David Rivera challenger Luis Garcia drops out of race to run for Miami-Dade Commission. Will Democrats find a candidate to run for Congress?

State Rep. Luis Garcia announced late Monday that he will drop out of the Congressional race against Republican Rep. David Rivera. Instead, Garcia, a Miami Democrat, will run for Miami-Dade Commission against Bruno Barreiro.

Garcia had launched his campaign against Rivera last year. But things did not go well: Garcia dropped out after losing his campaign manager and getting in a verbal tussle with U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.

Garcia was given an out by wealthy auto magnate Norman Braman, who is recruiting candidates he considers reform-minded to challenge incumbent county commissioners. Braman bankrolled last year's recall against Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez.

"As I'm looking around, I think I can affect more issues here, at the local level," said Garcia, a former Miami Beach fire chief and later city commissioner, who in his six years in the Florida Legislature has represented many of the same constituents as Barreiro. "The way the county is managed right now, you have different kingdoms. A commissioner is basically a king ... They are not responsive to their constituents."

Garcia also said he will likely leave the Democratic Party and have no party affiliation because he is so disappointed with how national Democrats treated him in the Congressional campaign.

The question now for Democrats is whether they will be able to find a viable candidate able to raise enough money and enough of a profile to challenge Rivera.

The Politics of Trayvon Martin

From suspect to victim to cultural symbol, Trayvon Martin has metamorphosed into a political point of departure over race.

Read story here:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/30/2723557/trayvon-martins-shooting-death.html#

Florida GOP fundraisers locked in business dispute

It’s a legal battle between two titans in Florida Republican fundraising circles, and tens of millions of dollars are at stake: Zach Zachariah, a Broward County cardiologist who has raised millions of dollars for GOP candidates, versus A.K. Desai, a St. Petersburg insurance executive and the Florida Republican party’s new finance chairman.

Zachariah filed a lawsuit Friday in Miami-Dade circuit court accusing Desai of freezing him out of their jointly owned company and costing him millions of dollars by diluting his ownership share.

Read more here: 

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/02/2728467/florida-gop-fundraisers-locked.html

 

 

Legislature seeks federal redistricting review even without a final map

The Florida Legislature’s legal team has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to begin the process of reviewing its legislative maps for compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act, even before the Florida Supreme Court signs off on a final product.

In a March 30 letter to the U.S. Department of Justice, lawyers for the House, Senate and attorney general asked the federal government to expedite its a pre-clearance of the maps so that candidates will know the district boundaries when they are required to qualify during the week the June 4. Download Preclearance_Senate

Under the Section 5 of the federal Voting Rights Act, Florida must submit its legislative and congressional maps for approval, or pre-clearance, because five counties – Collier, Hardee, Hendry, Hillsborough and Monroe – have a history of discrimination against racial or language minorities.

Feuding citrus cousins, JD and Baxter, reach a court settlement

Florida's feuding citrus cousins, JD Alexander and Baxter Troutman, reached a settlement over the weekend over the failed merger of two family-owned companies.

Troutman, a former state representative from Winter Haven, filed the suit in 2008 against Alexander, a Lake Wales state senator, and his father, when Troutman was still in the legislature. Troutman, a shareholder of Alico, alleged on behalf of other shareholders that the Alexander family orchestrated the merger between Atlantic Blue Group and Alico to their benefit.

On Saturday, two days before a hearing was scheduled in Polk County circuit court, both sides agreed to the settlement. The three-page accord ends the lawsuit, allows both parties to walk away from the dispute owing nothing to each other, and opens the door for Alexander to seek attorneys fees and expenses. Download Scanned document_04_02_2012_08_16_58_696

Obama campaign releases energy ad in Florida,

Here come the presidential campaign ads.

President Barack Obama's campaign announced Monday afternoon it will begin airing a commercial touting the administration's record on energy. The 30-second ad is running in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia. Republicans responded by saying Obama has "failed to address America’s energy problems. "Instead of implementing solutions, the president is once again trying to mislead voters with a negative attack ad in an attempt to get re-elected," said Republican National Committee Spokesman Matt Connelly. Here's the ad:

 

 

Movers and Shakers: Super PAC hires new press director; changes at DCF and DMS

Congressional Super PAC hires new communications director

Dan Conston takes the reigns as communications director for the Congressional Leadership Fund, the Super PAC focused on maintaining the Republican majority in the House of Representatives. Conston will oversee the expansion of the organization’s press operation for the 2012 elections.

Formerly, Conston was communications director for House Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam.

He also managed communications for the Republican Party of Florida, helping to elect Sen. Marco Rubio, Gov. Rick Scott, and others during the 2010 election cycle.

Putnam taps new appointees

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam appointed Michael “MJ” Johnston as chief information officer. Johnston previously managed a private IT consulting firm.

Florida GOP moneyman war: Zach Zachariah sues A.K. Desai

It's a legal battle between two titans in Florida Republican fundraising circles, and tens of millions of dollars are at stake.

Zach Zachariah, a Broward County cardiologist who has raised millions of dollars for GOP candidates, is suing the Florida Republican party's new finance chairman, St. Petersburg insurance executive A.K. Desai, accusing Desai of freezing him out of their jointly owned company and costing him millions of dollars by diluting his ownership share.

"In 2008 he just decided he wanted me off the board, and I'm one of the founders of the Universal Health Group," Zachariah (pictured right) said, referring to the company Desai leads with roughly 1,000 employees in downtown St. Petersburg. "Under the bylaws he just can't do that."

The lawsuit filed Friday in Miami-Dade circuit court contends that Desai unilaterally and improperly kicked him off Universal's board of directors and subsequently issued tens of millions of additional shares of Universal stock without authorization. As a result Desai's ownership stake in the privately held company shrank from nearly 20 percent to nearly 14 percent.

"Universal has an entity value of hundreds of millions of dollars. Therefore at least tens of millions of dollars  of (Zachariah's) ownership stake in Universal purportedly has been stripped from him," the lawsuit claims.

Desai said Monday he was unaware of the lawsuit.

Zachariah said family and friends invested nearly $30-million in Universal based on his standing and involvement, but Desai wanted him out after the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Zachariah of insider stock trading. The former chairman of the state Board of Governors was cleared after going to trial in 2010.

Posted by Adam C. Smith

Jeb Bush moves, but stays in Coral Gables

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has moved. But he didn’t go far.

Bush and his wife, Columba, have left their home near Coral Gables Senior High School, a Bush spokeswoman confirmed. The three-bedroom, three-bath Old Spanish house, which has a for-sale sign out front, is listed on the real-estate website Zillow.com for $899,000. The couple bought the home in 2008 for $800,000.

Property records show Bush and his wife purchased a deluxe, classically inspired townhouse in August near the Venetian Pool. They paid $1.3 million for the four-bedroom, four-bath residence in the sumptuous Almeria Row development that has won numerous architectural awards.

--ANDRES VIGLUCCI AND PATRICIA MAZZEI

Herald/Times interviews Gov. Rick Scott

Herald/Times reporter Steve Bousquet sat down with Florida's Governor, Rick Scott, to talk about a range of issues, from the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, to business tax cuts to whether or not state workers are getting fair pay.

Here's the video:

 

@ToluseO