A Republican state Senate candidate hand-picked by GOP leadership was ruled ineligible on Friday for the November ballot.
A Tallahassee judge late Friday ruled that Jim Norman, who likely was set to take the Senate District 12 seat as the only candidate on the ballot, did not legally qualify for the election. The judge said he filed false financial disclosure forms that did not include a lakefront home and two boats he and his wife own. The house, in Arkansas, was given to Normans wife by a supporter.
Allowing defendant Jim Norman to remain on the ballot would be an affirmation by this court that such a bold, intentional and material representation to the public is acceptable under the law; and this court will not do so, wrote Leon Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford.
State Rep. Kevin Ambler, R-Tampa, who lost to Norman in the Republican primary, sued his one-time friend and political ally after the August primary arguing that Norman had not legally qualified for the ballot because he did not disclose his ownership of the property. Amblers attorneys argued that the home had been a gift, intended for the personal use of Norman and his wife, because there was no paperwork giving the late Ralph Hughes, the Norman supporter who paid for the home, any stake in the property.
Even though Ambler won the case, he doesnt necessarily become the nominee. Local Republican Party officials will choose a replacement for Norman. However, because ballots have already been printed, Normans name will still appear on the ballot. Elections officials will post a notice with the ballots that a vote for Norman will either not count or actually be a vote for the replacement candidate.
When a replacement candidate might be named remained unclear late Friday because of the possibility that Norman would appeal the decision.
Norman and his wife, Mearline, testified in a more than 14-hour trial earlier this week that Mearline Norman and Hughes had partnered to make the real estate investment. As part of the deal, Hughes fronted the money for the home, about $500,000, and Mearline Norman made repairs to ready it for sale. The plan was to sell the house and then split the profits down the middle.
But there was never any paperwork outlining the agreement, Mearline Norman said at trial. She had pushed Hughes to put something in writing, she said, but he put it off. Then Hughes died and the real estate market tanked.
Fulford wrote in her opinion that the court found that the $500,000 from Hughes to buy the house clearly constituted a gift to both Mearline and Jim Norman, meaning the candidate violated the Constitution by not including the home on his disclosure forms.
To sanction such machinations would completely subvert the purpose of financial disclosure requirements, Fulford wrote. The court will not condone, much less encourage, such conduct.
Neither Norman, Ambler nor their attorneys could be immediately reached for comment Friday night.
Republican Party leaders honed in on Norman early in the primary season as their choice for open Senate seat, favoring him over the more moderate Ambler, despite Amblers service in the Florida House. Both incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos and Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, endorsed Norman and campaigned for him. The seat is being vacated by Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, who is precluded by term limits from remaining in it.
