Bill Helmich: The man behind the Farrakhan flier?

A new shadowy campaign figure has emerged in the bareknuckle brawl that is Jacksonville's Republican senate race: Bill Helmich.

Two trusted sources say the lobbyist/consultant/direct-mail guru was the one responsible for establishing a 527 called the "Conservative Voters Coalition," which produced a flier warning Republican voters about the threat of Democrats intimidating them at the polls. The flier depicts President Obama, Louis Farrakhan (mistaken by some as Jeremiah Wright), Black Panthers and ACORN protesters. It warns Republicans to request absentee ballots to avoid problems on Election Day, Sept. 15, when absolutely no protesters are anticipated to be anywhere near the polls.

Helmich didn't want to comment, but acknowledged (after we ambushed him) that he knew the woman who's the front for the group, Erin Di Cesare, a former FSU student who has no other known political background. She didn't return a Herald/Times call to her personal cell phone.

"Yeah, I know her," Helmich said. "But I'm not commenting on whether she's a client. I don't comment about clients. I don't comment on who's not a client."

Helmich knew of her through a mutual acquaintance, according to sources. Though Di Cesare's a registered Democrat, it appears she's a mole of sorts. "She's a Republican," the acquaintance said. The lawyer who set up the Coalition, David Ramba, said he couldn't comment on who was really behind Di Cesare.

At first blush, the flier would seem to attack Jacksonville City Councilman Art Graham, the only black man in the four-way Republican race. But that doesn't make sense. Polls show he's running fourth and he's therefore no threat worth spending money on. (Another oddity: the flier pulls a punch by blocking out the words "Allah" on the podium where Farrakahn stands).

Anyway, businessman Dan Quiggle's likely in the lead in the polls, former House Speaker and (now former) lobbyist John Thrasher is second and former Rep. Stan Jordan is third.

Pew Research: More Hispanics in Florida now Dems, than Repubs

Florida's changing demographics and political make-up have led to a major shift among Hispanic voters this election year, according to a new report by the Pew Hispanic Center. Hispanic registration is up 22 percent over 2006 and more are registered Democrats than Republicans.

"Unlike in the rest of the country, the Latino vote in the Sunshine State has tended to be heavily Republican; but changing politics and demographics have produced a substantial shift in electoral rolls,'' the report concludes.

Hispanics make up 12 percent of the state's 11.2 million registered voters, up from 11 percent in 2006. Also of note: Cuban Americans represent only 34 percent of eligible Hispanic voters today, compared to 46 percent in 1990. Meanwhile, 29 percent of Hispanic voters are of Puerto Rican ancestry, compared to 24 percent in 1990, while 37 percent are from other Hispanic nationalities. Download hispanic_voters.pdf

Crist extends early voting hours

Declaring a state of emergency at Florida polling stations, Gov. Charlie Crist today signed an executive order extending early voting hours.

Effective immediately, early voting sites will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., through Friday, Oct. 31, 2008 and 12 hours total between 7 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, and 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2.

Crist said he had talked to Secretary of State Kurt Browning and members of the Florida Legislature and "concluded that it is always the right thing to do to give voters every opportunity to cast a ballot.

"I have a responsibility to the voters of our state to ensure that the maximum number of citizens can participate in the electoral process, and that every person can exercise the right to vote," Crist said.

Early voting began Oct. 20 and runs through Nov. 2.  Current Florida law allows for early voting to be conducted eight hours per day on each weekday, and for a total of eight hours during both weekends during the early voting period.

Florida voters can also request absentee ballots to be mailed to them until October 29.

Browning tells Nelson he'll recommend cooperation with the feds

Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning tells Sen. Bill Nelson he'll encourage local elections' supervisors to cooperate with federal investigators looking at voting booth access for seniors and the disabled.

Florida had been the lone hold out in the states contacted for the survey, but Browning says in a letter dated today that the state supports the study and will encourage the counties effected -- including Miami-Dade and Broward -- to cooperate.

Jill Biden comes to Florida to push for more early voting

    The early voting lines are long but Jill Biden, wife Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, will be in Florida on Friday and Saturday to encourage Democrats to continue casting their ballots before election day.

   Jill Biden, an English teacher at a community college in Delaware, won't make it all the way down to South Florida; she'll concentrate on the northern and central part of the state.

   On Friday, she'll visit Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Palm Coast, New Smyrna and Cocoa Beach.

   On Saturday, she will hold events in the Orlando, Lakeland and Tampa areas.

  Jill Biden will focus her comments on the high cost of community college tuition and textbooks.

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Senators to Browning: Let us in!

Two US senators have asked Florida -- the lone hold out -- to give government investigators access to polling places on Election Day.

Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. and Herb Kohl, D-Wisconsin, say the inspection is part of a nationwide study examining voting access for aging and disabled voters. They say while some states have allowed limited access to the polls, Florida is the only state to deny full access to the polls.

The Government Accountability Office had sought access to four Florida counties: Miami-Dade, Broward, Pinellas and Hillsborough.

"It is vitally important that the GAO be allowed to study our nation’s election system, especially in Florida, where so many seniors live," Feinstein said. "Once again, Florida will be crucial to the outcome of the presidential election."

The two have asked Secretary of State Kurt Browning to reconsider and suggested ways to allow limited access.

Crist plays the terror card

So much for Gov. Charlie Crist being the sunny optimist.

The Republican Party of Florida just sent out this Crist mailer urging people to vote early to ensure that America saves itself from terrorism.

Q Poll: Florida voters not sold on Wall Street bail out

The new Q poll shows Florida voters oppose the proposed $700 billion bid to shore up Wall Street, but not by a huge margin: 42 to 36 percent.

But 60 percent of Florida voters say the economy is the most important issue in the election, with voters post-debate saying they trust Barack Obama more than John McCain 53 percent to 39 percent.

And that's bad news for McCain, said Peter Brown, director of the university's polling institute. He says the "Wall Street meltdown has been a dagger to McCain's political heart. Roughly a third of voters, and almost as large a share of the key independent vote, say McCain did more harm than good in trying to resolve the financial crisis, and the share of voters who see the economy as the top issue has risen from roughly half to six in ten."

The poll suggests voters weren't all that impressed with McCain's call last week to suspend his campaign and return to Washington to solve the financial crisis: post debate, voters said 53-20 percent that Obama's role in trying to solve the economic crisis has been helpful more than harmful, compared to 45-31 percent for McCain.

Raul Martinez: The numbers are on our side

New voter registration stats show Florida Democrats on the uptick, with the the party increasing its ranks by 252,600 voters, up 6 percent.

That includes gains in the Republican leaning congressional district now held by Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, who is being challenged by Raul Martinez, the former mayor of Hialeah. Martinez's camp points out that according to the stats, GOP registration in the district has dropped below 40 percent of total registered voters "for the first time since the district was created."

The district is now separated by a narrow 4.66 percent in party registration, what Martinez's camp calls a "drastic change" from the 9 percent in party registration in 2006. In the last 30 days, the campaign says, Democrats gained 2,000 registered voters resulting in a 60 day gain of 4,654 voters. Since the 2006 election, Democrats have gained 12,036 voters and Republicans have lost 1,111.

Now the question is, will all those new voters come to the polls in November?

'Trouble in paradise?' Blame Florida politics.

So says Miami Herald columnist Fred Grimm, who writes today about how not much has changed since Time magazine's cover story 27 years ago.

"The first story created a storm of local reaction -- anger, denial, even a bit of introspection. But hardly anyone paid much attention to a quote deep in the story from Dan Paul, Miami's great civic reformer,'' Grimm writes. "Twenty-seven years later, Paul's rhetorical question reads like a warning bell that never stopped ringing. He asked, 'How do you deal with these issues in a political climate that demands instant gratification?'

"Until Paul's question gets resolved, Time magazine will have an endless opportunity to rediscover trouble in paradise."

Column here.