With the election in the rear view mirror, hype-happy Everglades Trust is doing its best to put a positive spin on what looks to me like a dud of an election-campaign stunt.
I'm talking about the South Florida environmental "501(c)(4) corporation of non-elected board appointees" that dispatched a gas-guzzling bus (the stunt) to travel around Florida enlisting support for its No. 1 agenda item -- "buy the land, move the water south." Along the way, they circulated a #NowOrNeverglades petition and cheered for citizens to vote for the candidates they endorsed.
How did their candidates do? I'm glad you asked.
In a TCPalm.com story posted Thursday evening, new Everglades Trust Executive Director Kimberly Mitchell claims election results show "growing momentum" for Joe Negron's plan to buy 60,000 acres south of Lake Okeechobee and build a reservoir there. This is the plan the incoming Senate president says will cost $2.4 billion, to be split evenly by the state and the federal government."
"Growing momentum"? How do you get that, Kimberly?
The trust endorsed 14 candidates for legislative seats and seven won their races. That's half.
I'm sorry, but half doesn't add up to "growing momentum" to me. I could walk up to a roulette table blindfolded, place a chip 14 times on red or black and come up with seven winners. That's not "growing momentum," it's the law of averages.
“Though not on the ballot as a single question," Mitchell told TCPalm, "this year’s election, especially in South Florida, was most certainly about the Everglades and clean, plentiful water.”
Really? If this election was about the Everglades and clean, plentiful water, poor, shortchanged South Florida.
In all, the Everglades Trust signed up 54 candidates willing to follow their lead. Here's a list of all of them and how they fared Tuesday. What it shows is a whopping 74.5 percent of the folks who signed the #NowOrNeverglades Declaration actually lost. Yes, I said lost:
Candidates who signed the #NowOrNevergladesDeclaration and the General Election Result
CANDIDATE NAME PARTY RUNNING FOR ELECTION RESULTS
- Tim Langer DEM Citrus County Commissioner District 3 Lost
- Ivette Gonzalez Petkovich DEM Florida House District 103 Lost
- Carlos A. Puentes Sr. DEM Florida House District 110 Lost
- Rosa Maria “Rosy” Palomino REP Florida House District 112 Lost
- Jeffrey Doc Solomon DEM Florida House District 115 Lost
- Dan Horton DEM Florida House District 120 Lost
- Joe Snodgrass DEM Florida House District 19 Lost
- Ray Guillory DEM Florida House District 2 Lost
- Adam Morley DEM Florida House District 24 Lost
- Noel Cheryl Bickford DEM Florida House District 25 Lost
- Bob Doyel DEM Florida House District 41 Lost
- Benny Valentin DEM Florida House District 42 Lost
- Carlos Guillermo Smith DEM Florida House District 49 Won
- Sean Ashby DEM Florida House District 50 Lost
- David Anthony Kearns DEM Florida House District 53 Lost
- Bernard “Bernie” Fensterwald DEM Florida House District 65 Lost
- David Vogel DEM Florida House District 67 Lost
- Charles Messina NPA Florida House District 76 Lost
- John Scott DEM Florida House District 79 Lost
- Mary Westcott Higgins DEM Florida House District 82 Lost
- Crystal Lucas DEM Florida House District 83 Lost
- Gayle Harrell REP Florida House District 83 Won
- Robert Simeone DEM Florida House District 85 Lost
- Laurel Bennett REP Florida House District 86 Lost
- Lori Berman DEM Florida House District 90 Won
- Ken Keechl DEM Florida House District 93 Lost
- Linda Stewart DEM Florida Senate District 13 Won
- Dean Asher REP Florida Senate District 13 Lost
- Amy Tidd DEM Florida Senate District 17 Lost
- Bob Buesing DEM Florida Senate District 18 Lost
- Joe Redner NPA Florida Senate District 18 Lost
- Frank Alcock III DEM Florida Senate District 23 Lost
- Joe Negron REP Florida Senate District 25 Won
- Bruno Moore DEM Florida Senate District 25 Lost
- Jose Javier Rodriguez DEM Florida Senate District 37 Won
- Debbie Mucarsel-Powell DEM Florida Senate District 39 Lost
- Anitere Flores REP Florida Senate District 39 Won
- David Purdo REP Islamorada Village Council Seat 2 Lost
- Cheryl Meads REP Islamorada Village Council Seat 2 Won
- Mike Forster NPA Islamorada Village Council Seat 5 Won
- Jill Zima-Borski DEM Islamorada Village Council Seat 5 Lost
- Robert Pryor INT Martin County Sheriff Lost
- Bill Snyder REP Martin County Sheriff Won
- Tony Bennett DEM Palm Beach County Commission District 1 Lost
- Dave Kerner DEM Palm Beach County Commission District 3 Won
- Taniel Shant REP Palm Beach County Commission District 5 Lost
- Ed Young NPA Seminole County Soil & Water Conservation District Group 4 Won
- April Freeman DEM U.S. House District 17 Lost
- Brain Mast REP U.S. House District 18 Won
- Alina Valdes DEM U.S. House District 25 Lost
- Joe Garcia DEM U.S. House District 26 Lost
- Carlos Curbelo REP U.S. House District 26 Won
- Scott Fuhrman DEM U.S. House District 27 Lost
- Corry Westbrook DEM U.S. House District 8 Lost
- Patrick Murphy DEM U.S. Senate Lost
The Everglades Trust ... this is the same bunch, remember, who launched an attack mailer campaign in 2015 against three smart, accomplished woman lawmakers -- Katie Edwards, Heather Fitzenhagen and Kristin Jacobs. Total backfire -- year's biggest botched lobbying job.
But back to 2016. If I'd donated even a penny for Kimberly Mitchell's "momentous" bus tour, I'd demand my money back. Such a sham.
And by the way, the TCPalm story makes it crystal clear Negron is ready to strongarm his 25 Republicans in the 40-member Senate to help him push through his proposal. And I'm sure he'll try. I expect him to make all kinds of deals -- not all of them seemly -- not only in the Senate, but to win over House leaders. This is a legacy dream for the next Senate president and he looks pretty determined to git 'er done.
I would just feel better about it if Negron had ever -- even once -- sat down with water managers and engineers at the South Florida Water Management District to talk about the efficacy of his proposal. I mean, he wants to spend $2.4 billion on a massive maverick plumbing project in the middle of underfunded Everglades restoration and he hasn't bothered to check in with the SFWMD? But this is a story for another day. Stay tuned. We'll get there.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
