Dozens of Florida millionaires line up for second job -- a seat in the Legislature

Florida lawmakers like to say that they’re just like the rest of us.

And that may be true, except according to financial disclosure forms filed with qualifying officers last week, 21 Senate candidates this year have net worths of more than $1 million — with 13 candidates at more than $3 million.

Add candidates for the House, and nearly 70 of the 400 candidates for the Legislature top the $1 million mark, with 124 reporting net worths of at least $500,000. Some of Tallahassee’s biggest names are also the most affluent, led by incoming Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, a health industry entrepreneur worth $24.9 million. St. Augustine Republican Sen. John Thrasher, an attorney, and Clearwater Sen. Jack Latvala, CEO of a printing company, are worth $6.6 million and $5.7 million, respectively.

Not all candidates are high-rollers. Many have modest incomes, and some have upside-down mortgages that land them in the negative on net worth, calculated by assets minus debt. But for the ultra-rich, thick wallets can offer a leg up on races, which are the most competitive in years because of redistricting.

The numbers also reveal the advantage of wealth when it comes to running for state office. Brittany Davis' story here.

Video: How Rick Scott found out he was dead

Rick Scott was shocked. He was dead.

Or at least that’s what he was told when he went to cast an early vote ballot in 2006 at Naples City Hall.

“You can’t vote because you’re dead,” Scott — who’s now embroiled in a voter-purge controversy as Florida governor — recalls a poll worker saying. “You passed away, according to our voter rolls.”

So Scott pulled out his driver’s license and insisted he was alive.

“I showed them my ID,” Scott said. “They let me vote provisionally. I’m sure it counted.”

It did — twice — according to Collier County voting records that show he cast back-to-back provisional ballots in the Republican primary and general elections six years ago.

For Scott, the experience helped bolster his feeling that provisional ballots aren’t all bad, contrary to the fears of liberal-leaning voting-rights advocates who have bashed Scott’s push to purge the Florida voting rolls of noncitizens.

About 100 have been spotted and nearly half might have cast ballots. More than 500 flagged as potential noncitizens have shown they’re actual citizens entitled to vote.

Even if actual citizens wind up getting removed amid the noncitizen purge, Scott notes they can still cast provisional ballots. Those are tabulated after Election Day and can be thrown out by a three-member canvassing board.

Story here

 

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/14/2849924/how-rick-scott-found-out-he-was.html#storylink=cpy

2 Tampa Bay candidates file suit, seeking ballot access

Two Democratic candidates for office in Pinellas County whose paperwork was rejected by state elections officials have gone to court, seeking to get on the ballot.

Circuit Judge Terry Lewis in Tallahassee on Thursday heard oral arguments on an injunction sought by Nina Hayden of St. Petersburg, who has filed for the 13th Congressional District seat held by Republican C.W. Bill Young. Another Democrat, Jessica Ehrlich, did qualify to run against the venerable Young.

Hayden's candidate qualifying form was ruled incomplete by the state Division of Elections because the notary public who notarized it did not also affix his signature to the form. Her attorney, Daniel Brown, sued Secretary of State Ken Detzner and Deborah Clark, the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections. In court papers, Brown argues that Detzner "breached (his) duty" to accept Hayden's paperwork as complete.

The second lawsuit involves Mark Robert Moon of St. Petersburg, a Democratic candidate for state Senate District 22, whose paperwork was rejected for this reason: On a form designating himself as his campaign's deputy treasurer, Moon signed his name once, but the form requires two signatures. Moon's lawsuit called that an "oversight" and argues that he "has complied and/or substantially complied with all the requirements of law to qualify as a Democratic candidate for nomination." Moon is represented by attorney Mark Herron.

Moon is seeking to run as a Democrat in a South Pinellas and South Tampa district that is competitive for candidates in both parties. The Republican candidates for the seat are Reps. Jeff Brandes and Jim Frishe.      

-- Steve Bousquet

Senate leadership endorses Rep. John Legg's campaign

It's been only two days since Sen. Jim Norman announced he wasn't running for re-election, but as expected support has coalesced around state Rep. John Legg's bid to join the Florida Senate. Five of the most powerful state senators jointly announced their support for Legg today in a statement sent out by the Republican Party of Florida.

Senate President-designate Don Gaetz joined Majority Leader Andy Gardiner, Jack Latvala, Joe Negron and John Thrasher in endorsing Legg. Gardiner will take over the presidency in 2014; Latvala, Negron and Thrasher all want to become Senate president in 2016.

Legg, a Port Richey Republican, faces former state Rep. Rob Wallace and security consultant John Korsak in the August primary.

His other endorsements include Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, House Speaker Dean Cannon, incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford, and Sen. Mike Fasano.

Here is the full text of the joint statement:

Citizens United backs Dave Weldon, calls Connie Mack 'puppet'

The group that made "Super PAC" a household word is making its presence known in Florida's Republican Senate race. It likes former Congressman Dave Weldon and isn't a big fan of current Congressman and frontrunner Connie Mack.

Will Citizens United back up the rhetoric with real Super PAC cash? We'll see. 

Read the press release after the jump.

DJJ secretary asks governor to clarify EBA contract; agency wants it bid out

Caught once in the crossfire between the Senate president and outspoken legislators over whether or not to seek bids for a $9.4 million contract, the Secretary of Department of Juvenile Justice now wants clarification on what to do with another $6 million for the same project.

At the behest of Senate President Mike Haridopolos, legislators gave the department the extra money this year as part of its eight-year-old effort to divert hardened juvenile delinquents from expensive residential treatment programs under the Redirections program. The lobbyist for the company that has the contract is Haridopolos' friend Frank Tsamoutales.

The $9.4 million contract expires in October 2013 and, despite that, several legislators wanted it put up for bid since the same company, Evidence Based Associates, had held the no-bid deal since 2004. See more here on that.

Meanwhile, the $6 million, which was appropriated for FY 2012-13, was added as a lump sum. Now the agency is asking: did the Legislature intend for the money to be put up for bid or given to EBA?  

Rick Scott: I was wrongly called dead, stripped from the voter rolls

From AP

Florida Gov. Rick Scott knows what it's like to be told that he's not a registered voter.

In a radio interview Thursday, Scott said he was forced to cast a provisional ballot because election officials thought he was dead.

Collier County election officials confirmed that in 2006, Scott was required to cast a provisional ballot in two elections. Scott was not yet in politics at the time.

The ballot was counted both times. Provisional ballots are given to those who show up at the polls but are not listed as a registered voter.

Scott is pushing to have Florida identify and remove non-U.S. citizens from the rolls. He has been defending the push on television and radio.

The U.S. Department of Justice has sued to halt the purge.

Of rifts in Jim Greer's legal camp and sloppy, trashy Tampa TV reporting at WTSP

James Cheney Mason and Donald A. Lykkebak, two Orlando lawyers representing former GOP Chairman Jim Greer, want out.

Mason is asking an Orlando circuit judge to allow him to withdraw from the criminal case scheduled for trial on July 30. Greer is charged with money laundering, grand theft and fraud in connection with money he received from the GOP while he was chairman of the party.

Greer says his other lawyer, Damon Chase of Lake Mary, is prepared to take the case to trial.

We don't know the reasons (lawyers ought not and don't talk about their clients), but there's good circumstantial evidence to suggest that Mason -- who successfully represented "tot mom" Casey Anthony last year -- has had enough of Greer as of late.

Two of Greer's lawyers withdraw from his criminal case

James Cheney Mason and Donald A. Lykkebak, two Orlando lawyers representing former GOP Chairman Jim Greer want out.

Mason is asking an Orlando circuit judge to allow him to withdraw from the criminal case scheduled for trial on July 30. Greer is charged with money laundering, grand theft and fraud in connection with money he received from the GOP while he was chairman of the party.

Greer says his other lawyer, Damon Chase of Lake Mary, is prepared to take the case to trial.

"No more delays, continuances, postponements for any reason, while some may have hoped or assumed this case would not go to trial, I want my day in court, Damon Chase knows this case in and out, and he is ready to aggressively represent and defend my case,’’ Greer wrote Wednesday night in an email to a Times reporter.