Slosberg

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.

Read about Craft’s position in this week’s Politics column, along with the latest on Irv Slosberg’s plans and the warning from not one but two local Dems about Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

That ends speculation that Slosberg might run for the congressional seat himself.

The Democratic primary is Feb. 2 and the general election is April 6.

“Ted and I have become pretty good friends,” Slosberg said afterward. “He represents the things I represent. So send him to Congress. He’s going to do a great job.”

While out of the special congressional race, Slosberg remains a potential candidate for his old state House seat or the state Senate next year.

Read about it in this week’s Politics column…..

Now the Wexler proteges could battle each other for their mentor’s congressional seat.

Boca Raton Sen. Deutch and Coral Springs Sen. Ring are among the half dozen or more Democrats who might enter a special election for Wexler’s Palm Beach-Broward congressional seat when Wexler steps down in January to head a Middle East think tank.

Wexler remains close to Deutch and Ring, but a Democratic insider said Wexler is likely to endorse Deutch as his replacement.

Other prominent Democrats eyeing the race include West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel, Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter, former Broward Mayor Ben Graber and former Boca Raton state Rep. Irving Slosberg.

The winner of the Democratic primary will likely claim the seat in a district where Democrats hold more than a 2-to-1 registration edge over Republicans and no GOP candidate has received more than 34.4 percent since 1996.

Primary and general election dates will be set after Gov. Charlie Crist receives a resignation letter from Wexler.

Graber, who got 6.6 percent against Wexler last year as a no-party candidate, announced today he will run as a Democrat in the special election.

Other potential candidates said they were in soul-searching mode.

“I have to talk to my friends and family and see what’s in my heart,” said Frankel.

“I am talking to community members, I am talking to leaders all across my district and most importantly I am talking to my family,” said Deutch, who expects to make an announcement Thursday.

Ring said he is “absolutely investigating it, considering it. I should have a decision this weekend.”

Ritter said she’ll make a decision next week.

With about 71 percent of District 19 voters in Palm Beach County, Broward candidates Ring and Ritter both said they would have to analyze whether multiple Broward candidates would hurt each other and maximize Palm Beach County’s advantage.

Santamaria

“I don’t like politics. Running for a second term is politics. … I’m only interested in serving for four solid years of public service,” Santamaria said in 2007.

But that wasn’t a flat declaration against running again.

(more…)

With state Rep. Kelly Skidmore, D-Boca Raton, announcing late Thursday that she’s running for state Senate in 2010, several Democrats are expressing interest in her Palm Beach-Broward state House seat.

Tara Laxer, an aide to Democratic state Sen. Ted Deutch of Boca Raton, is considering a run in a district that seems to have a thing for Senate aides. Skidmore was an aide to Deutch’s Senate predecessor, current U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, before she won the seat in 2006.

Other Dems to watch: former state Rep. Irving Slosberg, who in the past has said “anything’s possible” if a south-county seat opens up; insurance agent Len Turesky; educator Sheldon Klasfeld; and Democratic activist Steve Nichol.

Republicans need not apply. Democrats hold a 54-to-23 percent registration edge in Skidmore’s District 90 and the GOP hasn’t fielded a candidate there in recent memory.