News Service Florida Political Blog

EMILY’s List, a national PAC that works to elect pro-choice women, announced Tuesday that it’s backing Gloria Romero Roses in her bid to win the congressional seat currently held by Republican Rep. David Rivera. Roses, who also has the backing of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, also faces a primary against Joe Garcia, a Democrat who ran for Congress in 2008 and 2010.

“Gloria is a successful businesswoman who knows how the recession has affected Florida families,” Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY’s List, said in a news release about the announcement. “Gloria knows firsthand how to bring people together to tackle problems in her community, and her problem-solving skills are exactly what we need right now to ensure that Washington starts working for middle class families. We are proud to put her ‘On the List’ today.”

The candidate and PAC are natural allies of a sort. Roses used to work with Ruth’s List, a group in Florida that promotes the same type of candidates as EMILY’s List.

Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown has often said he wouldn’t take a pension, but he is enrolled, with 3 percent of his paycheck going into the Florida Retirement System. The state has contributed to his retirement account about $13,000 with about $3,000 having come out of his own pay. His office said it was a mistake, and has asked to leave the system.”He realized his enrollment last week and promptly asked the state to let him leave the system,” mayor’s office said in a statement to the Florida Times-Union, which reported Monday that Brown is in the pension system. “He will not accept a state pension.”

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-05-14/story/despite-no-pension-pledge-jacksonville-mayor-signed-state-plan#ixzz1uw8GGLy2

The Miami Herald looks at voter behavior

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/13/2797893/voter-apathy-not-floridas-new.html

and NPR at voter registration

http://www.npr.org/2012/05/14/152517589/in-florida-registering-voters-a-whole-new-game

And in case you missed it, here’s a link to the Jeffrey Toobin article in the New Yorker on the Citizens United case that everybody who pays attention to campaign finance law has been reading

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/05/21/120521fa_fact_toobin

Also in campaign finance news:
The Naples Daily News looks at donations from southwest Florida to the Obama and Romney campaigns. http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/may/13/obama-romney-president-donations-southwest-florida/

A West Palm Beach publishing company, or maybe just its chairman, William Lee Hanley, Jr., is the Super PAC behind anti-Obama ads that ran in northeast Ohio and in Pennsylvania, Bloomberg reports.

As her first Mother’s Day without her son, Trayvon Martin, approaches, Sybrina Fulton has released an online video asking for supporters to oppose Florida’s controversial “stand-your-ground” law, as well as similar laws in other states. “Just like me, 30,000 mothers this year lost their children to senseless gun violence,” she said.  “Nobody can bring our children back, but it would bring us comfort if we can help spare other mothers the pain that we will feel on Mother’s Day and every day for the rest of our lives.” See the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QrWgdQFgUQ4

Ryan Moffitt is running as the Pirate Party candidate in House District 91, which would put him up against Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, who while not a pirate, is still one of the most colorful members of the Legislature.

While Moffitt is running in a fringe party, his candidacy seems serious and thoughtful based on his campaign website – http://www.ryanmoffitt.org/.

Moffitt, who was raised in Texas, says he’s a populist, and “liberty-focused,” and says the two party system is broken. “I will dedicate my time in office to stopping the two party oligarchy and creating the populist, modern government you deserve,” Moffitt says on his site. He’s generally libertarian, opposed to restrictions on guns, opposed to GPS tracking devices put on cars or people by the government, and has a section on his site about expanding the Sunshine laws and increasing government transparency. He also is calling for more casino projects to boost tourism. “I will make it a point to close the state budget deficit without cutting the budget of our already strained public schools,” Moffitt says. He is the founder of the Florida Pirate Party, and has just finished serving as its chairman. 

Want to keep track of legislative race coverage in Florida? Nobody will cover legislative races as comprehensively as we do.
www.newsserviceflorida.com

President Barack Obama and his presumptive GOP opponent, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, are in a statistical dead heat in the nation’s largest swing state about six months before voters head to the polls, according to a new poll from Suffolk University and WSVN-Miami. The survey shows Obama holding 46 percent of the vote to Romney’s 45 percent, with 7 percent undecided. But Romney’s selection of a running mate could swing the results — with 47 percent of voters backing a ticket with Romney and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, compared to 44 percent for Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. A ticket with Romney and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush would lead Obama-Biden by a 47-45 margin. In January, the Suffolk/WSVN poll showed Romney with a 47 percent to 42 percent lead over Obama as the Republican primary was getting underway.

“Despite locking up the Republican nomination and a strong showing in the Florida Republican primary in January, Romney still has a lot of work to do to win over Florida voters,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston, in a news release. “He would need to repair the fallout of negativity from the Republican primaries by being more likable and offering general-election voters a positive alternative to President Obama.” The poll, which has a margin of error of 4 percent, included telephone interviews of 600 registered voters from May 6-8.

The  LA Times has always had a lot of  interest in Florida despite being on the other coast. Here’s its take on the Suffolk poll

The newly drawn Senate District 7 doesn’t look like Scarborough Country. At least not to Brian Scarborough. The Gainesville Democrat had been one of the party’s promising newcomers and had hoped to capture the seat, which currently has no incumbent , but said Wednesday he is withdrawing because the district is drawn to favor a Republican from Clay County.  Scarborough, an insurance company owner from Gainesville was the third largest fundraiser in the first quarter of this year – though an opponent for District 7, Republican Bob Bradley of Clay County was the second largest. Scarborough said the way the new Senate map is drawn makes it unlikely that a Democrat from Alachua County can win.  ”The district was clearly drawn to heavily favor a Republican from Clay County, and while I am not afraid of a hard fought election, I see no reason to waste my time and your money in a race that has almost certainly been decided by those currently in power in Tallahassee,” Scarborough said in a letter sent to supporters. He said he would refund contributions. The sitting senator who lives in the area, Sen. Steve Oelrich, R-Cross Creek, is running for Congress, and Democrats were hoping to pick up a seat. ”I sincerely hope that the economic engines of our community, such as the University of Florida and Shands HealthCare System, will not be adversely impacted as a result of the loss of a senator from our area,” Scarborough wrote to his backers.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will be in Florida two days next week for  fund-raising, including a stop in Jacksonville.

From the Times-Union:

“The May 17 event, which is chaired by Fidelity National Information Services executives Bill Foley and Frank Martire, is being held at the Epping Forest Yacht Club.

If you don’t want to pony up the $10,000 to get into the VIP reception, raising $25,000 for Romney Victory Inc. also will get you in the door. For the bargain shopper, a $2,500 donation will get you into an afternoon reception.

The event is co-chaired by some of the area’s biggest names, including: state Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, developer Jay Demetree, former Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton and former U.S. Ambassador John Rood.

Romney will also raise campaign cash next week in Miami, Tampa and Boca Raton.”

The T-U item: http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2012-05-09/story/politijax-t-u-requests-representative-clarify-sponsors-upcoming#ixzz1uNKeEF9b

But believes John Delaney and Sheriff John Rutherford will remain neutral.

Jacksonville.com has more

http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2012-05-09/story/john-delaney-john-rutherford-pull-their-endorsements-aaron-bean