The dean of the Florida congressional delegation is acting as if she's in a fight.
First elected in a special election back in 1989, South Florida Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has been one of the most secure members of the Florida delegation. Two years ago, she won another term without any opposition in the general election. In 2012, she blew out her Democratic challenger by almost 25 percent. Only once this century did Ros-Lehtinen take less than 60 percent in a general election. Riding Barack Obama’s coattails, Annette Taddeo pulled 42 percent in 2008 but Ros-Lehtinen still pulled 58 percent.
But, after the latest round of redistricting, Democrats are feeling more upbeat about their chances in this South Florida district. They’re starting to make inroads here and would be competitive against any Republican other than the current incumbent. Now in her mid 60s, Ros-Lehtinen shows no hesitation when breaking with her party on certain matters--same-sex marriage, the impact of climate change, immigration, Donald Trump’s presidential aspirations--even as she is one of the GOP’s leaders on foreign policy, backing Israel, calling for more action against terrorism and supporting for tougher policies against the Castro regime.
Still, after winning the Republican primary with more than 80 percent of the vote, Ros-Lehtinen is acting like she is in fight. The Miami Herald did a story last week on new TV ads from her campaign slamming Scott Fuhrman, her Democratic opponent, for pleading guilty to a DUI in Colorado in 2009. The TV spots feature the father of a 16-year-old girl killed by a drunk driver in 2000 and a police officer who responded to that accident.
Fuhrman fired back last week, trying to link Ros-Lehtinen to Trump, hitting her on other issues and noting that he knows the father featured in the TV ad.
"It should come as no surprise Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is launching her campaign the same way Donald Trump is running his campaign: by ignoring the issues in favor of political games and personal attacks,” Fuhrman said. “I'm not proud of my past but I've been honest with the voters about the mistakes I've made. Ros-Lehtinen's desperate, personal attacks demonstrate just how scared she is to run on her three-decade record in Congress. She can continue to run away from her record while I talk to voters in the 27th District about jobs, stalled Zika funding, sea-level rise, a woman's right to choose and protecting Social Security and Medicare from the Ryan-Ros-Lehtinen wing of the Republican Party.”
“I know John Witty personally, and as I did 16 years ago in his home, I would like to once again offer my condolences to him and the entire Witty family on the loss of their beloved daughter,” Fuhrman added. “I cannot imagine the pain the Witty family lives with every day, and I'm disappointed that Ros-Lehtinen would abuse their grief over their daughter's unrelated death in a personal political attack on me."
To be sure, the TV spots are a new tactic from Ros-Lehtinen but she really has never needed to go on the attack in most of her recent elections. But Democrats are gaining steam in South Florida. Barack Obama carried her old district by 7 percent over Mitt Romney four years ago and Democrats have only added to their ranks after redistricting. Ros-Lehtinen is sending a clear message that she won’t go easy if the Democrats want to target her in 2018 or 2020 if they can find a more established candidate than Fuhrman.
