GOP attorney general candidate Pam Bondi is holding a fundraiser in DC with two of the big-name Florida Republicans behind her. Make that one name in two
Republicans: Former Gov. Bob Martinez and former U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez are hosting the event. Bondi has also named her leadership team, which includes former Senate President Tom Lee, Dick Cheney's former chief of staff Kathleen Shanahan and State Attorney Angela Corey.
Freshmen in the Legislature are supposed to be seen and not heard, right? Rep. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, who was elected to the House last month, must not have gotten the memo. Cruz has come out with a measure ensuring Florida follows American Cancer Society guidelines on breast cancer education. On Monday, Democratic House Leader Franklin Sands, D-Weston, said, Cruz has really hit the ground running. Her momentum may be hampered by revelations that she owes $30,000 in back taxes.
Attorney Tom Doolan has dropped out of the race to take on U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite for personal reasons, namely his recent divorce and wanting to focus on growing his law firm. This leaves Jim Piccillo, a businessman and a veteran of the 101st Airborne, as the favorite to be the Democrat and to take on Brown-Waite in November ... U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, D-North Fla., keeps breaking ranks with the Democrats in Congress. He voted with the Republicans in the House Budget Committee Monday in rejecting the Obama administrations efforts to use budget reconciliation to advance its health care plans. It appears Boyd will continue to oppose the Obama health care plan and Democratic state Senate leader Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, will undoubtedly bring this up in his bid to knock Boyd off in the Democratic primary.
Speaking of breaking ranks in Washington, U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, R-Fla., joined 10 other Republicans in voting for the Obama administrations $17 billion jobs bill Congressional candidate Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, was one of the two Democrats in the state Senate who joined Republicans in favoring a federal balanced budget. Deutch takes on 2008 GOP candidate Ed Lynch in a special election on April 13. The seat had been held by Robert Wexler, who resigned back in January.
Rep. Chris Dorworth, R-Lake Mary, is in line to be House Speaker in 2015, but he continues to face problems. Already under fire for having his driver's license suspended for not paying insurance and having his home foreclosed on, Dorworth now faces questions about heading out to Las Vegas courtesy of disgraced fundraiser Delmar Johnson and his Republican Party credit card Rep. Pat Pattersons campaign for the state CFO post is finally showing a pulse when he took a shot at his chief primary rival. Patterson, R-DeLandblasted Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, for using his current office to push for reforms in the CFO post. Of course, Patterson still has not updated his campaign website since July 2009.
