Opening a campaign and actually qualifying for a spot on the ballot are two different things in Florida. The distinction can confuse ordinary citizens or first-time candidates. It also tripped up former Democratic state Rep. James Henry “Hank” Harper Jr. on Tuesday, even though he’s been through the qualifying process three times before.

Click here to read how Harper failed to qualify for the special election to fill the state House District 84 seat.

Though he collected enough signatures to get on the ballot for a special state House election, the Florida Division of Elections says former Democratic state Rep. James Henry “Hank” Harper Jr. did not qualify for the race to replace Priscilla Taylor.

Two other Democrats — Riviera Beach Councilman Cedrick Thomas and Delray Beach City Commissioner Mack Bernard — qualified for the District 84 race before today’s noon deadline.

Harper said he was unaware of any problem with his candidate paperwork and planned to call the Division of Elections for an explanation.

“The Division of Elections did not receive qualifying papers for Mr. Harper,” a spokeswoman for the Florida Secretary of State said in an e-mail.

With no other candidates running, an Aug. 25 primary will decide who serves the final 14 months of Taylor’s House term. Taylor left her House seat when Gov. Charlie Crist appointed her to a Palm Beach County commission vacancy.

Palm Beach-Treasure Coast AFL-CIO President Pat Emmert says that, after interviewing candidates this week, the local union is recommending that the state AFL-CIO back Delray Beach Commissioner Mack Bernard in the special District 84 state House election to replace former Rep. Priscilla Taylor, who was appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist to the Palm Beach County commission.

Bernard, Riviera Beach Councilman Cedrick Thomas and former state Rep. James Henry “Hank” Harper Jr. — all Democrats — have opened campaigns for the minority-dominated, overwhelmingly Democratic seat.

The Democratic primary is Aug. 25. A general election, if needed, has been set for Sept. 22, but so far no Republicans have entered the race. The candidate qualifying deadline is noon Tuesday.

GOP Senate candidate Joe Negron is ramping up efforts to secure an Aug. 4 special election win in response to Moveon.org’s entry into the race to replace retiring Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie.

Negron sent an e-mail appeal to supporters today asking for cash to fight back against the organization which he said “has sent operatives” into District 28 to help turn out the vote for his Democratic opponent Bill Ramos.

“Thanks to your hard work and support, my campaign is doing very well and I am confident that we will win the race on August 4. However, I am not taking anything for granted, particularly in a special election with an expected low turn-out. I take MoveOn.org seriously because I saw first hand how effective they were in helping President Obama win Florida in the 2008 Election,” Negron wrote.

Negron, a former House member from Stuart, is going to spend about $50,000 to collect the absentee ballots “from my supporters” and includes a letter from former Gov. Jeb Bush along with door-to-door canvassing and phone banks, according to the e-mail.

Negron’s collected nearly $387,000 so far and spent about $236,000.

Ramos, who made the ballot by collecting signatures instead of paying the qualifying fee, collected just over $24,000 and spent nearly $19,000 thus far.

The Jensen Beach mortgage broker today volunteered information about a 1989 guilty plea for theft when he was a young postal worker.