The Florida Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Florida, two of the state's business lobbying powerhouses, are set to begin interviewing candidates for the state Legislature with the qualifying bell still a month off.
The chamber will begin meeting with candidates next week and the process will continue through much of the summer, said Edie Ousley, chamber vice president of public affairs.
"The Florida Chambers political operations team travels statewide, interviewing nearly every candidate for House and Senate," Ousley responded in an email. "Given the comprehensive nature of our political operations, and that all seats in the House and Senate are up for election, the interview process begins early in order to complete them in time for the Aug. 14 primary."
Meanwhile Tom Feeney, AIF president and CEO, said members of the business advocate's political action committee will be in the Tampa area May 15 and 16 for their first interviews with state legislative candidates.
The city is one of five regions that members of AIFs political action committee will be visiting in a nine-day period to get the views of those who have announced plans to run for state office.
Were laying the groundwork, and well be able to adjust where we do get a surprise, he said. Well see what happens in qualifying before we make a final determination on where to spend our resources.
The interviews will have a big impact on where the business advocates spend money in the primary and general elections.
In 2010, AIFs PAC dropped $352,000 into state legislative and Cabinet campaigns. The majority of the money went to Republicans, but AIF split in some races endorsing more than a single candidate.
AIF gave support to both future governor Rick Scott and then-Attorney General Bill McCollum, in the GOP gubernatorial contest. AIF endorsed 18 candidates in 16 Florida Senate races, backing 13 Republicans and five Democrats. Of the 98 House endorsements in 92 contests, 81 went to Republicans and 17 to Democrats.
AIF has stated in the past that the dual endorsements come when more than one candidate is aligned with the business community.
The much larger chamber, with close Republican ties, spent $5.5 million in the 2010 campaign on legislators and Cabinet members. The chamber initially backed McCollum for governor, but quickly went for Scott after the primary.
Each of the 120 House seats are up for re-election, as they are every two years, while all 40 Senate seats are also open this year due to redistricting.
In a redistricting year, you always expect to have a few surprises, but Id say in about 90 percent of the races, we will not have a surprise, Feeney said.
The new House lines have pushed 35 sitting members into districts with another sitting member.The Senate lines, even after the new lines had to be recast a second time, were much friendlier to all but four incumbents.
While the official qualifying period runs between noon on June 4 and noon on June 8, most candidates have already announced for the Aug. 14 primary and Nov. 6 general election.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
