Aronberg gets labor endorsement

Attorney General candidate Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, just announced he is the first AG candidate to get endorsed by a labor union or group.

The International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), AFL-CIO, District Council 78 Florida, is backign Aronberg over his Democratic opponent Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach.

“I am honored by IUPAT's endorsement,” Aronberg said in a release. "These dedicated men and women can be confident that when I am Attorney General, I will continue to stand up for the working people of our state."

IUPAT DC 78 Florida represents more than 5,000 members in Florida.

McCollum shows support for anti-EPA effort

AG Bill McCollum is indicating support for a big business, anti-tax effort to stop the federal Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing water quality standards in the Florida's waterways.

In letter (download here) asking DEP Secretary Michael Sole to brief the Cabinet, McCollum embraces many of the talking points espoused at a press conference Thursday. The political calculation is not surprising -- any Republican likes to stab at the Democratic administration in Washington -- and it is sure to draw a distinction between his GOP primary opponent Paula Dockery, whose is likely to campaign on her environmental credentials. What is more surprising: the letter came to us from Ron Sachs' PR firm, which is behind the donttaxflorida.com effort, not from McCollum's office.

Update: McCollum spokeswoman Sandi Copes said the attorney general's office has been working on the letter "for more than a week now'' and they "didn't know anything about the talking points. We had our water attorney draft the letter." She acknowledged "it could become a political issue in the future. We're not there yet."  

House staffer leaving to run Benson's A.G. campaign

Former state Rep. Holly Benson of Pensacola has hired a full-time campaign manager for her race for attorney general: Celeste Lewis, a former high-level aide to Gov. Jeb Bush. Lewis, 44, is currently the staffer in the House speaker's office responsible for appointments, correspondence and public records requests. Her last day in the House will be Friday, Nov. 20.

Lewis is a former Republican Party staffer and was part of the campaign team for all three of Bush's campaigns for governor in 1994, 1998 and 2002. The Benson campaign is shopping for campaign office space in Tallahassee, campaign spokeswoman Sarah Bascom said.

-- Steve Bousquet

In light of SEC probe, Gelber pushes plan to remove AG from SBA

Sen. Dan Gelber, vying to be Florida's next attorney general, says the proposed anticorruption package he unveiled earlier this week is more vital than ever in light of confirmation this week that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating possible fraud by the board that oversees the state pension fund.

The reform package by Gelber, D-Miami Beach, would remove the AG from the SBA board, which now consists of the Governor, AG and Chief Financial Officer. Gelber says the AG should have "more arms length oversight" that will lead to prosecuting wrongdoing if needed.

Gelber pushes package of anti-corruption measures

Sen. Dan Gelber, the Miami Beach Democrat who's running for attorney general, used an appearance before Florida prosecutors Wednesday to push a series of legislative proposals aimed at restoring honesty in government. Gelber said historically, the Legislature has been "very cold" to the idea of cracking down on forms of corruption, but that a string of scandals may have changed the atmosphere. 

"I believe there's an appetite this year," Gelber told the state attorneys, seated around him on the Capitol's 22nd floor. "I think the amount of public corruption prosecutions has created a total lapse of credibility with the public."

Among Gelber's proposals to clean up government:

* Prohibit legislators from controlling soft-money committees known as committees of continuous existence that can accept unlimited amounts of money from legislators.

* Passage of a so-called "theft of honest services" law at the state level, similar to a federal law that has been a useful tool for federal prosecutors to prosecute corruption cases.

* Apply more "sunshine" to the Legislature and require faster turn-around time for public records requests.

* Make agencies' inspectors general more independent. Instead of reporting to their agency heads, they should report to the state Auditor General, and cound be fired only with the agreement of at least three of four Cabinet members.

Gelber is seeking the Democratic nomination for attorney general along with Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres. 

-- Steve Bousquet

Benson loves Florida, Kottkamp thinks she's 'nice and pleasant'

AHCA Secretary Holly Benson just made official her run for attorney general, pitting herself against Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp in the Republican primary next fall.

Benson made her announcement from the steps of the courthouse in her hometown of Pensacola, which she represented in the state House for six years.

"I am running for Florida's Attorney General because I love Florida and because we need people in government who understand and live by the principles that make this state great," said Benson, who was introduced by Former Florida Supreme Court Justice Ken Bell.
 
"At a time when government needs to be at its most effective and responsible, people are deeply troubled that government is even more out of touch, more out of control and is expanding its power, while abandoning the principles that make Florida a great place to live, work and raise a family. Every elected official has a choice to make and a role to play.  Few positions will be as critical to the future in this state as Attorney General."

The LG's campaign folks managed to undercut Benson's announcement, sending the following statement before Sarah Bascom sent Benson's out: "We served together in the Legislature and I have always found her to be a nice and pleasant individual. I look forward to a positive issue-oriented primary campaign."

Holly Benson's high-priced emails

Want to see whom Holly Benson corresponded with when she was the head of the Agency for Health Care Administration? Well, it'll cost you about $20,000.

Actually, it will cost Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp's attorney general campaign that much. Benson, who resigned her AHCA post this morning, is likely to run against her fellow Republican for the seat. A major reason the cost is so high: AHCA says it needs an attorney to review the emails to ensure that confidential health information isn't disclosed. Also of interest: Thousands of emails stemming from Benson's earlier tenure as the chief of DBPR.

The emails could contain information that could be used against Benson in a campaign. But then, it might be a bunch of boring healthcare/business reg chatter. Amid all the rumblings about Benson's plans, Kottkamp's political advisor, Rocky Pennington, requested Benson's email correspondence last month. This morning, AHCA wrote back in an email:

"There were about 48,000 emails. At 1 minute per email to review, that would be 800 hours at $25/hr, which is the lowest attorney salary. So we would need $20K up front before we do the review.  However, if you don’t need all emails maybe there are only specific ones you are looking for please let us know that. Thanks."

Is this the same most-open-administration-ever of Gov. Charlie Crist? Sure, it's open. But for a price that could help solve Florida's budget crisis.

Holly Benson resigns...to run for AG?

Here's Holly Benson's resignation letter from the Agency for Health Care Administration. Is an announcement that she's running for attorney general coming next?

I love coming to work with you every day. I love walking the halls, hearing your ideas, learning about the great things you're doing, laughing at your stories. I have watched you put in long hours to keep Floridians safe, to ensure they have access to the care they need, to drive innovation and transparency in our health care system, to keep this Agency running and streamline our operations. . . to work for Better Health Care for all Floridians. But. . .  I had a meeting with the Governor the other day to talk about some opportunities that lie ahead, and I regret that because of those opportunities I will no longer be able to serve as your Secretary. I have submitted my resignation and will be leaving this truly outstanding team in two weeks. I hope you know what an honor and a privilege it has been to serve beside you. I am in awe of what you do and will sing your praises wherever my path takes me. Thank you for your friendship, and thank you for all you do for the people of this great state.

Aronberg rules out congressional bid

State Sen. Dave Aronberg of Greenacres admits to getting more than one call from fellow Democrats encouraging him to drop his bid for attorney general against state Sen. Dave Gelber of Miami Beach and run for the congressional seat to be vacated by Robert Wexler. And he says he's told them no way.

"I'm entirely focused on being attorney general,'' Aronberg said. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win the AG seat that I've long coveted...I can do a lot more for the state as AG than I think I could as a member of Congress." 

Would have been mighty awkward for Aronberg to switch races after waxing poetic at Sunday's debate about how the attorney general job was his "life's ambitition'' and "dream job."

Dan Gelber leads rivals in AG cash race

Hauling in $314,250 last quarter, state Sen. Dan Gelber outraised his Democratic rival for Attorney General, Sen. Dave Aronberg, who pulled in $228,099. Kind of unexpected, this, considering Aronberg is a money-raising machine, though his cash-raising aggressiveness led to a $50,000 check from a political committee controlled by now-indicted political player Alan Mendelsohn. Oops.**

Rarer still (this current gov race excepted), each Democrat outraised a Republican, Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, who pulled in $175,419.

**Note: Gelber has an indirect and far less expensive tie to Mendelsohn. In 2004, while in the House, he sponsored a failed amendment that would have benefitted an alleged Mendelsohn lobbying client, credit-counseling agency owner Howard Dvorkin. Incidentally, Aronberg sponsored the bill that Mendelsohn fought against. All of this is just to say that Alan Mendelsohn, who played a behind the scenes role in so many races, could become a campaign issue himself.