State Democratic candidates targeting long-held GOP seats |
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Article Courtesy of The Palm Beach Post By GEORGE BENNETT Published May 14, 2008
WEST PALM BEACH — Signaling their intentions to contend for longtime Republican seats in Tallahassee this fall, four Democratic candidates on Tuesday accused the GOP-led legislature of neglecting homeowners' insurance and other meaningful issues and pursuing "frivolous" matters instead. And in a sign that Republicans aren't taking the challenge lightly, a campaign operative for state Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, and a volunteer for GOP reps. Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach, and Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, attended and taped the Democratic event. Appearing in a courtyard outside the Palm Beach County Governmental Center were former Democratic state Sen. Skip Campbell, who is running for Atwater's seat, and state House candidates Bryan Miller, Robert Ostrov and Chris Chiari. Miller, Ostrov and Chiari are running for GOP-held seats that Democrats all but conceded in past elections. Miller, seeking the seat of state Rep. Carl Domino, R-Jupiter, said Democrats believe this year will be different. "We are in the middle of a tidal wave election in this country," Miller said. "We are seeing it in primary after primary, in race after race." Miller is running in a Democratic primary against attorney Rick Ford, who nearly upset Domino in 2006. Ford was not invited to the news conference. Nor was Todd Maki, who is running against Ostrov in a Democratic primary for Hasner's seat. Chiari is making a second try for the Broward-Palm Beach seat of Bogdanoff. Democrats are pinning a lot on Campbell's race against Atwater, who is in line to become Senate president. Campbell held a Broward County Senate seat until being term-limited in 2006. Atwater later pounced on answers Campbell gave during a question-and-answer session Tuesday morning. Campbell was asked if his pursuit of another Senate seat violated the spirit of the term-limits law that Florida voters approved in 1992. "I think term limits, if you asked people, if they had to rethink it, probably would be revoted on," Campbell said. He also said he opposes lifting the state's gasoline tax, and said he wasn't familiar enough to comment on a proposal to extend Roebuck Road in West Palm Beach. Aware of Campbell's comments because of the tape his campaign made, Atwater said in an e-mail that "Skip Campbell today showed his contempt for the real needs of Floridians when he insulted their vote to limit legislative terms, when he promised tax increases to fund bigger government and when he admitted he knew little about local issues facing our community." Asked if it was common to tape a rival's event, Atwater consultant Rick Wilson said: "It's modern campaigning." |