Senate Rs are Bronx bound for Yankee fundraiser

Florida's Republican Senators are heading north to host a New York City fundraiser for baseball fans on Saturday, Sept. 12.

The invitation "to experience the new Yankee Stadium" and contribute generously to Senate Majority 2010 is being sent by the Republican Party of Florida. First Pitch between the NY Yankees and Baltimore Orioles is at 1:05 p.m.

The squeeze play is hosted by Senate President Jeff Atwater, Pro Tem Mike Fasano, and Sens. Mike Haridopolos, Mike Bennett, Don Gaetz and Andy Gardiner.

Who raised the most for 2010?

Here's the list of the top 20 money grabbers running for state office in 2010** this past quarter:

Alex Sink	$1,613,474.17
Bill McCollum	$1,059,278.05
Jeff Atwater	$   532,452.50
Adam Putnam	$   384,961.74
John Thrasher	$   272,878.56
Jack Latvala	$   233,959.64
Dave Aronberg	$   173,512.00
Miguel A. Diaz de la Portilla	$   163,950.00
Anitere Flores	$   162,700.80
David Rivera	$   161,504.00
Dan Gelber	$   152,053.50
Ben Albritton	$   148,435.85
Bill Montford	$   111,204.73
Josue Larose	$   100,000.00
Kevin C. Ambler	$     93,778.12
Samantha Ruiz Cohen	$     88,858.00
Carey Baker	$     73,454.46
David R. Maymon	$     68,535.00
Rene Garcia	$     62,245.00
Loranne Ausley	$     61,038.53

Note: the list includes in-kind contributions (was too lazy to cull them out). Even so, consider that Gov. Charlie Crist raised so much money ($4.3m) in his U.S. Senate bid that it exceeds the top 8 state candidates combined (caveat: federal candidates can raise way more cash.**

**Another Note: this doesn't include those who are listed to run for office in 2012 (though they're going to be running in 2010 because the incumbent is running for another office). So this would include Ellyn Bogdanoff (c. $89k) and Nick Loeb ($238k -- whoa! -- though apparently lots of this money is rollover from another campaign).

FlaDems outraise RPOF

Here's a switch: The Florida Democratic party outraised the state GOP in the three months that ended June 30, $1.19-million to $1.16. That's the first time that's happened in a second quarter since 1996, when the Division of Elections started putting the records online.

Both parties still spent more than they took in (including $250,000 in American Express charges the RPOF), though the GOP's numbers included $400,000 transferred to its federal account.

Democrats counted 1,740 donations and Republicans 224. The Democrats' biggest single donor was  Charles Brink of Tampa, co-founder of the Mona Vie drink company who gave $100,000, and the DNC gave the state party $76,000. The Republicans' biggest single donor was TECO, which gave $70,000.

On3PR has again put together a handy spread sheet of all the state candidates' campaign finance numbers.

-- Adam Smith

Here's a switch: The Florida Democratic party outraised the state GOP in the three months that ended June 30, $1.19-million to $1.16. That's the first time that's happened in a second quarter since 1996, when the Division of Elections started putting the records online.

Both parties still spent more than they took in (including $250,000 in American Express charges the RPOF), though the GOP's numbers included $400,000 transferred to its federal account.

Democrats counted 1,740 donations and Republicans 224. The Democrats' biggest single donor was  Charles Brink of Tampa, co-founder of the Mona Vie drink company who gave $100,000, and the DNC gave the state party $76,000. The Republicans' biggest single donor was TECO, which gave $70,000.

On3PR has again put together a handy spread sheet of all the state candidates' campaign finance numbers.

-- Adam Smith

Charlie Crist sued over "developer friendly" growth management act

The city of Weston and seven other cities announced they're suing the state (Gov. Charlie Crist, etc) over the growth-management act, which they say violates constitutional rules limiting the enactment of laws to encompass one subject. They also claim the Legislature failed to follow proper procedures when it cost-shifted state responsibilities on to local governments. In a press release, the plaintiffs claim the "developer friendly" act "was designed to shift some of the burdens of development from developers to local government taxpayers."

The other plaintiffs: Village of Key Biscayne, Town of Cutler Bay, Lee County, City of Deerfield Beach, City of Miami Gardens, City of Fruitland Park, City of Parkland.

Suit is here Download Complaint and Civil Cover Sheet

Llorente pulls out of Senate race

State Rep. Marcelo Llorente is pulling out of a three-way Republican primary for the state Senate in 2010 and setting his sights on the Miami-Dade county mayor's office in 2012.

A press release said one of his Senate rivals, state Rep. David Rivera, will attend the official announcement tomorrow, but Llorente said he is not throwing his support behind Rivera. Rivera outraised Llorente $235,335 to $133,750 in the first three months of this year.

"I felt comfortable with where we were in the senate race,'' Llorente said. "At the end of the day, my decision was about wanting to spend more time with my children at home, not in Tallahassee.''

The third Republican in the race, state Rep. Anitere Flores, raised $9,025 through the end of March. A survey last week by Florida International University associate professor Dario Moreno showed Rivera beating Flores by a 2-1 margin. More than half of the voters were undecided. Moreno said Llorente was not included in the poll, which was conducted for a private client.

The Senate district is currently represented by Alex Villalobos, who said he had been planning to help Llorente take his seat.

Who's bankrolling redistricting reform?

While the group trying to overhaul the way Florida draws congressional and legislative districts is officially non-partisan, most of the money behind it is Democratic to the core. 

Top donors to FairDistrictsFlorida.org include Christopher Findlater of Naples ($200,000), Charles Brink of Tampa ($100,000), SEIU ($75,000), Janet Boyle of Fort Lauderdale, ($32,000), Wilkes & McHugh of Tampa ($25,000), Frank Brunckhorst of Sarasota ($55,000). Wayne Hogan ($25,000), Eugene Stearns of Key Biscayne ($25,000), Alison Miller of Coral Gables ($25,000) the Grossman Roth law firm of Coral Gables (1$15,000) and Donald Hinkle of Tallahassee ($10,000.)

The group has raised about $1 million, with most of the money -- $670,000 -- going to California-based PCI Consultants Inc., which deploys petition gatherers around the state. Wait until the Republican party gets a hold of this -- PCI stands for Progressive Campaigns Inc. and describes itself as "playing a leading role in promoting nationwide campaigns to reform our nation's drug laws."

Organized opposition has yet to emerge, but give it time. The likely sources: Allies of the Republican party who want to keep redistricting in GOP hands, and possibly, black incumbents worried about job security. Of the three black members of Congress from Florida, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek of Miami supports the petition drive, while U.S. Reps. Alcee Hastings of Miramar and Corrine Brown of Jacksonville are not on board. None of them returned repeated calls from The Miami Herald last week, suggesting the issue's politically sensitivity.

Story here.

The Dennis Kucinich of Florida's Senate race

Remember Dennis Kucinich?

Squint hard and you may recall the Democratic congressman from the 2007 presidential debates. He had served more years in office than that whippersnapper Barack Obama. He raised issues that no other candidate was willing to address.

Kucinich was virtually ignored by the media and the voters.

Today, Kevin Burns is the Dennis Kucinich, the Rodney Dangerfield, the Kevin who? of Florida's U.S. Senate race. The North Miami mayor who brought the city new schools and a greener image gets no respect.

"There's no doubt that I am a credible, viable candidate,'' Burns insisted recently over breakfast, saying what goes without saying for most credible, viable candidates.

Keep reading here.

Christian Coalition director steps down to work on campaigns

From a press release:

The Christian Coalition of Florida announced today that Dennis Baxley [former Republican House member] will be stepping down as Executive Director effective June 1, 2009.

"Over the last 18 months, we have had an exciting time building the organization and increasing communications with our members. We have produced and distributed 3 million voter guides and collaborated with other pro-family organizations on a whole range of issues. And there is still opportunity for Florida's Christian Coalition to grow in size and influence," Baxley said. "I am grateful to have had this platform to touch public policy."

Dennis Baxley is an Ocala business owner who served in the Florida House of Representatives. Mr. Baxley will be leaving Christian Coalition of Florida to work with political campaigns.

"Dennis has been an enormous asset to the organization during these difficult economic times. The Board and staff are very thankful for his hard work and leadership over the past 18 months. We all wish him well in his future calling," said Bill Stephens.

Former Executive Director Bill Stephens will serve as interim director until a new Executive Director is appointed by the Board of Directors. Bill Stephens served as Executive Director from 2003 to 2007 and has remained on staff as administrator and lobbyist.

 

Did McCarty's insurance deputy lie to Congress?

Coventry First LLC, a viaticals company has written a letter to Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty demanding that his office correct "false and misleading" testimony that deputy commissioner Mary Beth Senkewicz allegedly gave during an April 29th Congressional hearing.

At issue: Senkewicz said Coventry "refused to file an Annual Report for the period ending December 31, 2008..."

The problem, says Coventry lawyer Frank J. Santry's letter: "Only seven weeks earlier, on March 10, 2009, Ms. Senkewicz signed a letter [attached as Exhibit 1] to Coventry which read:

'On February 25, 2009, the Office of Insurance Regulation (“Office”) received Coventry First, LLC’s “Coventry”) audited financial statement, report of life expectancy providers and license fee. The Office acknowledges that this fulfills Coventry’s 2 obligations under Section 626.9913(2), Florida Statutes for calendar year 2008.'

Oops. Seems like a simple thing to clear up, right? Nah. It took McCarty's office the entire day to produce this response: "We have received the Coventry letter, reviewed it, and will send a response to the Senate Committee next week. Coventry’s underlying allegation in its letter regarding Deputy Senkewicz’s testimony is false."

This is the second time in as many weeks that McCarty/his office has been accused of deception. Bradenton Sen. Mike Bennett said the commissh lied to him. More here on that.

Coventry's letter is here: Download Letter to McCarty

The politics of Obama's SC pick

President Barack Obama's decision to nominate Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court -- she would be the first Hispanic member -- could boost Democratic efforts to lock down one of the most important swing votes in the country.

Look for the reaction in the booming Puerto Rican community in central Florida, which has supported both Republican and Democratic candidates in the past but favored Obama in 2008. Sotomayor was born in New York to parents from Puerto Rico. Sotomayor boasts the classic, up-from-the-bootstraps American success story -- raised by a single mother in a Bronx housing project, she went on to graduate with honors from Princeton University and Yale Law School.

Her nomination also puts the Republican party, which lost ground with Hispanics during the battle over immigration reform, in the potentially awkward position of opposing a historic nomination. How will South Florida's Hispanic members of Congress and other prominent Hispanic Republicans in Florida react?