shake the fraud argument in the general election, Scott said, “It didn’t work for Bill McCollum.”

Dave Aronberg said he was proud today to endorse his Democratic primary opponent, Dan Gelber, in the attorney general race against Republican Pam Bondi. “Dan will bring needed reform to this office and restore its original mission of protecting Floridians,” Aronberg said in a statement.

Gelber said in a statement that he was “proud to have the support of my friend.”

In an e-mail addressed to friends Thursday night, Aronberg said he “will be taking a break from elected office…but this is not farewell. I will be back at the right time and the right opportunity to make a real difference on issues of public safety and consumer protection.”

Read Aronberg’s letter:

(more…)

UPDATE: Scott’s campaign sent out details for three “unity events” on Monday, but didn’t include details about who would be there. There is a “meeting with statesmen” in Tampa. Could those be some of the “Tallahassee insider” who were “crying in their cocktails” on Tuesday?

Here’s the schedule: 9:30 a.m., meeting with statesmen, University Club of Tampa; 2 p.m., Tampa unity event, Tampa Jet Center (tentative); 6 p.m., Orlando unity event, Marks Street Senior Center.

Sounds like the details are still being hammered out, but watch for Republican gubernatorial nominee Rick Scott to announce a multi-day tour of the state early next week with the incoming GOP Senate and House bosses, Mike Haridopolos and Dean Cannon.

(You might remember Cannon and Haridopolos from this statewide fly-around a couple weeks ago. At this point, the tour will be missing Bill McCollum, sort of an important component for the whole unity thing…)

Scott initiated a conference call with the two former McCollum men on Thursday after he had a sit-down with Republican Party of Florida Chairman John Thrasher and a phone conversation with Republican Governor’s Association Chairman Haley Barbour, who diverted his Mississippi-to-Orlando flight on Tuesday after results showed Scott pulling off the upset.

We also hear a number of lobbyists and other high-ranking Republicans showed up at Scott’s Fort Lauderdale headquarters on Wednesday and Thursday hoping to play the broker in Scott’s group-hug with the GOP establishment.

Scott didn’t go for it, instead relying on his background as a mergers-and-acquisitions attorney and venture capitalist to negotiate his own path through the next two months.