Leslie Dougher is paying the price for Jim Greers mistakes as she tries to keep her job leading the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF).
Republicans still remember Greers run at the RPOF. Hand-picked by Charlie Crist, then a Republican, Greer was the governors man at the RPOF but his record there was a disaster with party finances out of control and too many elected officials relying on party issued credit cards for spending. Greer ended up going to jail on theft and money laundering charges after he sent RPOF money to his Victory Strategies firm.
Rick Scott and his team, including Melissa Sellers, his new chief of staff, are behind keeping Dougher at RPOF. Sellers and Dougher worked together as Scott held off Crist to win a second term and now the governors people want her back.
By all rights, Dougher should stay in her position based on this years elections. Scott won a close race under Doughers watch but the other Cabinet members won in blowouts, a basic repeat of 2010. Republicans picked up six seats in the Florida House and held several in congressional races, picking up a seat in South Florida while losing one in the northern part of the state. With the exceptions of Ellyn Bogdanoff and Steve Southerland, most Florida Republicans have reasons to smile after the elections.
But RPOF delegates and Republican leaders across the state remember Greer only too well. Nobody thinks Dougher is breaking the law like Greer did but having someone too close to the governor leading the RPOF led to some major problems. Now there are concerns of history repeating itself.
Dougher faces some top-notch challengers as she tries to stay as RPOF chair. Blaise Ingoglia, now a Florida House member after his time as vice chair of the RPOF, is looking to knock Dougher off. So is Eric Miller who Dougher beat earlier this year to lead the RPOF. Kurt Kelly, who has been pretty quiet after losing to Dan Webster in a congressional primary back in 2010, is also in the hunt.
Scott can help Dougher, of course, and does get to name delegates who will vote when the RPOF meets again in January. But many delegates are already grumbling about the ties between Scott and Dougher, including the governor endorsing her for another term.
Doughers record isnt the problem. The memory of Jim Greer is. If Ingoglia, Miller and Kelly can keep her from winning a majority of the first ballot, Dougher will have to scramble for votes in a runoff. Scotts people have to help Dougher while reassuring RPOF delegates that their boss isnt Crist and she isnt the second coming of Greer.
Tallahassee political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this analysis exclusively for Sunshine State News.
