No serious challenger to Brown-Waite

BROOKSVILLE -- Just weeks ago area Democrats salivated at the opportunity to take on Republican Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite in this fall's congressional campaign.

They sensed an unparalleled chance at unseating the three-term incumbent by riding a generally optimistic feeling among Democrats and highlighting Brown-Waite's latest gaffe where she called Puerto Rico and Guam residents "foreign citizens."

But, as the field solidified after Friday's filing deadline, it appears no party-backed Democrat will challenger her for the District 5 seat.

Three longshot Democratic candidates made the ballot -- John Russell, a controversial candidate who lost big against her in 2006; Carol Castagnero, known as "Grandma" from her failed bid for governor last election; and David Werder, a perennial opponent from Hudson.

But political observers don't give them much of a chance. Hernando Democratic Party Chairman Jay Rowden said any candidate has a shot but acknowledged that it is "hard to imagine" that one of them could win in November.

Brown-Waite's toughest contest will likely come from her own party. Republican Jim King of Land O'Lakes has already started running political advertisements against her and plans to mount a strong campaign.

The Brooksville resident comes into the race with all the advantages of incumbency, most notably campaign coffers burgeoning with $350,000 cash on hand, according to her campaign.

Comments

Hapless Dems...

[Donald Lance]

No serious Dems? You mean no Dems are serious!

"... it appears no party-backed Democrat will challenger her..."

That's all you need to know about that. How can we expect "The Party" to back any Dem, when the Party is infiltrated by DINOS's.

John Frank the neophyte reporter needs to get his facts straight about John Russell "losing big" in 2006. Brown-Waite spent almost $1M and received 162,421 (59.9%) of the votes and Russell spent approx. $90K and received 108,959. Who got the most bang from his buck?

BTW...In 2002, Karen Thurman (121,998 votes or 47.9%) lost to Brown-Waite (117,758 or 46.2%). Thurman lost with the so-called Dem support. It's all relative on voter turn-out.

BTW...Brown-Waite is really hurting..She is tied to Bush, has done little for her community (e.g., elderly & veterans), and she disrespected the Latinos. Be ready for a big upset.

Correction on above...Flip flop....2002..Karen Thurman (117,758 or 46.2%) to Brown-Waite (121,998 or 47.9%)...I am typing too fast!

http://election.dos.state.fl.us/elections/resultsarchive/Index.asp?ElectionDate=11/5/2002&DATAMODE=

[Jack]

Her comment about people from PR and Guam reminds me of the Republican Texas rep who stated while arguing to make English the official language of TX and I paraphrase, "if English was good enough for Jesus it's good enough for me." By the way, Jesus spoke Aramic. Such ignorance.

Ginny Brown-Waite ought to retire and take care of her sick husband w/cancer. Stay home Ginny!

[Demtothebone]

No SERIOUS candidate would want the support of any party that has so thoroughly disregarded the goals of its members. Noticed the number of Dems and GOPers who are NOT planning to vote party this time around? ANY Dem over ANY Republican is not satisfactory.

The fact is: Brown-Waite has been a mediocre to destructive congresswoman who is primarily about photo-ops, defending our failed occupation of Iraq, failing to support meaningful Veterans programs, and vicious sarcasm rather than rational communication with constituents with differing perspectives. She's a pathetic joke.

John Russell IS a totally serious and viable candidate who did remarkably well against her in 2006 with NO meaningful support from the Democratic Party. He speaks the truth. He is unafraid of the political vultures in the Democratic Party who would tear any but the entrenched to shreds when they waver from the party line. Going along to get along is not in his vocabulary.

Single-payer healthcare, immediate end of the illegal occupation of Iraq, rational and realistic solutions regarding immigration reform, fair elections........uh, let's see: are those Democratic ideals or not?

I know this: if we do not change directions and demand integrity and creativity and intelligence in our elected representatives, we'll get more of what we've had for far too many years. John Russell is the ONLY viable candidate for the Housa seat in the 5th Congressional District.

This article tells me they are afraid of something. John Russell is one tough candidate and he works in healthcare. He has saved lives. You speak of him as if he's nothing. Be afraid. You should if you support Ginny.

Who wants party support?

See Thurman and Tew Cardenas!

Why in the world is she running again!!!!!!!

Her HUSBAND is sick with cancer! What on earth is wrong with her????

wow, just wow!

Good. At least we will have one person out there with a "healthcare" background. Folks it's what we need and change is in the air.

[Martha]

You mean Ginny Brown Waite is not a Democrat? One would never know with her record.

[Billie]

Russell is banned for life from Disney World. Nuff said.

[Commonsense]

Ginny votes her district, not a straight party line platform. THAT is why she has been re-elected with ease, including a strong showing against Russell in 2006. Especially since she won by 20 points in the worst year for Republicans since 1974. Not too shabby.

[Shoo In]

Let's do a run down of the candidates against Ginny:

David Werder - frequent candidate/former world record holder for pole sitting

Grandma Carol Castagnero - frequent candidate/FCAT (not federal issue) is her biggest topic

John Russell - frequent candidate/nutjob/thrown out of Disney for life

Jim King - frequent party switching candidate

Summary: Ginny and the four crazies

Consensus: Shoo-in for Brown-Waite in 08

[Education in 2008]

Carol Castagnero is the only person running who has lived these issues. A retired schoolteacher from Pennsylvania, Grandma Carol knows the problems in the 5th District that Brown-Waite has let us down on. John Russell had his shot, and showed that he is as crazy as he seems. It's time for someone who is compassionate and truly cares about people.

[Get a Life]

Don't you people have anything better to do? Go hug your kids or something and get off the computer.

[Education in 08]

To Get a Life. This election is too important to not be involved. We need someone like Carol Castagnero in Congress to clean up the system. Perhaps you should study the candidates instead of just sending hateful messages online.

[Out of Iraq]

You Republipukes need to send your kids over to Iraq to fight in the war you seem to love so much. Get off your asses and get our troops home, just like Obama wants us to do.

[Education in 08]

To Shoo In. Grandma Carol gave Paula Dockery the scare of her life in her reelection. No one will work harder than Carol. Brown-Waite will never know what hit her. The biggest upset in the country will come out of Florida this year, mark my words.

If Karen Thurman and Debbie Wasserman Schultz hadn't endorsed Ginny last election and worked against John russell, he would have beaten her with ease. Check out the poll that was taken showing John tied just before the election. http://www.johnrussellforcongress.com/

You meant Thurmadrunk, right 8:13?

[Jamie]

At this point I think Grandma Carol would be a very suitable replacement for Ginny Brown-Waite. Guess we need to help whoever is running against her in the primary. Better to see her retired in August that hope for November.

[Dem Dandy to the Rescue]

The Occupation in Iraq, the Recession, and Healthcare are all the "hot bed" topics...not education. Sorry, Carol. We can't help education if the war is draining our Federal budget.

Ask yourself "Are you better off, have you had enough?" Support John Russell. He's the only one with the guts to speak the truth and work for the commonfolk. He won't lay down for the corporations, which is why he's dangerous to the status quo. I'd rather have John Russell than "Grandma" or a pole-sitter go up against the Republican.

[Nice Try]

Dem Dandy: Wasn't that Russell's campaign slogan last time? Oh, that's right, it was. And how did that one turn out? Yeah, a 20 point loss. Give it up. Florida recognizes what a nutjob your (probably boss) guy is.

Hey John, did you mortgage your house again to pay the filing fee? What's wrong, too busy looking for a job to bother getting petitions this time? Just wondering....

[GOP Alexandra]

Ginny Brown-Waite has done an awesome job representing her district. Whatever you partisan Dems want to say, she tells it like it is, and doesn't take any bs from anyone!!!!

I challenge any of you to provide intellectual points why she shouldn't have another term. Not stuff like, "she kills kids in Iraq," but actual policy discussions as to why she votes in a way that doesn't reflect her district.

I bet you can't (or won't) do it....

[Dem Dandy to the Rescue]

Nice try: Are you better off now? Would you rather have somebody who can fight Ginny Brown-Waite or bake cookies for her?

To: GOP Alexandra
Perhaps the 10' of millions of earmarks?
Exposing veterans records without their permission?
Against an energy policy?
Her support for AARP and their healthcare program?
Need more?

[Pork hater]

GOP Alexandra: What has Ginny Brown-Waite done about the cost of homeowner's insurance? $4/gallon gas? Creating jobs? She votes with BUSH down the line! Also,she'd rather spend tax payer's money on trips to Israel and mailings/brochures. Piggy piggy pork pork projects! Soo-ey!

[Pork hater]

How many times did Jeb Bush run for Governor before he won? Candidates run more than once...

[Timeforchange]

GOP Alexandra 8:31 p.m. Go to John Russell's website and see hundreds of reasons WHY Brown-Waite shouldn't have another term.

[GOP Alexandra]

Ok, let's try them one at a time.

Bush ran for Governor once before winning (in 1994). This will be Russell's third try for the House, Werder's fourth(?), Castagnero's first for the House and third run overall, and King's third House bid (under three different parties), plus a run for Lt. Gov.

Re: Homeowner's insurance. First off, the state sets rates and regulates insurance companies. Ginny has led the efforts in Congress to pass a national catastrophic insurance proposal, which finally passed the House this year with her support and authorship. This will bring down reinsurance rates and keep insurers offering policies, and Floridians out of Citizens.

Re: gasoline. Ginny has voted to open ANWR for drilling, to allow more production out of the Gulf past the military mission line, and passed measures to speed up refinery production. she has also supported efforts to expand hydrogen research, biofuels and CAFE standards. The Democrats in charge of Congress are the ones who have seen a huge rise in the price of gasoline under their watch.

This is almost too easy by the way...

re: creating jobs. Florida has an unemployment rate well below the national average. Nationwide, the 5.0 rate announced today is still lower than the average of the 70s, 80s and 90s. Not too bad. they used to call this full employment by the way. Go look it up...some people in construction are hurting, no doubt, but I wonder how many of them are illegla immigrants that shouldn't be here in the first place anyway?

Re: voting with Bush. Ginny had a partisan rating of about 75% last year. Hardly a straight down the line Bush partisan.

re: mailing/brochures. I would rather have a Member of Congress send me informative updates than waste it on high priced salaries for their bureaucratic staff.

re: earmarks. ginny has disclosed her earmarks (they are on her website), which were all strong local projects supported by the community. and, her total amount was well less than people like Kathy castor or Hillary Clinton's $2.3 billion.

re: exposing veterans records. what in the world are you talking about? you really must be a Russell acolyte.

re: energy policy. see post above of what Ginny has supported.

re: AARP and healthcare program. Not sure what you mean here. But if you are talking about Part D in Medicare, Ginny has been a proud supporter of a program loved by over 80% of seniors, a program that brought prescription drugs to Medicare for the first time in history. perhaps you are too young to understand sir, but seniors love their new benefit and Ginny was a big proponent of the plan.

re: 8:32. I said no stupid stuff. I mean really, baking cookies? grow up.

and, if you subscribed to Ginny's weekly newsletter, or went to her website once in a while, you might learn the same facts that I put here.

Anything else you want to know? I can do this all night long....

[Out of Iraq]

Yet another Republipuke whose kids probably are on trust funds instead of fighting the illegal war in Iraq. Where are your kids tonight GOP Alexandra?

Sounds like another Republican drinking theBush/McCain koolaid. Barack Obama will clean your clock in November. It's time for a change and restore hope to America!!

[Vote King]

Jim King is going to wipe that smirk off of Ginny Brown-Waite's face soon enough.

[GOP Alexandra]

You could also learn a lot if you watch FOX News once in a while instead of listening to Air America or Olberman/Matthews/Couric, etc...

[simpleman]

A GOP Alexandra Check out the uneployment stats for counties in District 5, Hernando county is the 3rd worst in Florida over 7%. Also were you aware that half of district 5 workers earn less than 8 dollars an hour?

Oh and so much for my homeowners insurance WHICH JUST DOUBLED! Yeah ginny is a real humdinger as a representative. She cashes her checks just as good as the next congressman but does nuthing to earn it. You might learn something if you took a look at Russell's website sometime.

8:01 Remember Nancy Argenziano ? Not tht would be a challenger. But she wont run. Too bad

[GOP Alexandra]

Nice website John. Have you updated it in the last two years? Might be worth updating sir.

[Vote King]

Ginny needs a lesson about Latin American history! She is a racist!

Ginny sends out mailers to pump herself using MY $'s every election year. Veterans like myself are disgusted with her pandering tactics! Ginny is ALL SHOW and NO GO! and she's not that bright to boot. A friend told me that all ginny does is collect a wage. If you like whats happening with high gas prices and everything else then stay with ginny and things will only be worse in another two years. I'm for dumping ginny and i know that I got plenty of company.

[a true conservative]

Johnny Russell was run out of his own Party because he is and arrogant left wing loon who is only looking for a paid job. He tried to win last time on name recognition by using signs that looked like the ones used by Dave Russell. The only people who are posting here that say Russell and Grandma Carol have a shot are Russell or Grandma Carol. Jim King reminds me of John Russell but Russell even though kicked out by the democrats didn't change his party affiliation.