Sink calls for feds to takeover oil cleanup

With the oil still gushing unabated, CFO Alex Sink is asking President Barack Obama to take control of the Gulf cleanup efforts. "Floridians want to know: Where is the Federal government’s leadership?" she wrote in a letter to the White House. "Why must a small business owner looking for assistance through this crisis have to work through BP – why isn’t the Federal government handling claims of lost income and revenue, and interfacing with BP on behalf of Florida’s citizens?

Sink, a Democrat, asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar or Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to brief the Cabinet tomorrow. (Or a future meeting, given the less-than-24-hour notice.)

Meanwhile, her potential Democratic gubernatorial rival Bud Chiles is demanding the state cut the involvement of a private firm, WRSCompass, who is helping counties makes oil disaster plans. “The very idea that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has delegated one of its most basic responsibilities to a private company with questionable credentials should be appalling to our citizens," he said in a statement through a PR agency. "The fact that this firm numbers oil companies among its clients raises serious questions about whether it can be trusted to work in the public interest."

Voters undecided in statewide 2010 races

A new Ron Sachs/Mason-Dixon poll shows wide open races for statewide offices with few voters confident about which candidate to elect. (Here are the findings.)

Take the race for Attorney General: voters are 73 percent undecided in the Democratic primary (feature Sen. Dan Gelber verse Sen. Dave Aronberg) and 72 percent undecided in the three-way Republican primary (which pits Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp against prosecutor Pam Bondi and former agency head Holly Benson).

The most intriguing figures come in the Agriculture Commissioner election where the poll tested a the match-up between Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam and former Tallahassee mayor Scott Maddox, a Democrat. It's a deadlock with Maddox at 31 percent, Putnam at 30 percent and undecideds at 39 percent. (The margin of error is 4 percent for this question.)

"The huge number of undecided voters is really where this election rests," said PR guru Ron Sachs, whose firm isn't representing any candidates.

Poll: Rick Scott draws to within 14 points of Bill McCollum.

Rick Scott is closing in on Bill McCollum, making the Republican race a 38-24-7 contest, with Lakeland Sen. Paula Dockery in the single digits.

First quarter fundraising roundup

Here are the highlights of the official first quarter fundraising numbers that came out last night. (With a helpful assist from Christina Johnson over at On3PR)

Toplines in the governor's race: Republican Bill McCollum raised just less than 1.4 million in the first three months of 2010, compared with Democrat Alex Sink's 1.1 million. Sink still holds the overall edge in campaign cash, though, with $5 million on hand compared to $3.8 million for McCollum. GOP challenger Paula Dockery has $410,000 on hand. That figure includes $280,000 in personal cash she has put into her campaign.

An interesting note in the AG race. Days before the official numbers came out, Democratic Sen. Dan Gelber announced an impressive haul of $330,000. Turns out that number was pumped up with about $100,000 worth of in-kind contributions. His actual cash haul was $218,000.

Other AG candidates: Sen. Dave Aronberg took in $259,000 to use in the primary against Gelber. On the Republican side: Lt. Gov Jeff Kottkamp raised $232k, Pam Bondi raised $222k and Holly Benson raised $198k.

Senate President Jeff Atwater and Congressman Adam Putnam both opened up wider leads in their races for CFO and Agriculture Commissioner. Atwater took in $446,000 and has almost $2 million on hand. His Democratic challenger, Loranne Ausley has $346,000 on hand. Putnam had about $1.2 million on hand, while Democrat Scott Maddox has $314,000.

Alex Sink gathers signatures against teacher tenure bill

Calling the legislation an unfunded mandate, Chief Financial Officer and Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink circulated a petition against the so-called "tenure bill" Friday.

From the campaign: Florida's students, parents, teachers, and schools just suffered a serious blow: Late last night, Tallahassee politicians passed a bill dictating a rigid, one-size-fits-all policy to our local schools. Now, it is on Governor Crist's desk, waiting for his signature. And it's up to us to stop it.

It's time for Governor Crist to listen to the parents, students, and teachers he represents -- and oppose this bill before it hurts our schools and students.

With Governor Crist poised to make his final decision as early as today, we have to make our voices heard now on this issue. Please join me and speak out!

Florida senator: Republican Crist, Democrat Sink think alike

Incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos linked Republican Gov. Charlie Crist to Democratic CFO Alex Sink in a partisan missive criticizing Crist for vetoing the leadership funds legislation.

"His uninformed veto comments did not reflect the stringent details of the bill, rather, it parroted the talking points of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink," Haridopolos, the bill's Senate sponsor, said in a statement issued by his legislative office.

Haridopolos and Crist -- who spent a good chunk of time campaigning together for GOP presidential nominee John McCain in 2008 -- disagreed about whether the bill would let leading lawmakers raise money during the legislative session, a practice that is currently banned.

Read his full statement below.

Sink bashes leadership funds bill

Democratic gubernatorial candidate and chief financial officer Alex Sink called on Gov. Charlie Crist to veto Tuesday a bill that would allow a few legislators to create powerful new fundraising machines known as leadership funds to influence future election cycles.

 

Read the press release below.

Crist takes responsibility for putting Greer at helm

In an interview, Gov. Charlie Crist said he is growing increasingly disillusioned with how former Chairman Jim Greer and the Republican Party handled secret contracts and spent money on party credit cards.

“It’s a mess,” Crist said in an interview. “This thing stinks.”

“A federal comprehensive investigation is ... fully appropriate,” he added, crediting CFO Alex Sink for suggesting the idea. “Particularly because of the significant IRS implications throughout this thing.”

Asked what took him so long, after months of demands from Democrats and Republicans for a federal investigation, he said: "I think it was being handled appropriately at the outset, based on what we knew at the time, and as I just said, the more facts you become aware of, the more concerned somebody who is fair and honest would become. And its simply a matter of that process."

Crist also acknowledged he put Greer at the helm. "I take responsibility for that but I think that again, once you become aware of what the facts are. I think an appropriate response is absolutely what is required. And I think it's required."

CFO Sink calls for special prosecutor to investigate GOP

Democrat CFO Alex Sink sent a letter to AG Bill McCollum (her gubernatorial rival) asking him to appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate criminal activity at the Republican Party of Florida concerning former Chairman Jim Greer. This is the only way to avoid a conflict of interest, her letter states.

"It is only through a completely independent investigation that Floridians can have confidence that any criminal activity that may have occurred in the Republican Party will be properly addressed,” Sink said in a statement. “We need an independent prosecutor leading this investigation, and not a Cabinet agency.”

The request from Sink's office mirrors the one earlier in the week from Democratic Party Chairman Karen Thurman. McCollum played a key role in helping to oust Greer. When the party presented him with the latest audit showing the party paid a shell company Greer secretly owned, McCollum asked FDLE to investigate.

Dockery takes a stand; McCollum, Sink don't

The most heated debate in Tallahassee today is expected to concern Sen. J.D. Alexander's plan to close two state-run prisons to populate the private Blackwater prison in the Panhandle.

Where do the three leading gubernatorial candidates stand on the issue?

Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum dodged the issue and CFO Alex Sink, a Democrat, wasn't available for comment. Only upstart Republican candidate Paula Dockery, a state senator from Lakeland, took a stand. She called the deal "outrageous" and demanded a more thorough vetting.

McCollum's office issued a non-answer: "The Legislature is in the very early stages of the budget process, and I know they are facing tough decisions. I encourage them to continue to make public safety a top priority as they move forward in budget negotiations." His office didn't respond to follow-up questions.

And Sink's office said they couldn't reach her Tuesday evening.

As the candidates avoid the issue, state lawmakers worked behind closed doors late Tuesday to strike a compromise on Blackwater and the cuts to the Department of Corrections.