Former Democratic state Rep. Kevin Rader today announced he’s challenging state Sen. Maria Sachs, D-Boca Raton, in a Democratic primary.

“I am running because I believe we need an unwavering Democrat in the state Senate and, simply put, Maria Sachs is not a real Democrat,” a Rader press release says. He notes that Sachs contributed to George W. Bush (she made $500 contributions in 1999 and 2000) and says Sachs “steadfastly praised Governor Jeb Bush.” Rader also notes that Sachs voted in December for a Republican redistricting plan. Sachs said that was a “procedural vote” to move the process along; her explanation was accepted by Palm Beach County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel.

Sachs wasn’t immediately reachable for comment this afternoon.

Rader served in the state House for one term, leaving in 2010 to make an unsuccessful state Senate bid against Republican Lizbeth Benacquisto.

A committee that boosted former Democratic state Rep. Kevin Rader‘s unsuccessful 2010 bid for state Senate is facing a $15,250 fine for failing to file a campaign finance report just before last year’s Aug. 24 primary.

The Florida Elections Commission approved the fine Tuesday against the Committee to Improve Florida’s Economy. The committee plans to appeal the fine, attorney Mark Herron said this morning.

The committee is chaired by veteran Democratic operative Eric Johnson. Johnson was also Rader’s consultant last year.

While the committee was two months late filing a report that was due Aug. 20, Herron argued that a “significant portion” of the information required on the report had been mistakenly included in a previous report that was available for public inspection on the Division of Elections website.

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Palm Beach County Republican Chairman Sid Dinerstein has filed a lawsuit seeking to get Democratic state Rep. Kevin Rader removed from the ballot over alleged financial disclosure failures in the highly competitive state Senate District 27 race against Republican Lizbeth Benacquisto.

It’s part of a new trend inspired by a judge’s decision last week to toss Tampa-area Republican state Senate candidate Jim Norman off the ballot because of disclosure deficiencies. Backers of Democratic congressional candidate Joe Garcia are trying the same legal strategy against Republican David Rivera in Miami.

Dinerstein’s suit follows the lead of a tea party activist’s ethics complaint that accuses Rader of trying to hide his ownership interest in an insurance underwriters group when he filled out financial disclosure forms.

Rader consultant Eric Johnson told The Post‘s Jason Schultz that a Rader supporter has filed an ethics complaint against Benacquisto and the Rader campaign might file a lawsuit over her use of campaign funds to pay rent on an apartment in Lee County.

There’s nothing unusual about a candidate putting an unflattering picture of his rival in a negative mailer. But a recent piece from Democratic state Senate hopeful Pete Burkert slamming primary rival Kevin Rader on insurance issues deserves special note.

The photo of Rader (above right) makes the state House member look like he went a week or so without a shave and borrowed Michael Corleone’s Nevada mobster suit from The Godfather II.

It’s as if someone enhanced Rader’s stubble, added some ear hair and sprinkled in some black forehead dots that look like failed hair plugs.

At left is what appears to be the original Rader photo (with a reversed negative) from a different Burkert mailer.

Burkert today said he wasn’t aware of any attempt by his campaign to alter Rader’s image.

With a stroke of his pen, Gov. Charlie Crist just accomplished what lawmakers refused to do earlier this year – give long-time jobless Floridians the ability to get extended unemployment compensation benefits approved by Congress yesterday.

Democratic lawmakers, including Palm Beach County’s Sen. Dave Aronberg of Greenacres and Rep. Kevin Rader of Boyton Beach, were among those who pushed their colleagues to extend the June 5 deadline for the benefits during the regular session that ended in May. That didn’t happen.

Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, worked behind-the-scenes with Crist on the executive order granting the benefits to about 100,000 Floridians whose unemployment benefits have run out and others whose benefits will dry up before Congress’ reauthorization ends.

“Unemployed Floridians are struggling in this challenging economic climate, trying to figure out how to pay their bills and support their families. We simply cannot desert the 250,000 Floridians who qualify for the extended federal assistance signed into law yesterday. I am committed to exercising my Constitutional duty to authorize the use of available federal funds to help out-of-work Floridians who qualify for this help,” Crist wrote in a release this afternoon.

Congress initially established the extended benefits program in 2008 to provide federal funds for jobless workers who exhausted their state unemployment benefits. Congress has since reauthorized the program several times.

Two Palm Beach County lawmakers are pushing a measure to implement an expansion of unemployment compensation benefits Congress is expected to pass as early as today. The bill could bring about $270 million in unemployment benefits for about 200,000 long-term unemployed Floridians whose extended benefits dried up on June 5.

But there’s little chance GOP leaders will expand the special session on oil drilling that kicked off at noon and is already coming to a close in the House.

Gov. Charlie Crist called lawmakers into town to pass a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow voters to decide if offshore oil drilling in Florida should be banned.

The Senate wants to pass the measure but the House is expected to convene briefly and adjourn without even voting on it.

Congress appears to have settled its own impasse over unemployment benefits and is expected today to approve another expansion for the long-term unemployed.

But Floridians won’t be able to get the additional funds unless state lawmakers sign off.

Rep. Kevin Rader, D-Boynton Beach, filed a bill that would extend the state’s June 5 expiration date for the long-term unemployed benefits and wrote a letter yesterday asking Crist to expand the session.

More than 35,000 Floridians a week are losing out on the extended benefits, Rader said.

“These are families who need this money because of the economic crisis in our state,” said Rader, who failed to convince lawmakers to pass a similar measure during the regular session to avoid having to come back during a special session to extend the deadline for the benefits.

Jobless workers spend $1.70 for each $1 in unemployment fund they receive, according to some estimates.

“It’s outrageous we would not act so that Floridians get the funds that they are entitled to,” said Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, one of the bill’s co-sponsors. Gelber’s Democratic attorney general opponent, Sen. Dave Aronberg of Greenacres, is also backing the measure. “It’s money for people who need it the most and who will spend it immediately.”

Rader acknowledged it is highly unlikely the session will be expanded but that “I am always hopeful that common sense and reason will prevail.”

Republicans running for the Florida Senate District 25 and 27 seats are scheduled to appear at a “Town Hall Debate” Thursday sponsored by the Republican Club of the Palm Beaches and South Florida 912. The event is at 6:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church at 1101 South Flagler Drive.

In District 25, state Reps. Ellyn Bogdanoff of Fort Lauderdale and Carl Domino of Jupiter are running for the GOP nomination to succeed Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, who is running for chief financial officer. The Republican winner will face Democratic state Rep. Kelly Skidmore and no-party candidate Miranda Rosenberg in November.

The District 27 GOP race features former Wellington councilwoman Lizbeth Benacquisto, retired pilot Michael Lameyer and former state Rep. Sharon Merchant. The seat is now held by state Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, who is running for attorney general. Democrats Pete Burkert and Kevin Rader are also running.

State Rep. Kevin Rader, D-Delray Beach, beat today’s noon deadline and qualified for the District 27 Senate race this morning, according to the Florida Division of Elections. Rader, who serves as his own campaign treasurer, had to return early from a trip to Israel after the Division wouldn’t accept a check drawn on his old state House campaign account. His new check, signed Thursday, was submitted this morning.

Rader appeared on the ballot in his 2008 House race as “Kevin Greenstein Rader.” This time around, the Division of Elections lists him as “Kevin Rader.” Rader couldn’t be reached this morning.

Junkies keeping an eye on the Florida Division of Elections online candidate tracking system might have noticed that state Rep. Kevin Rader, D-Delray Beach, hasn’t qualified yet for the District 27 state Senate seat he’s been seeking since last year. The qualifying deadline is noon Friday.

Read about it here.

The problem? When Rader, who serves as his own campaign treasurer, signed a $1,781.82 check to pay his filing fee, he didn’t draw from a Senate campaign account as required by state elections law, but from the “Campaign Account of Kevin Greenstein Rader State Representative District 78.”

Rader signed a correct check today after returning to the U.S. from Israel, consultant Neil Schiller said. Schiller said he did not know whether Rader ended his trip early to sign the new check. The check should be submitted before Friday’s deadline, Schiller said. Rader couldn’t be reached.

In the heated Democratic state Senate District 27 primary, attorney Peter Burkert says state Rep. Kevin Rader “crossed the line” by voting for an insurance bill when he’s an insurance agent.

Rader and his allies say it’s Burkert who crossed the line with a “false and reckless” attack in a race where Dems are already nervous about the GOP taking the seat in the fall.

Speaking of line-crossers, remember when Gov. Charlie Crist was a Republican and tapped Democrat Priscilla Taylor for a Palm Beach County commission vacancy? Now that Crist is an indie Senate candidate, find out if Taylor is willing to cross the line for him.

Read about it in this week’s Politics column.

UPDATE: The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee unanimously approved (SB 902) a tougher measure than the House’s version.

The Florida House approved a measure that would allow counties and cities to go beyond current state law in fines and jail time for county officials and staff who violate local ethics ordinances or financial disclosure requirements.

Under the measure, counties like Palm Beach could double the current fine from $500 to $1,000 and extend jail time from 60 days to one year for corrupt officials.

The House approved the bill (HB 1301) – one of Palm Beach County’s top priorities this session – by a 111-1 vote today, but the Senate is taking a different approach.

The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee is about to combine the ethics proposal with two measures that would impose much harsher penalties on corrupt officials pushed by Palm Beach State Attorney Michael McAuliffe.

Both anti-corruption proposals are being blended with a measure (SB 902) that would increase the legislature’s oversight over state agencies’ contracting, a priority for powerful Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander, chairman of the committee.

One of the harsher measures would make it a crime for any public official to knowingly withhold information about a financial interest in something on they vote or cause to take place. It would would also require disclosure of financial interests that could benefit a family member.

Another would enhance penalties for crimes, such as official misconduct, that public officials commit in their official capacity.

The two stricter measures are sponsored by Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, a former federal prosecutor who specialized in corruption cases. The PBC-backed proposal is sponsored by Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres. The two colleagues are running against each other in a Democratic primary for attorney general.

McAuliffe said the changes in the law would make it possible for the state rather than federal officials to prosecute officials like the three former Palm Beach County commissioners and two city commissioners who went to prison on federal corruption charges.

Palm Beach County officials said those bills aren’t a priority and aren’t working to make sure those bills (SB 1076, 734) pass.

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.

Read about it in this week’s Politics column.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, a registered Democrat whose office is nonpartisan, is endorsing Republican Sharon Merchant’s bid for a state Senate seat that’s expected to be a partisan battleground in November.

Bradshaw said his endorsement of Merchant is for both the GOP primary and for the general election if Merchant advances.

Former state Rep. Merchant faces a tough GOP primary against former Wellington Councilwoman Lizbeth Benacquisto for the seat of state Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres. Aronberg is leaving the seat to run (also with Bradshaw’s endorsement) for attorney general.

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A “Corruption County”-inspired bill that would beef up penalties for county officials who violate ethics ordinances moved forward in a House committee this afternoon.

The changes that would allow counties to go beyond current state law in fines and jail time for county officials and staff who violate local ethics ordinances or financial disclosure requirements.

Under the measure, counties like Palm Beach could double the current fine from $500 to $1,000 and extend jail time from 60 days to one year for corrupt officials.

The House Public Safety and Domestic Security Policy Committee unanimously approved Rep. Kevin Rader’s bill (HB 1301) today.

Rader, D-Delray Beach, and fellow Palm Beacher Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, sponsored the proposals at the request of Palm Beach County officials.

A $1,000 fine may not seem like much of a price to pay for politicos who’ve been convicted of taken thousands of dollars in bribes, steering hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts to their buddies or voting on multi-million dollar deals in which they have a financial stake.

But, Rader said, the fine “and a year in jail is a step in the right direction.”

Palm Beach County recently established an ethics panel in an effort to shed its “Corruption County” image. In the past four years, three former county commissioners and two West Palm Beach city commissioners were sent to prison on corruption charges.

So state Rep. Kevin Rader, D-Delray Beach, is remaining in the Senate District 27 race after some aggressive flirtation last week with the Senate District 30 contest.

But will the treadwear-testing Fort Myers-to-West Palm Beach district survive the 2012 redistricting?

Read about it in this week’s Politics column. Also, catch the latest on state House musical chairs, GOP Second Amendment love and Hal Valeche’s fence-mending with the Rooney family.

Several Democrats say state Rep. Kevin Rader, D-Delray Beach, has decided to drop his 2010 bid for the state Senate seat of Sen. and attorney general candidate Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres.

Rader didn’t return calls late Thursday and this morning.

At a Florida Alliance for Retired Americans meeting in West Palm Beach this morning, Alliance President Tony Fransetta and Senate hopeful Peter Burkert said Rader is dropping out of the race for Aronberg’s seat and will instead seek the seat of Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, who’s running in a special congressional election to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler.

Burkert said Rader told him two days ago of his plans.

If in fact Rader pursues Deutch’s Senate seat, it could create internal Democratic tumult. Several big-name Dems, including Wexler and County Commissioner Burt Aaronson, have endorsed state Rep. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, for Deutch’s Senate seat if Deutch wins an April 13 special congressional election.

“I’ve urged him (Rader) to stay in his House seat,” Aaronson said this morning.

Democratic congressional hopeful Ben Graber features his six-month-old granddaughter in campaign signs and has toted her to political events. The head of the Kings Point Democratic Club isn’t keen on the idea.

Read about it in this week’s Politics column (third item).

Also: Palm Beach County GOP boss Sid Dinerstein backs a Democrat and a former Connecticut Senate candidate takes a “peripheral look” at a South Florida congressional seat.

With some local Democratic elected officials in open revolt over his record on Israel, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, has withdrawn as keynote speaker for next week’s Palm Beach County Democratic Party fund-raising dinner.

He’s the second Democratic keynoter to be scratched this week. The party dumped Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu on Tuesday because local activists were upset by her refusal to commit to blocking a Republican filibuster of health care overhaul legislation.

After Kucinich was announced as the replacement speaker, state Rep. Kevin Rader, D-Delray Beach, threatened a boycott and state Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, County Commissioner Burt Aaronson and state Rep. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, voiced disapproval today.

Kucinich has a long history of criticizing the actions of the Israeli government, voting against congressional resolutions in support of Israel and opposing sanctions against the anti-Israel government of Iran.

His critics have “falsely characterized” those stances as being anti-Israel, Kucinich said this afternoon in an e-mail to Palm Beach County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel. While defending his position, Kucinich said he didn’t want the controversy to hurt the local party’s money-raising efforts.

Read his complete statement to Siegel after the jump….

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More trouble for the Palm Beach County Democratic Party’s annual fund-raising dinner.

Its original Jefferson-Jackson name was dropped because of qualms about Thomas Jefferson’s slave ownership and Andrew Jackson’s Indian-removal policies. Then the renamed Truman-Kennedy-Johnson dinner’s planned keynote speaker, moderate Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, was unceremoniously dumped this week because party leaders disliked Landrieu’s stance on health care reform.

Now Landrieu’s replacement — liberal U.S. Rep. and former presidential candidate Denis Kucinich, D-Ohio — is prompting a boycott threat from state Rep. Kevin Rader, D-Delray Beach, because of Kucinich’s voting record on Israel.

State Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, has announced he won’t attend or support the event, calling Kucinich “someone whose position on Israel stands in total opposition to the conscience of this community.”

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Chiropractor Steven Perman, who lost Democratic state House District 78 primaries to Richard Machek in 2006 and Kevin Rader in 2008, said today he’s running for the seat again in 2010 with Rader leaving to run for state Senate.

He’s the first Democrat to enter the race for the Democrat-leaning district, which is dominated by southwestern Palm Beach County but also includes parts of Martin, St. Lucie and Okeechobee counties.