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Not really. Just seems the Miami Democrat has had a patch of bad press lately:"Rep. Kendrick B. Meek (D-Fla.) told The Politico he intends to donate to charity $5,500 in campaign contributions linked to the Boston developer of a troubled project in his Miami district boosted by Meek and his mother, a former congresswoman." More here.
The New York Senator, while announcing her national Hispanic Leadership Council at Disney, noted Fred Thompson's comment the other day about illegal immigrants from Cuba and suitcase bombs: "I was appalled when one of the people running for or about to run for the Republican nomination talked about Cuban refugees as potential terrorists. Apparently he doesn't have a lot of experience in florida or anywhere else and doesn't know a lot of Cuban Americans," Clinton said to applause.
Recall that Thompson clarified that he was talking about spies.
Buzz also overheard Fort Lauderdale health care executive Pedro Garrido, a Republican fed up with Republicans, exhorting Bill Richardson to raise his profile in Florida. "Has that date been settled? We'd been hearing there might be some kind of deal,'' Richardson said, alluding to DNC sanctions for Florida early primary date. "I should do well in Florida. You help me."
State Rep. Juan Zapata, R-Miami, said Hispanics in Florida need to reject all the partisan talk about Democratic-leaning Puerto Ricans cancelling out the votes of Republican Cubans. It's divisive and counterproductive, he told Latino politicos gathered at Disney this weekend.
"There are forces here in Florida who are trying to turn the Puerto Rican community and the Cuban community against each other,'' said Zapata. "The good old boys they don't want to see Hispanic Latinos running this state. And that what we could achieve if the puerto ricans and cibans and the rest of the Hispanics here in Florida start working together."
The Buzz at the NALEO conference of Latino politicos at Disney is that Hillary Clinton today will pick up endorsements from a couple of the newest Democratic stars of the Florida legislature: Reps. Luis Garcia of Miami and Darren Soto of Orlando.
TAMPA - Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards wasted no time Friday making hay of his wife's fight with conservative commentator Ann Coulter. "We cannot stand quietly by and watch this kind of name-calling and hate language, " he said at a fund raiser at Lowry Park Zoo. More here.
Said the RNC's Amber Wilkerson: "While John Edwards is collecting "small change" in Tampa tonight, his donors should be comforted that for every 25 tickets they purchase Edwards will almost be able to cover the cost of another $400 haircut."
From the AP: The Chairman of the Republican Party on Friday lambasted Democrats and Republicans who helped kill an immigration bill in the Senate and challenged them to come up with a solution beyond "just build a fence along the border."
"The voices of negativity now have a responsibility to come up with an answer," RNC Chairman and U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla. said. "How will you fix the situation to make peoples' lives better? How will you continue to grow the economy? How will we bring people out of the shadows for our national security and for the sake of being a country that is just?" he demanded.
Martinez spoke during a gathering of more than 1,000 Hispanic officials from across the country at Disney World, a day after the immigration bill's Senate supporters fell short of the 60 votes needed to limit debate and clear the way for its final passage.Martinez promised to work with members of the U.S. House of Representatives to try to revive the legislation, a measure the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials supports.
State Rep. Mark Mahon, a Jacksonville Republican, was appointed Friday by Gov. Charlie Crist to a circuit judgeship in the 4th judicial circuit in northeast Florida.
Mahon, 50, has been in the House since 2000 and would have termed out next year. He holds undergraduate and law degrees from FSU. His move to the bench will require yet another special election -- the sixth so far this year for a legislative vacancy. (Previous departures included Reps. Holly Benson, John Quinones, Charlie Dean and Dennis Baxley and Sen. Nancy Argenziano).
Congressman and Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich will promote the new Michael Moore movie SiCKO, at BayWalk tonight at 8:30 p.m.
On Saturday, they'll be in the St. Petersburg Pride parade, which kicks off at 10 a.m.
State university system Chancellor Mark Rosenberg sent a memo to university president and system leaders today, warning them to brace for as much as a 10-percent cut from the budgets they thought they would be getting for the future.
The governor just signed a $71-billion budget for 2007-08, but a slump in tax collections could leave the state $1-billion shorter than officials expected.
See Rosenberg's memo in comments:
Buzz is hearing from lots of insiders that Legislative leaders are looking at a special session to deal with the Oct. 1 sunset of the state's mandatory no-fault auto insurance law during the committee week scheduled for September 17-20.
The problem is there's another looming deadline -- Aug. 15th -- 45 days before Oct. 1, when the no-fault law is now scheduled to sunset. On Aug. 15th, auto insurers can start sending out new and cheaper (because they'll lack PIP coverage) insurance bills to policyholders who have Oct. 1 renewals, touting an auto insurance break.
That could make it politically difficult for lawmakers to mandate a new kind of auto insurance coverage in September, which would be a rate hike for those who got noticed of a rate reduction.
Leadership Florida, the Florida Press Association and the
Florida Public Broadcasting Service will team up with NBC News/MSNBC to produce two live debates featuring the major Republican and Democratic candidates for president. The debates will be broadcast on MSNBC on Jan. 23 and 25, 2008, to a nationwide audience. They will be held at not-yet named "institutions of higher education." No commitments yet from any candidates.
You know all that talk of bipartisan good feeling in Tallahassee? That was so last month. Now the Florida GOP is opening fire on Democrats who opposed a proposed constitutional amendment revamping Florida's homestead exemption.
"TAXPAYER ALERT for Florida Homeowners: State Representative Bill Heller just voted NO to the largest tax cut plan in Florida's history, " blared a mailer sent to voters in the St. Petersburg Democrat's district. "When it comes time to vote for Bill Heller, you should vote no too."
A longtime friend of Republican Gov. Charlie Crist's, Heller doesn't face election until November 2008, but was one of at least three Democrats targeted with the mailing by the Florida Republican Party. He called it a misleading attack. More here.
UPDATE: Rep. Janet Long, D-Seminole got hit with the piece too: "If it were not so sad, it would be funny,'' she said. "Desperate people do desperate things."
UPDATE 2: Rep. Keith Fitzgerald of Sarasota was also targeted, as was Rep. Ron Saunders of Key West. "I'm not shaking in my boots over this," Fitzgerald said. "Letting people know I was not a part of this (constitutional amendment) is not really a bad thing."
During today's meeting of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, House Speaker Marco Rubio was awarded the Edward R. Roybal Award for Outstanding Public Service.
"NALEO is proud to present this year's award to the Honorable Marco Rubio, who has followed in our distinguished Founder's footsteps as an exemplary public servant and leader for the Latino community," the group said, citing his success in becoming speaker, "100 Innovative Ideas for Florida's Future" and work on property taxes.
From Fred Thompson's blog today: "... I did want to clarify something coming out of my time yesterday in Columbia, South Carolina. Anybody who knows my track record or has read some of the things I’ve written about the Cuban-American community knows where I stand. While the communist dictatorship has been a tragedy for Cuba, America has been in some ways, at least, the beneficiary."
Wealthy Republican donors who've always wanted to see Miami from a different perspective can hop aboard the House Republican leadership's "Sights of Miami Brunch Cruise" next month.
The RPOF event on July 28th offers two levels of sponsorship: "admiral" at $25,000 and "captain" at $10,000 with a two-seat maximum. Here's a copy of the invitation.
Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, weighed in on Thompson's Cuban comment: “For many decades, Cubans have been forced to leave the island, risking their lives to escape Fidel Castro’s brutal dictatorship in search of freedom and opportunity. It is simply wrong to equate people fleeing from communism with terrorists."
And Charlie Crist sent us excerpts from his remarks to NALEO today: “Every day we witness the impact of the Hispanic culture throughout our state in business, government, music and the arts. The unity of the Hispanic community shows us the beauty and importance of tradition, faith and family values,” said Governor Crist. “Florida’s rich cultural diversity is truly something to celebrate.”
Gov. Charlie Crist's communications director, Vivian Myrtetus, is resigning Friday, and will take a job at Cory Tilley's P.R. firm, Core Message. Crist's office said Thursday that press secretary Erin Isaac will be promoted to communications director and that Crist will soon hire a new press secretary.
"We will miss her dearly," chief of staff George LeMieux said of Myrtetus, one of the very first people Crist hired in early 2005 to help manage his campaign.
Myrtetus' departure had been rumored for some time, as she has yearned for the chance to spend more time with her two children. "I will miss the governor's office and the press corps dearly," she said. "But kids only grow up once."
From the AP's account of Fred Thompson campaigning in South Carolina: "He expressed his opposition to the immigration bill in Congress and decried the flow of illegal immigrants from Cuba, saying: "I don't imagine they're coming here to bring greetings from Castro. We're living in the era of the suitcase bomb."
From Jim Geraghty at National Review: "Aw, man. Of all the groups Fred Thompson could cite as a potential security threat, did he have to pick the Cubans? The one group of Hispanics that leans Republican? And no, they're not bringing greetings from Castro. The vast majority are trying to get away from Castro. I'm sure it was just a slip of the tongue, and Thompson's broader point about securing the borders is spot-on. But this will probably come up again, closer to the Florida primary."
Associated Industry today releases its 2007 legislative voting records scorecards and its 2007 "Champion for Business" Award winners. “The 2007 legislative session was generally a mixed bag. The business community enjoyed some key legislative victories including “guns in the workplace” and the defeat of tort reform weakening legislation. But much work remains to be done. Property and casualty insurance legislation is, at best, a stop gap measure and we are all hoping for another hurricane season like last year. On property taxes, we heartily supported Governor Charlie Crist’s compromise proposal, but we want to continue to work on more meaningful reform in the next session that will benefit all ad valorem taxpayers.”
The business champs: Rep.Trey Traviesa, R-Tampa; Rep. Charlie Dean, R-Inverness; Rep. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla; Rep. Rich Glorioso, R-Plant City.
There are ominous signs for the Florida GOP when it comes to the state's fastest-growing ethnic group. Consider:
ORLANDO - A jury on Wednesday convicted the son of Sen. Bill Nelson on charges of battery on a police officer and resisting arrest stemming from an incident that occurred after a re-election party in November. Charles William Nelson, 31, faces a maximum penalty of six years in prison but could also get no jail time. Sentencing was scheduled for July 31 by Orange County Circuit Judge Stan Strickland.
"While we are disappointed with the verdict, we respect our system of justice, " said Sen. Nelson and his wife, Grace, in a statement issued in Washington. "And we love our son and support him during this difficult time in his life." More here.
Hundreds of kids filled the courtyard between the old and new capitols all to see Shaquille O’Neal, NBA Miami Heat basketball star.
Gov. Charlie Crist held a press conference with O'Neal to highlight his and O'Neal's efforts to fight childhood obesity. The press conference with O’Neal was taped to air during the July 31st episode of O'Neal's prime-time television show Shaq’s Big Challenge.
O'Neal's television crew patrolled the capitol grounds barking all sorts of orders. They told Jennifer Bishop of the Florida Center for Reading Research that she couldn't lift up her poster of O'Neal, which was touting his efforts to promote reading. This event was for the Big Challenge only.
Shaq towered above everyone in the court yard. 
Hillsborough County Commissioner Rose Ferlita has been tapped to lead Rudy Giuliani's presidental campaign in Hillsborough County. Ferlita said she met Giuliani last week and is impressed with his business approach to government and his moderate stance on social issues. Because he's not "extreme right-wing," she said, Giuliani is "the guy that will satisfy a lot of Republicans and Democrats." Ferlita said she hopes her enthusiasm for Giuliani will convince people on the fence to jump to his side. "I'm very excited," she said. Ferlita's colleague on the County Commission, Mark Sharpe, is heading up John McCain's campaign in Hillsborough.
It seems the publicity over Mitt Romney's allegedly extra tough campaign/security staff has fueled some words between Florida's team Romney and S.V. Date of the Palm Beach Post (Pictured near Romney here). Check out this e-mail exchange:
Hi Kristy,
Is the security person who stopped the NYT reporter in NH the same individual who tried to keep me out of the Senate Office Building and its elevator during Gov. Romney's visit here? Thanks. SVD
Shirish,
You mean the time you practically knocked over Mrs. Romney? You were so aggressive and rude, Governor and Mrs. Romney actually stepped off the elevator to allow you to go ahead of them. No one kept you out of the Senate Office Building or the elevator. You attended Governor Romney’s entire meeting with members of the Florida Senate, as did several reporters that witnessed your behavior that day.
Hope you are doing well. Talk to you soon. Thanks, Kristy
Date fires back full force. That e-mail is in comments.
The latest Quinnipiac poll of swing states shows Hillary Clinton cruising in Florida and Giuliani's edge shrinking. Still, Giuliani is the only Republican who beats every Democrat in hypothetical match-ups in FL.
Ds: Clinton 38, Obama 15, Gore 13, Edwards 8, Dk 15.
Rs: Giuliani 27, F Thompson 21, McCain 13, Gingrich 7, Romney 6, DK 18.
“If Sen. Obama is catching Clinton in the primary contest, there is no evidence of it in Florida and Ohio. But in November, the large number of non-Democrats who view her negatively keeps a cap on her showing against Republicans,” said pollster Peter Brown. “Giuliani’s lead among Republicans continues to dwindle. Perhaps his much-discussed difference with the GOP mainstream over issues such as abortion, gay rights and gun control are beginning to take its toll.
While Gov. Charlie Crist wouldn't hint when he planned to make the call, he stressed on Wednesday that he would "view favorably a special session before Oct. 1" -- the drop-dead date marking the disappearance of the state's current no-fault laws.
No fault laws currently require all Florida drivers to buy personal injury protection policies worth $10,000 to cover anybody involved in a car crash, no matter who is at fault.
Crist said he needs to talk with Sen. President Ken Pruitt and House Speaker Marco Rubio on timing. But he adds that he's siding with Florida's hospitals and wants the no-fault law continued.
Gov. Charlie Crist met with the heads of Florida's universities this morning and agreed to allow a controversial piece of legislation to become law, which creates a tiered tuition system for Florida's top three research universities.
The bill would allow UF and FSU to charge incoming undergraduates up to 40 percent more than the base tuition for state universities starting this coming fall. USF could charge up to 30 percent more. The revenue, over $20-million for each college by 2010, would allow the universities to improve their crowded bachelor's degree programs by hiring additional professors and academic counselors.
Crist said he was willing to sign it if universities were willing to delay implementation until 2008, giving the Legislature time to come up with an opportunity, and money, that would negate the need for such a system.
From the Hill: "Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) is raising hell these days, and it concerns what she claims is Congressional Quarterly’s sexist policy of hyphenating names. For months, Wasserman Schultz has been angered over the fact that CQ repeatedly hyphenates her last name against her wishes...."
CQ is our sister publication, btw.
Suzan Franks got clobbered, no question. But the former New Hampshire legislator turn Democratic hopeful said she was pleased to have gotten as much support as she did. She earned 33 percent of the vote, or 13,325 votes, according to unofficial results.
"I have no regrets," Franks told the Buzz. "We were all grassroots. It wasn't about sending 15 mailers to every household. It was about meeting people. I feel really, really good about it."
She said her opponent, Republican Charlie Dean, was funded by "special interest" money that was "very difficult to combat." Records show Dean raised $506,633 in contributions since the first of the year and $248,738 in-kind (for campaign staff, polling, etc). Franks raised $13,104 and $48,331 in-kind.
From left: Charlie Dean, Ron Schultz and Kurt Kelly. The three Republicans were victorious Tuesday night in the election scramble set off by former state Sen. Nancy Argenziano's appointment to the Public Service Commission.
Dean, the former sheriff in Citrus County, leaves the state House to represent Senate District 3. Schultz, of Homosassa, replaces Dean in House District 43. And Marion County's Kelly fills House District 24, which was vacated by Dennis Baxley, who narrowly lost to Dean in the GOP primary earlier this month. See results here.
"It's wonderful," Schultz said as he watched early returns come in with Dean in downtown Inverness. "The Republican Party of Florida did a great job for Senator Dean and I."
Despite controlling the districts, the state party put a lot of muscle into the off-season, off-year election, giving Dean $40,000 cash and Schultz about $72,000 in contributions and campaign advertising.
"The past seven weeks was just awesome and it paid off," Dean said after taking congratulatory calls from Argenziano and Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie. "I stood out on the street corner until 7 o'clock waving signs. I'm very excited and gratified.”
-- Alex Leary and John Frank, Times Staff Writers
The veto pen got a workout Tuesday.
Gov. Charlie Crist deep-sixed three bills, including a priority of the Florida Chamber of Commerce that would have required voter signatures on initiative petitions to be submitted within 30 days.
"This provision significantly burdens the right of Florida citizens to propose amendments to the Florida Constitution by increasing the likelihood that voters, through no fault of their own, will be denied the opportunity to have their voices heard," Crist wrote in a veto message on SB 900 by Sen. Bill Posey of Rockledge.
"We're disappointed," said David Daniel of the Chamber.
Crist's veto is sure to win praise from a coalition of pro-initiative organizations that fought the bill, including Common Cause, League of Women Voters, Florida PIRG, ACORN, People for the American Way and Florida AFL-CIO. Ben Wilcox of Common Cause said he believed that Crist decided "enough is enough" after a series of other changes to the ballot initiative process, such as a new revocation mechanism that allows people to have their signatures removed from petitions.
All three vetoed bills were Republican-sponsored.
Crist also axed a bill sponsored by Rep. Faye Culp, R-Tampa, that he said bypassed a management agreement for operation of the Babcock Ranch Preserve in southwest Florida. He axed a bill by Rep. Ed Homan, R-Tampa, that Crist said made major changes to Florida's Administrative Procedures Act, which regulates state agencies and bureaucrats.
Once again, Citrus County delivers for Charlie Dean.
Results just posted show he gained 12,219 votes in his home county. Suzan Franks picked up 5,487. With an equally big score in Marion County (6,968 to 2,679) it appears Dean is the state's newest senator.
And Ron Schultz is headed toward victory in the House District 43 race, with a commanding lead over Democrat Sophia Diaz-Fonseca.
The first results posted on the state Division of Elections Web site show Democrat Suzan Franks beating Republican favorite Charlie Dean by 1,045 to 530. The votes come from left-leaning Leon County.
But the night is young. Stay tuned.
Update: Dean just picked up 471 votes in Columbia County to Franks' 270.
The Florida Supreme Court will decide whether the state should expunge one of Gov. Charlie Crist's line-item vetoes from the budget. It is Crist's veto of proviso language directing the state motor vehicle agency to print the driver safety handbook without advertisements.
The suit was brought by the law firm of Broad & Cassel on behalf of driver safety schools that have criticized the agency's deal with a private vendor. (The named defendant is Secretary of State Kurt Browning, but the suit is clearly aimed at Crist).
The suit claims that Crist, under Article III, Sec. 8(a) of the Constitution, can't veto a proviso of a budget item without vetoing the money too. The language in dispute was crafted by Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey.
Crist vetoed that language May 24, but he left the $1.5-million appropriation intact, and the lawsuit claims the governor does not have the legal authority to do that. At the time, Crist said he believed he did have that power.
An imposing figure will pay Gov. Charlie Crist a visit on Wednesday: Shaquille O'Neal, the Miami Heat center and star of the new ABC-TV show "Shaq's Big Challenge" that tracks efforts of six overweight Broward County students as they try to shed pounds.
Shaq, the kids, the show's executive producer, and a team of health and nutrition experts will attend an afternoon press conference with Crist at the Capitol. Crist has made obesity prevention a public health concern of his administration. (Speaking of weight, the Heat website lists O'Neal at 325 pounds, about twice that of the governor).
This from the Florida Democratic Party was actually pretty amusing. We'll put the full e-mail in comments:
To: Florida Political Reporters
Date: June 26, 2007 RE: Be Careful Covering Mitt Romney Today The Florida Democratic Party today urges the state's political reporters who are covering former Governor Mitt Romney, Republican of Massachusetts, to be on the look out for paid campaign staff impersonating law enforcement officials who may try to inhibit your ability to cover Romney's frequent flip-flops. This is no joke.
Katheen Barclay, the co-chair of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America, introduced Jeb Bush to a business conference in Chile this way: "Despite having a brother and father who were both presidents, Jeb Bush may emerge as the most successful political leader from that family."
To which Jeb Bush, co-chair of the newly formed Inter-American Ethanol Commission, responded that Barbara was the family's most successful politician. More on that speech here.
The Democratic presidential candidate is scheduled to return to Pinellas Saturday morning for the St. Pete Pride fest, where he plans to March in the parade. It's the Ohio congressman's second trip to Pinellas in a month.
The county, after all, is Kucinich's FL stronghold. It's home to his pal Ed Helm and Kucinich received nearly 5 percent of the Pinellas vote in the 2004 presidential primary, compared to 2.3 percent statewide.
Florida's No. 2 education official is tangled in a cyber-tussle with a tiny Minnesota newspaper and a scientist who blogs about the politics of teaching evolution. More here.
The state's insurer of last resort is on a blistering pace to add more than 100, 000 new policies in June alone. The company originally designed as a backup for people who couldn't get insurance anywhere else is well on its way to shouldering at least half of the state's total property insurance risk. In other words, more than half of the estimated $1-trillion total value of all insured homes in Florida could be insured by Citizens by year's end. No other state in the country comes even close to that kind of coverage for a public insurer.
More here.
Will Charlie Dean, R-Inverness, confirm what polls and his bankroll suggest is easy victory tonight? Or will Democrats continue their winning streak with Suzan Franks of Hernando? Give us your prediction in the race to replace Nancy Argenziano in the Senate.
Also tonight, voters decide the House District 43 seat formerly held by Dean. Republican Ron Schultz faces Democrat Sophia Diaz-Fonseca, along with Independent David J. Gregory and write-in H. David Werder.
Per the Miami Democrats' blog, Dan Gelber may run for Gwen Margolis' senate seat next year. His name also comes up as a potential challenger to U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez in 2010.
P.S. "I like him a lot,'' Gelber said of Charlie Crist to the group of liberal activists.
The loved, hated and convicted union boss was 81. Here's the statement from FEA president Andy Ford:
“Pat made a significant impact in the integration of the black and white teachers' unions, the 1968 walkout and in the split in the original Florida Education Association, which resulting in the creation of FEA/United and the Florida Teaching Profession-National Education Association. Finally Pat was instrumental in helping to bring the union back together as the new FEA in 2000. While always a controversial figure on the Florida education and political landscapes, it was his courage and conviction that raised the status of the teaching profession in Florida.”
Add Theodore Roosevelt IV as another keynote speaker for the Florida Climate Change Summit in Miami next week. "“Ted’s wealth of experience and extensive knowledge of environmental issues will help us engage in meaningful dialogue about ways to address the challenges of global climate change,” said Gov. Crist.
""The science is clear about climate change. The question is, ‘Can we put in place the right policies to address it?’” said Roosevelt, . “I believe we can develop effective policies that will create more economic opportunities than economic challenges."
