Florida Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, one of Florida's 29 presidential electors, said he has received several hundred messages from people who don't want him to vote for Donald Trump. But he says he'll cast his vote for Trump when the electors meet next Monday, Dec. 19, in the newly-remodeled state Senate chamber in Tallahassee.
"I read them. Most of them come from states won by Secretary Clinton," Negron said in a Times/Herald interview. "The common theme of the letters is, 'We're unhappy with the outcome of the election, so you should substitute your judgment for the judgment of the people.' For me, it's a simple case. In Florida, there's no dispute. President-elect Trump won Florida, so he's entitled to 29 electoral votes ... Donald Trump won fair and square."
Public demands that he try to block Trump from taking office are "sour grapes," Negron said. Full-page ads in the Tampa Bay Times and other newspapers have demanded that Negron and other electors oppose Trump because he lost the national popular vote. The ads were paid for by a Southern California Democrat, Daniel Brezenoff, who said protests are planned in various cities next Monday, including Tallahassee.
The electors' meeting will be held at 2 p.m. and will be chaired by Secretary of State Ken Detzner, the state's top elections official. Capitol police will be ready for anticipated protests at the Capitol on Monday.
Negron's Facebook page is sprinkled with comments from people who want him to vote for Hillary Clinton.
Facebook poster Rob DiBella warned Negron that "you will most certainly face recall/impeachment" if the senator supports Trump, who according to DiBella will violate the U.S. Constitution if he doesn't sell his business interests before he becomes president.
Negron, who as a lawmaker has voted on bills establishing Florida's presidential preference primary, also said he supports the state's winner-take-all system in which the candidate who wins Florida gets all 29 electoral votes, regardless of the closeness of the result, a system GOP legislators thought would help Floridians Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio -- not Trump.
"I don't have an issue," Negron said.
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