George LeMieux announces for U.S. Senate

"I'm in," George LeMieux told the St. Petersburg Times, in announcing his candidacy for U.S. Senate. "I'm in because the country and our government is on the risk of failure. This is a crisis. I saw it up close. If we don't rein in the spending we're going to melt the economy. I can't stand by on the sidelines and let that happen."

Adam C. Smith, St. Petersburg Times political editor

Connie Mack not running for Senate

U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV won't run for U.S. Senate.

"I've got two small children and it's hard enough to get to spend a lot of good quality time now. I have a wife. They are all very important to me and at the end of the day family has to be number one,'' Mack told the St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald.

His wife, kids and parents encouraged him to run and politically it made a lot of sense, he said. But the three-term congressman also considered his position in congress, saying he said he can be a leading advocate for cutting spending and taxes and, as chairman of House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, the 43-year-old Fort Myers Republican also a top voice on Latin America and challenging Hugo Chavez.

"I come at this from a different place than a lot of members. This decision, it wasn't an easy decision,'' said Mack, who was leading the GOP field in early polls.

Other Republicans running or expected to run include state Senate President Mike Haridopolos, former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner and former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux. Mack said he has not made any decision about endorsing in the primary but will not let up his criticism of incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

"Florida deserves a senator who walks and talks the same way," said Mack, who is married to U.S. Rep. Mary Bono Mack of California. "Sen. Nelson wants to try to pull the wool over the eyes of the people of Florida by voting as a liberal in Washington and then coming back home and pretending he's a moderate."

Gaming & tea-party trouble for Mike Haridopolos

Who knew someone from the tea party cared about more government revenue and gaming? Apparently, Everett Wilkinson, South Florida Tea Party, does. Here's his open letter to the senate president, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate.

 

March 14, 2011

Senator Mike Haridopolos 
President Florida State Senate 
409 The Capitol 
404 South Monroe Street 
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100

Dear Senator Haridopolos:

The Destination Casino bill now before the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee by the Las Vegas Sands corporation would cost the state $1.8 billion in lost Indian gaming revenue if it was passed and signed into law as written.This special interest bill is fiscally irresponsible as it is currently constituted.

A report in the Miami Herald said the Seminoles are paying the state $378 million a year based on the terms of the compact approved by the legislature and signed by Governor Charlie Crist. Passage of the Las Vegas Sands casino bill legalizing casinos outside of Dade and Broward would immediately end the Seminoles requirement to pay the state.It would be five years before the first casino opened. The state would lose $378 million or more each year. The one time $50 million licensing fees for the five casinos anticipated in the bill would not come close to making up this revenue loss, nor is it likely five casinos would ever be licensed.

George LeMieux standing by his rail stance

Count former Sen. George LeMieux as the only one of the only big-name Republican Senate hopefuls who isn't reversing course over his previous support of high-speed rail.

LeMieux's central point: Rejected federal money that has already been budgeted is simply giving spent money to someone else. Here's his statement:

“Washington spending is beyond out-of-control.  When I was in the U.S. Senate, I worked day and night to roll back spending, and that effort has to continue even more aggressively now.  But there’s an important difference between dealing with new spending and dealing with money that has literally already been appropriated.  Congress has, for its purposes, already spent the high speed rail money.  The only remaining issue is whether it comes to Florida or goes to California or New York.  Rejecting this money will do nothing to lower our debt.  It will only send transportation funds to another state.”

 “I believe to promote business and create jobs in Florida we need to increase our transportation capacity.  Florida’s size, multiple city centers, and poor intra-state air travel, make doing business in this state a challenge.  High speed rail, done right, could be the answer to that problem.  I understand the Governor’s concern of putting state government on the hook for hundreds of millions in continuing obligations.  I would seek a public-private partnership to alleviate that concern.”

 



Sofia Vergara's bf, Nick Loeb, could challenge Haridopolos for U.S. Senate

Millionaire Nick Loeb, boyfriend of 'Modern Family' star Sofia Vergara, is mulling a U.S. Senate bid in Florida, and that could be bad news for state Senate President Mike Haridopolos, who made a de-facto announcement last night via a leaked email.

In the past, millionaires for statewide office in Florida were a joke. But Gov. Rick Scott changed that. However, he proved that if you want to win office, you've gotta pony up sizable chunks of change ($76m in Scott's case). Albeit, Loeb doesn't have the same baggage Scott had, and he has the just-add-celebrity girlfriend who makes him irrestible to blog about.

Loeb said friends are encouraging him to run, and he's seriously considering it. But unlike Scott, he would plan on being a more traditional candidate who raises money from others.

"I'm not going to put $76 million into the race. I don't have $76 million," he said with a laugh. He said his girlfriend is supportive of him. He said their relationship was tested after he had a horrible car accident.

"Sofia was wonderful. She took care of me," he said. "During the Emmies, after she was nominated, she didn’t go out to the parties. She came right back to the hospital and stayed with me and she stayed on a green plastic bench thing for several days. She’s been great."

Marco Rubio: Obama administration putting out feelers on changes to U.S.-Cuba policy

Newly minted Florida Sen. Marco Rubio went on friendly airwaves Tuesday morning, in a Spanish-language radio interview to discuss U.S. policy toward Cuba.

Speaking on WAQI-710 AM -- better known as Radio Mambí -- Rubio said the Obama administration was already putting out "trial balloons" to feel out new members of Congress on their feelings toward loosening U.S. economic and travel restrictions on Cuba.

But the feelers won't go anywhere, Rubio said, because he and other like-minded senators and House members will educate their colleagues on the political reality in Cuba, including telling them about political prisoners like American Alan Gross, who has been imprisoned for more than a year.

A lot of elected officials don't know about the political reality in Cuba, Rubio said, not because they're Communists but because they come from states where the issue isn't discussed -- or where agricultural interests persuade them to let them sell their goods on the island.

As for his top issues in the Senate: "National security," Rubio said. "And the economy."

UPDATE: A link to the interview, in Spanish, is here.

At least it's near the cafeteria...

The senators-to-be are given not-so-plush new digs in a warren of offices in the basement of the Dirksen Office Building. It's a far cry from the platial Senate suites that they eventually move into, but, hey, at least it's near the cafeteria. (All that paper on the floor is resumes. Rubio's people said he's gotten lots -- with numerous jobs to fill.)

 

On election eve, Marco Rubio says he's no star

The day before his expected U.S. Senate victory, Republican Marco Rubio tried to play down his status as a national star leading a GOP wave of support into Tuesday’s election.

"This morning, I had to take out the trash because the truck was coming," he said at a Hialeah Republican campaign office Monday afternoon. "So nothing has changed at home."

Rubio said he was unaware that his photo graces the cover of Time magazine –- "Was that a jinx? Not like Sports Illustrated, is it?" -– and scoffed at the concept of political celebrities. "I don’t think there are stars in politics," he said. "American politics is not like that. American politics is about regular people."

But the scene only cemented Rubio’s standing as his party’s golden boy, with a crush of television crews and reporters mobbing him as he was greeted with applause by a couple dozen volunteers in an office festooned with a banner reading, "Hialeah is Marco Country."

Rubio drank Cuban coffee prepared by an 83-year-old supporter, posed for photos and said he would likely spend the rest of the day fielding radio and TV interviews. "We’re excited about what we think is going to happen," he said.

"What I’m proudest of in this campaign is that our message today is indistinguishable from the one we launched 21 months ago when I was 35 points down in the polls," he added, saying he was grateful for the early underdog status that forced his campaign to focus on his ideas and message. "I’m glad that’s how we started, and I’m really glad that’s how we’re going to finish it."

Crist stops in Pensacola, waves off Q poll

In Pensacola, Gov. Charlie Crist hit the tarmac at about 9:10 a.m. local time, meeting supporters and speaking to the assembled TV media for about 20 minutes. His closing argument, which he used on his bus tour as well, is centered around linking Republican frontrunner Marco Rubio with the tea party and controversial Republicans like Sarah Palin: "This race is about the mainstream versus extreme," said Crist.

Crist paid little attention to a new Q poll that has him trailing Rubio by 14 points. "The only thing I care about are the people," he said. And he told supporters, "We will shock the world when we all vote."

Included among the 30 or so who greeted him in Pensacola was 35-year-old substitute teacher and registered Republican Andrew Raines. Raines was supporting Crist for his veto of a controversial education bill linking pay to student performance: "That veto was remarkably bold, and impressive," Raines said.

-- Aaron Sharockman

Crist begins statewide flyaround

Independent U.S. Senate candidate Gov. Charlie Crist boarded a five seat King Air plane at Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg a little before 8:30 a.m. for a day long statewide flyaround. Wearing jeans and a navy blue polo shirt, Crist kicked off his shoes after the flight took off and read the morning papers during the first leg of the flight to Pensacola.

Hoarse from campaigning, Crist sucked on Halls cough drops, read the morning papers and gave the reporters and his campaign aide on board a guided tour of the Florida landscape.

He asked about the weather expected for Election Day. The higher the turnout, the better: "Democracy is a wonderful thing," Crist said.

Crist also made a little news during the morning flight, saying he will remain a registered no party independent regardless of who he caucuses with if elected to the U.S. Senate.