Rodriguez takes aim at Diaz de la Portilla's gun safety record in Sunday NBC appearance

@NewsbySmiley

Fighting to win South Florida's redrawn Senate District 37, incumbent Miguel Diaz de la Portilla and challenger Jose Javier Rodriguez played nice for much of a televised appearance Sunday morning on NBC's Impact with Jackie Nespral. But the final quarter of the 12-minute segment featured a barrage of attacks that highlighted the bitterness of the campaign, with Rodriguez attacking the Republican's record on gun control and Diaz de la Portilla blasting the Democrat for being "ineffective."

The tension began around the 9-minute mark, when Rodriguez, a Democrat and state representative, said Diaz de la Portilla "does not have a perfect record on gun safety," an issue taking on heightened importance in a district that leans a little to the left and features a large bloc of independent voters.

Diaz de la Portilla has won high-praise from gun-control activists for blocking so-called "open carry" and "campus carry" bills through his role as the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Last week, Everytown, a gun-control group backed by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, announced it would pay for ads supporting the incumbent.

But Rodriguez noted in the taped interview that Diaz de la Portilla has supported controversial bills, including a bill that allowed Gov. Rick Scott to remove local elected officials who tried to preempt state gun laws and the "Docs vs. Glocks" legislation in 2011, plus a failed 2016 effort to overhaul a key provision of Florida's controversial Stand Your Ground law that would have placed the burden of disproving immunity on the prosecution.

"Most of his career he was voting with the Rick Scott Republicans. For example, legislation that ... had it not been challenged in the courts would have prevented doctors from discussing gun safety with their patients, would have blocked local governments from being able to pass local gun safety issues, and actually it did," Rodriguez said. "And several other measures, including just this year, a bill I find extremely dangerous, that had it passed, and he voted for it, had it passed would have placed the burden on our prosecutors to prove the Stand Your Ground defense."

Given time to respond, Diaz de la Portilla blasted Rodriguez for being "ineffective" in the ultra-conservative House, choosing grand-standing over legislating. He said while Rodriguez has taken stances, he's been unable to block laws his constituents oppose.

"The key here is that Jose talks a lot about fighting for this and fighting for that and being opposed to certain things. The truth is he's been totally ineffective," Diaz de la Portilla said. "He passed one bill in four years as a state legislator. He hasn't put a penny in the budget for anything that's been supportive for our community here. And in terms of the gun issues, both those [open carry and campus carry] gun bills passed not only in 2015 but in 2016 [in the House] and Jose didn't do anything about it, couldn't do anything about it. I had to stop both those bad gun bills in the Florida Senate."

As Diaz de la Portilla spoke and the final seconds of the segment ticked away, Rodriguez unfolded a paper handout and gave Nespral a list his campaign has distributed of bills he has mostly co-sponsored that have passed and become law.

"The charge of being ineffective is simply not true," he said, shifting into an attack about Diaz de la Portilla -- who like Rodriguez is a licensed attorney -- being a "professional lobbyist."

The Republican shot back, squeezing in the final words of the appearance: "I am a practicing attorney ... and he is not. This list that he gave you is bills that other people sponsored that he's trying to take credit for. That's just not right. That's stealing somebody else's work."

"Most of his career he was voting with the Rick Scott Republicans. For example, legislation that ... had it not been challenged in the courts would have prevented doctors from discussing gun safety with their patients, would have blocked local governments from being able to pass local gun safety issues, and actually it did," Rodriguez said. "And several other measures, including just this year, a bill I find extremely dangerous, that had it passed, and he voted for it, had it passed would have placed the burden on our prosecutors to prove the Stand Your Ground defense."

Given time to respond, Diaz de la Portilla blasted Rodriguez for being "ineffective" in the ultra-conservative House, choosing grand-standing over legislating. He said while Rodriguez has taken stances, he's been unable to block laws his constituents oppose.

"The key here is that Jose talks a lot about fighting for this and fighting for that and being opposed to certain things. The truth is he's been totally ineffective," Diaz de la Portilla said. "He passed one bill in four years as a state legislator. He hasn't put a penny in the budget for anything that's been supportive for our community here. And in terms of the gun issues, both those [open carry and campus carry] gun bills passed not only in 2015 but in 2016 [in the House] and Jose didn't do anything about it, couldn't do anything about it. I had to stop both those bad gun bills in the Florida Senate."

As Diaz de la Portilla spoke and the final seconds of the segment ticked away, Rodriguez unfolded a paper handout and gave Nespral a list his campaign has distributed of bills he has mostly co-sponsored that have passed and become law.

"The charge of being ineffective is simply not true," he said, shifting into an attack about Diaz de la Portilla -- who like Rodriguez is a licensed attorney -- being a "professional lobbyist."

The Republican shot back, squeezing in the final words of the appearance: "I am a practicing attorney ... and he is not. This list that he gave you is bills that other people sponsored that he's trying to take credit for. That's just not right. That's stealing somebody else's work."