Republican congressional hopeful Ed Lynch, who has more than $1.3 million in federal tax liens against him and whose contracting business has been socked with $143,618 in court judgments since 2008, says he’s being punished by the federal government “for fighting for the rights of our veterans.”
Lynch says he’s been battling the federal bureaucracy since 2007 to receive about $5 million for remodeling work his DeLeon Industries did on a VA hospital in Miami. While waiting for the money, Lynch says he was unable to pay some subcontractors, who filed court claims against DeLeon Industries. That explanation was included in a column published today.
Later today, Lynch released a statement accusing the feds of delaying payments “because I refused to sit idly by and watch the V. A. Medical Center in Miami and its corrupt administration put our veterans’ health at risk while wasting taxpayer money.”
Republican congressional hopeful Ed Lynch, one of three candidates in a special Feb. 2 GOP primary, has more than $1.3 million in federal tax liens against him and his contracting business has been socked with $143,618 in court judgments since 2008.
The liens are the result of a long-running dispute in which Lynch contested the IRS’ valuation of a business he sold, says Lynch, who says he has prevailed in the matter and won’t owe any back taxes.
“It looks like we settled it. I’m just waiting for them to send me the paperwork,” he said last week.
He blamed the court judgments on a separate dispute with the federal bureaucracy.
Republican congressional hopeful Joe Budd moved to Florida after a business failure left him $600,000 in debt. That information comes not from an opponent’s attack ad but from Budd himself in his first 30-second spot before the Feb. 2 special GOP primary.
Budd, who often brings up the the business setback on the campaign trail, says he does so to highlight character issues and to let voters know he understands tough economic times.
“Instead of filing bankruptcy, I worked hard and sacrificed to pay it off,” he says in the ad. “…I understand your fears and concerns, having lived through them myself.”
Former President Bill Clinton will appear at a fund-raiser for Democratic state Sen. Ted Deutch’s congressional campaign on Jan. 19 in Boca Raton, Deutch’s campaign said.
The late-afternoon event will be at St. Andrew’s Country Club. Clinton is scheduled to speak that evening in Palm Beach at a dinner for major Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County donors at The Breakers.
Deutch was a prominent supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2008 Democratic presidential bid. He and former Broward County mayor Ben Graber are running in a special Feb. 2 primary for the seat of former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, who resigned to head a Middle East think tank. Three Republicans are also running. The general election is April 13.
Seven candidates are running to replace U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, in an early-2010 special election. The field of candidates was set at noon today with three Republicans, two Democrats and one no-party candidate qualifying for ballot spots and frequent filer Josue Larose making a write-in bid.
State Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, praised President Obama’s Afghanistan strategy as “thoughtful” during a Voters Coalition debate Thursday while his rival in a special Democratic congressional primary, Ben Graber, declared himself “against the escalation in Afghanistan” and opposed to “militarism” in general.
It was the most significant policy difference between the Dems vying to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton. Both voiced support for a government-run public option as part of health care reform.
Three Republicans running in the special election were supportive of Obama’s call for 30,000 more troops. GOP candidates Ed Lynch, Joe Budd and Curt Price also took similar positions against tax hikes, gun control and a public option.
It looks like only one of the three Republicans who want to replace Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler in a special election turned in enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot without paying a $9,912 filing fee.
According to unofficial totals from the Palm Beach County elections office and official Broward County numbers, financial planner Joe Budd met the goal of 1,163 signatures from voters who live in Wexler’s congressional District 19 while retired police officer Curt Price and contractor Ed Lynch did not.
Both Price and Lynch said they plan to contact the elections offices to inquire about rejected petitions. They can still get on the ballot by paying the filing fee by noon Friday. Democrats Ted Deutch and Ben Graber plan to qualify by paying the fee. Nonpartisan candidates can qualify by paying a $6,608 fee.
Republicans didn’t even field a candidate in 2004 or 2006 for heavily Democratic congressional District 19. But with U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, leaving the Palm Beach-Broward seat in January, no fewer than three GOP candidates say they have collected signatures to get on the ballot for the special election to replace Wexler.
Contractor Ed Lynch, who was the uncontested GOP nominee last year and polled 27.2 percent against Wexler, says he has garnered the 1,163 signatures from registered District 19 voters to qualify for the ballot. FInancial planner Joe Budd and retired police officer Curt Price, both first-time candidates, say they also have met the signature requirement.
Candidates have to turn in their signatures to elections officials for verification by 5 p.m. today.
Gov. Charlie Crist moved the special election to replace U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler ahead a week after Jewish voters complained the original election would have taken place during Passover.
The Jewish holiday ends on April 6, the date Crist originally picked for the special election.
“Originally, the special general election was inadvertently scheduled during Passover, and out of respect to the Jewish community, the special general election has been rescheduled to Tuesday, April 13, 2010,” Crist’s office wrote in a memo announcing the new election date.
The special primary election in the heavily Jewish Congressional District 19 will still take place on Feb. 2.
State Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, is considered the favorite to replace Wexler, who resigned to head the nonprofit Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation.
Deutch secured not only Wexler’s support but practically the entire South Florida Democratic delegation. He’s been endorsed by U.S. Reps. Ron Klein, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Alcee Hastings.
WEST PALM BEACH — After weeks of considering a run in a special congressional election, Mayor Lois Frankel made a big announcement at tonight’s Palm Beach County Democratic Party dinner.
“Where’s Ted Deutch?” Frankel asked the crowd of about 350, calling out the frontrunner in the special race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton.
“I want you to know I’m running,” Frankel said, pausing for dramatic effect, “in the….Palm Beach Marathon in two weeks.”
Actually, Frankel said in an interview a few minutes later, she has decided not to run in the congressional race.
Former state Rep. Irving Slosberg of Boca Raton, who lost a bitter and costly 2006 Democratic state Senate primary to Ted Deutch, told the Kings Point Democratic Club today that he’s endorsing Deutch in the special election to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton.
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.
Under one scenario laid out by Florida’s Division of Elections, a special election to replace U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, wouldn’t be until May 5. There are also scenarios that envision March 9 or April 6 elections to replace Wexler, who’s resigning Jan. 3 to head the nonprofit Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation.
Scheduling is tricky because of the holidays and federal overseas ballot requirements. If Wexler’s chosen successor — Democratic state Sen. Ted Deutch of Boca Raton — wins the congressional seat, Deutch’s constituents might be without a Senator in Tallahassee for much of the 2010 legislative session.
U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, has set his resignation for Jan. 3 at 11:59 p.m. in a letter this week to Gov. Charlie Crist, who will set a special election to fill the last year of Wexler’s term.
Wexler is leaving in the middle of his seventh term to head the nonprofit Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation.
Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher and Broward County Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes want the special election to fill Wexler’s Palm Beach-Broward seat to be on March 9, which would coincide with municipal election dates in both counties.
No word yet from Crist’s office on the dates for the special primary and general election dates.
Read the text of Wexler’s letter after the jump…..
As he pursues a congressional bid without the blessing of Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler and other party bigs, Ben Graber claims he’s the victim of “censorship” at some of southern Palm Beach County’s influential Democratic clubs.
County Dem Chairman Mark Alan Siegel says club presidents have complained to him that Graber is “being a bully” in his requests for speaking time. Wexler and the party establishment are backing state Sen. Ted Deutch in the special election to replace Wexler, who’s leaving in January to head a Middle East-focused think tank.
While Graber’s is finding it tough to get speaking time in clubland, Deutch generally has an easier time getting the microphone because he’s a sitting legislator.
South Florida Democratic U.S. Reps. Robert Wexler, Ron Klein, Alcee Hastings and Debbie Wasserman Schultz today endorsed state Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, to succeed Wexler in a special congressional election.
In addition to the display of endorsement firepower, Deutch’s campaign said it has already raised more than $200,000 in its first 10 days. And Deutch has about a dozen fund-raisers scheduled for the next six weeks, including one in Washington hosted by his congressional endorsers and events in New York and Cleveland.
Wexler is resigning in January to head the nonprofit Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation. A special election is expected in early 2010.
WEST PALM BEACH — Appearing with a dozen Democratic elected officials a few blocks away from potential rival Lois Frankel’s office, state Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, said his congressional campaign has already topped $100,000 in contributions since setting up a campaign web site late Thursday.
Deutch is running for the seat of U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton, who last week announced he’s stepping down in January to head the nonprofit Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation.
Deutch’s campaign today announced endorsements from 16 elected Democrats. Most of them stood behind Deutch outside the Palm Beach County Governmental Center this morning. The endorsers include County Commissioner Burt Aaronson, who said he gave “a lot of thought” to running for Wexler’s seat.
Coming off a decisive win in a special state House election Tuesday, Mack Bernard said he wants to work on education issues and on improving the job skills of residents in his district.
Turnout was 4.7 percent. In a special Senate election three weeks earlier, turnout in Palm Beach County was 4.9 percent.
Bernard, who takes office Sept. 22, will replace Priscilla Taylor, who stepped down in July when Gov. Charlie Crist appointed her to a Palm Beach County commission seat.
“The top, top priority is the workforce,” Bernard said today. He said he wants to work with groups such as the nonprofit Workforce Alliance to help District 84 residents become more competitive in the job market.
Mack Bernard, a business lawyer and Delray Beach city commissioner, won Tuesday’s special election for the District 84 state House seat with 60.5 percent, according to results that include all but provisional ballots.
Bernard, a 33-year-old Democrat, defeated Riviera Beach Councilman and fellow Democrat Cedrick Thomas in the race to fill the seat of Priscilla Taylor, who left the state House in June when Gov. Charlie Crist appointed her to the Palm Beach County commission.
Turnout was about 4.7 percent — even lower than the 4.9 percent turnout of eligible Palm Beach County voters for a special Senate election three weeks earlier.
With only a few precincts outstanding, Delray Beach City Commissioner Mack Bernard holds a big lead and appears headed to victory over Riviera Beach Councilman Cedrick Thomas in the special state House District 84 election.
“I’m excited. This is a great opportunity….I’m happy to represent the people of District 84,” Bernard said tonight from a party at Pistache restaurant in West Palm Beach.
He called Thomas “a great city councilman in Riviera Beach.”
Bernard, a 33-year-old business lawyer and president of a title company, will replace Priscilla Taylor, who stepped down in July when Gov. Charlie Crist appointed her to a Palm Beach County commission vacancy.
District 84 is about 54 percent black. Bernard will be the only black member of Palm Beach County’s state House delegation.
He lives outside District 84 and couldn’t vote in today’s election, but said he plans to move into the district before he takes office Sept. 22.
Bernard raised nearly $70,000 — including $15,000 of his own money — for the race while Thomas raised $27,106.
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Use these interactive graphics to find and contact Palm Beach County and Treasure Coast legislators.
Sentenced to die for crimes judged heinous and cruel, inmates await execution in a 9 feet by 6 feet cell.
