Two veteran politicians in South Florida are dueling in a nationally-watched
Congressional brawl to take over for tea party sensation U.S. Rep. Allen
West.
Redistricting changed the Broward/Palm Beach Congressional District 22 from a swing district to left-leaning territory. And that sent West packing his campaign to the more conservative Treasure Coast. The fall-out from that decision means former Florida House Majority Adam Hasner, sagging behind in the GOP U.S. Senate primary, switched to run for Congress in West’s place.
In November, Hasner of Boca Raton faces Democrat Lois Frankel, a former West Palm Beach mayor and state representative, who easily fended off a primary challenge by Broward County Commissioner Kristin Jacobs. Hasner and Frankel were close in the race for dollars before the primary. (Updated financial reports are expected in October.)
Frankel and Hasner have a unique shared history: When he was in high school, his mother ran Frankel’s first campaign for state House in 1986.
"As a teenage Republican at the time you can only imagine the tough negotiations at the Hasner house -- me trying to get the keys to the car on Friday night when I wasn’t going to go out and help my mom and her boss putting up yard signs Saturday morning," Hasner joked at a September forum in West Palm Beach.
"Say hello to your mother for me," Frankel later replied.
The two candidates have been fighting about Medicare, health care and each others' paychecks. PolitiFact checks two claims in this race -- one from a PAC that said while she was West Palm Beach mayor, "Frankel took a 40 percent pay raise with our money. We lost jobs." We also check an ad by Frankel that Hasner said "I'll never accept a pay increase," but the narrator points out he "voted to raise his pay four times.
Redistricting changed the Broward/Palm Beach Congressional District 22 from a swing district to left-leaning territory. And that sent West packing his campaign to the more conservative Treasure Coast. The fall-out from that decision means former Florida House Majority Adam Hasner, sagging behind in the GOP U.S. Senate primary, switched to run for Congress in West’s place.
In November, Hasner of Boca Raton faces Democrat Lois Frankel, a former West Palm Beach mayor and state representative, who easily fended off a primary challenge by Broward County Commissioner Kristin Jacobs. Hasner and Frankel were close in the race for dollars before the primary. (Updated financial reports are expected in October.)
Frankel and Hasner have a unique shared history: When he was in high school, his mother ran Frankel’s first campaign for state House in 1986.
"As a teenage Republican at the time you can only imagine the tough negotiations at the Hasner house -- me trying to get the keys to the car on Friday night when I wasn’t going to go out and help my mom and her boss putting up yard signs Saturday morning," Hasner joked at a September forum in West Palm Beach.
"Say hello to your mother for me," Frankel later replied.
The two candidates have been fighting about Medicare, health care and each others' paychecks. PolitiFact checks two claims in this race -- one from a PAC that said while she was West Palm Beach mayor, "Frankel took a 40 percent pay raise with our money. We lost jobs." We also check an ad by Frankel that Hasner said "I'll never accept a pay increase," but the narrator points out he "voted to raise his pay four times.
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