Archive for the ‘2010 U.S. Senate election’ Category
A few items we wanted to highlight today:
Wilson Robertson wants to delay consolidation vote. Escambia County Commissioner Wilson Robertson (R-District 1) wants to delay a referendum on consolidating Escambia County, the City of Pensacola, and the Town of Century. Currently that issue is scheduled to be on the ballot in November of this year if approved by the Legislature this spring. According to the PNJ’s Jamie Page, Commissioner Robertson feels that the process was rushed. Mr. Page reports that Commissioner Robertson…
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A Rasmussen poll released yesterday shows Florida Governor Charlie Crist and former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio tied in the race for the Republican nomination in next year’s U.S. Senate race.
Mr. Rubio has gained rapidly in polls as he’s positioned himself to the right of Governor Crist. We reported last month that a Research 200/DailyKos poll put Mr. Rubio within ten points. The Rasmussen poll, which surveyed 431 likely Republican primary voters, found that 43%…
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Congressman Kendrick Meek, who is running for U.S. Senate in 2010, will be in Pensacola this Sunday hosting a meet-and-greet event.
The event is from 1-2 PM this Sunday, November 29, at the IBEW Union Hall, located at 7830 North Palafox Street (at Olive Road).
For more information or to RSVP, check out the event on the Meek campaign site, email conor@kendrickmeek.com, or call 877-FL-4-MEEK (877-354-6335)…
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Dramatic news in the Republican primary for Florida’s U.S. Senate race: A Research 2000/DailyKos poll (600 LV, MoE ±4%) released today shows that former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio has closed to within ten points of Governor Charlie Crist.
Today’s poll represents a 43-point swing for Mr. Rubio over the past ten months in Research 2000 polling. Of the Republicans surveyed, 47 preferred Governor Crist, 37 percent preferred Mr. Rubio, and the remaining 16 percent were undecided…
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The Escambia County Republican Party has made waves in state media the last few days. Their chair, Susan Moore, invited Governor Charlie Crist to speak at their annual Lincoln Day dinner. Several members of the local party who are supporters of Marco Rubio, Governor Crist’s opponent in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, were unhappy and planned to skip the event. In an effort to “unify the local party, Ms. Moore sent them an email essentially apologising for having Governor Crist as a speaker (saying “we were sort of handed Goveror Crist”) and promising the Rubio supporters…
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This Wednesday, the Escambia County Democratic Party will host a candidate forum for statewide Democratic candidates.
Featured speakers include Dave Aronberg and Dan Gelber, the two leading Democratic candidates for Florida Attorney General.
Other candidates in attendance include: Rick Minton and Randy Hatch, Democratic candidates for Florida Agriculture Commissioner…
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Florida Governor has appointed former aide George LeMieux to the U.S. Senate, to fill the unexpired term of Mel Martinez (R), who announced his resignation last month.
Mr. LeMieux has not before held public office. He is, however, a Crist loyalist who will occupy the seat for the next sixteen months but who will certainly not challenge Governor Crist as he seeks the Senate seat next year, as other candidates may have been inclined to do.
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Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Kendrick Meek has scored another endorsement, that of Florida pol Steve Schale. Mr. Schale directed the Obama campaign’s Florida operations last year and is presently attached to Dan Gelber’s campaign for Florida Attorney General.
In a prepared statement, Mr. Schale blasts Florida Governor Charlie Crist, highlighting the state’s unemployment, healthcare, and education problems before calling Governor Crist “satisfied with our current state of affairs.”
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A few things I wanted to highlight today:
The Buzz:
“Attorney General Holly Benson?”
The St. Petersburg Times political blog The Buzz reports that Republican strategist Sally Bradshaw is floating Pensacolian Holly Benson’s name as a possible Republican candidate for Attorney General in 2010. Ms. Benson presently serves as Secretary of Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration, and is the sister of Pensacola City Councilwoman Megan Pratt…
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A few items I wanted to highlight today:
Mason-Dixon: Crist 51, Rubio 23
Pensacola News Journal: “PJC to cut 25 jobs”
Jamie Page’s Notebook:
“Council lists political goals”
NorthEscambia.com:
“UWF digging for the past in Molino”
Pensacola News Journal: “Meetings this week”
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Republican-aligned pollster Strategic Vision has released a poll covering the 2010 Florida gubernatorial race and the Republican U.S. Senate primary. The poll was compiled between May 29-31 and has a margin of error of ±3%.
The short and sweet: The gubernatorial race is neck and neck, while on the Senate side, Charlie Crist is leaving Marco Rubio in the dust.
FL-Gov: McCollum 41, Sink 39
FL-Sen-R: Crist 59, Rubio 22
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Florida Governor Charlie Crist’s decision to seek election to the U.S. Senate rather than reelection as governor has expectedly transformed Florida’s political landscape, and the dominoes keep falling.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink (D) was the first candidate to enter the race to replace Governor Crist, announcing her campaign earlier this week. Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum (R) is widely expected to announce his campaign Monday at an event in Orlando. Commissioner of Agriculture Charles Bronson is also considering a run…
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Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced this morning he will not run for reelection as governor and instead will run for Florida’s open U.S. Senate seat. Minutes after his announcement, the National Republican Senatorial Committee endorsed his candidacy, which is another sort-of kick in the knees for the other Republican candidate, former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio… not to mention, as others have pointed out, that Governor Crist’s announcement has gotten three straight days of intensive statewide and national media coverage while Mr. Rubio’s got one day of meager statewide coverage…
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Florida Governor Charlie Crist is widely expected to announce Tuesday his intent to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez.
The Associated Press first reported on the impeding announcement last night. The St. Petersburg Times political blog The Buzz spoke to Republican Party of Florida chair Jim Greer, who corroborated the story:
“Charlie Crist is going to be the next U.S. senator from Florida … It’s my opinion he has come to the conclusion that he needs to fight for Floridians…”
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All indications are that Florida Governor Charlie Crist will run for U.S. Senate. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune outlines the game of musical chairs that would likely ensue:
“Instead, with Gov. Charlie Crist now an all-but-confirmed candidate for Senate, the quickly developing race is for governor.
At least six Republicans and the fastest rising star in the state Democratic Party are now either running for governor or headed in that direction if Crist announces he will seek Mel Martinez’s vacant Senate seat next year…”
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Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Kendrick Meek will be in Pensacola today as part of his statewide tour to kick off his petition drive.
Congressman Meek will spend the day fundraising before hosting the kick-off event tonight at New World Landing in Pensacola. The event begins at 5:00 PM and is free and open to the public.
Unlike most high-level candidates, who opt to pay large filing fees, Congressman Meek has decided to get his name on the ballot the truly democratic way — by petition. In fact, no statewide candidate has ever qualified by petition…
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In what may prove to be an ingenious stroke of populism, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Kendrick Meek today launched a statewide petition drive to attempt to get his name on the ballot by collecting signed petitions, rather than the large filing fee typically paid by high-level campaigns.
Campaigns traditionally opt for the filing fee because they consider petition collection to be an inefficient use of its limited resources — and they’re right. This is a partly symbolic move. At the same time, though, a petition drive will provide Mr. Meek and his campaign with thousands of one-on-one contact opportunities, and the ability to build…
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Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Kendrick Meek has started the year off strong, raising $1.5 million in the first quarter. His biggest adversary on the Democratic side, State Senator Dan Gelber, took in around $400,000. Mr. Gelber’s campaign attributes that to the fact that Mr. Gelber has been preoccupied with the legislative session.
Florida Governor Charlie Crist, a Republican, hasn’t decided whether or not he’ll jump into the Senate race. If he does, he’ll be awfully tough to beat, regardless of who the Democratic nominee is. Governor Crist’s approval ratings are impressive, rarely dipping below 65 percent…
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The latest poll of Florida voters by Quinnipac University confirms again what everyone already knows — Republican Florida Governor Charlie Crist is a runaway favourite whether he runs for reelection as governor or opts to run for U.S. Senate. Any prospective Republican candidate for either office is basically in limbo until Governor Crist makes up his mind. Quinnipac’s Peter A. Brown:
“Governor Crist has effectively frozen both the Governor’s race and the Senate race. All Republicans are standing back and waiting to see which office he will seek before deciding about their candidacies since no one in their right mind will want to take him on.”
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Slow news day. A few things I want to highlight:
Sarasota Herald-Tribune:
“Question: ‘Morning Joe’ or Sen. Joe?”
Rick’s Blog:
“Who will greet the King and Queen?”
Mark O’Brien:
“Blogs offer Pensacola new views”
Krispy Kreme in danger?
Celebrate Pensacola lectures
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As you all know, Florida’s got an open U.S. Senate seat up for grabs in 2010. At the moment, the only officially declared candidates are Democrats Kendrick Meek and Dan Gelber, but Republican Marco Rubio is widely expected to jump in. What’s Mr. Rubio waiting for?
The same thing any other potential Republican candidate is — Charlie Crist.
It’s no secret that the popular Florida governor has been encouraged to run. After Jeb Bush’s decision not to run, Governor Crist is rightly seen as the GOP’s best hope at holding the Senate seat…
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Republican Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and Democratic U.S. Congressman Allen Boyd both announced today that they would not run for Florida’s open U.S. Senate seat in 2010.
Current candidates for the Senate seat include U.S. Congressman Kendrick Meek of Miami, and state senator Dan Gelber of Miami Beach, both Democrats. Former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, a Republican, is widely expected to run, but has not officially announced.
McCollum’s statement:
“Over the past several weeks since the announcement of Senator Mel Martinez…”
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Democratic state senator Dan Gelber (D-Miami) is not wasting any time. After Florida CFO Alex Sink declared her intentions not to run earlier today, Mr. Gelber has made his intentions clear:
“I had been really waiting for her. I’m a personal friend, and I have a lot admiration for her. I expect I’ll be entering the race in the coming weeks.
I would be suprisied if it wasn’t a crowded field, and I don’t think there’s a clear frontrunner, although Kendrick [Meek] is formidable, clearly.”
Mr. Gelber served in the Florida House from 2000-2008, and was elected last year to the Florida Senate…
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Florida CFO Alex Sink has announced that she will not seek Florida’s open U.S. Senate seat in 2010.
This is good news from my point of view. For one, I prefer Democratic Congressman Kendrick Meek for the Senate seat. Sink has her heart set on the governorship, anyway — and with her management background, that’s really where she’d be best suited. Sink will run for re-election as CFO in 2010, and barring the earth being taken over by aliens, she’ll run for governor when Crist is term-limited out in 2014.
Meek is thus far the only announced candidate. Former Speaker of the Florida House, Marco Rubio, a Republican, is an unannounced but likely candidate…
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Florida Congressman Kendrick Meek (D-Miami), who announced this morning he would run for Senate, is alright making some smart moves:
“Kendrick Meek has brought in some top talent to his just-announced US Senate campaign: Steve Hildebrand, Barack Obama’s deputy national campaign manager (focused heavily on Miami-Dade in the final weeks), and the former political director of the DSCC.”
This is a big boost right out of the gate to the Meek campaign…
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Rumour has it that tomorrow Congressman Kendrick Meek (D-Miami) will declare his intention to run for U.S. Senate in 2010.
Meek is young (42) and sharp. He’s got probably as much name recognition as any other possible candidate on the Democratic side. This move is bold and confident; in order to run, he’ll be giving up his congressional seat, to which he would probably be reelected to for the rest of his life if he wanted.
I like Kendrick Meek very much. He’s the model of a progressive voice in Congress. I think he’d bring a fresh, younger perspective to a Senate that is the oldest it’s ever been. I worry, though, that Meek might be too far left of the average Floridian…
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Well, that was fast.
Just hours after former Florida Governor Jeb Bush announced he would not seek Florida’s open U.S. Senate seat in 2010, the Orlando Sentinel is reporting that former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio has committed to running:
“In an interview, Rubio, Florida’s first Cuban-American House speaker from 2006-2008, said he’d consider a run ‘about as seriously as you can consider anything.’ He’ll have a formal announcement in a few weeks, he said…”
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Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has decided not to run for the Senate seat which Mel Martinez will vacate in 2010:
“After thoughtful consideration, I’ve decided not to run for the United States Senate in 2010. While the opportunity to serve my state and country during these turbulent and dynamic times is compelling, now is not the right time to return to elected office. In the coming months and years, I hope to play a constructive role in the future of the Republican Party, advocating ideas and policies that solve the pressing problems of our day.”
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This morning, Republican Senator Mel Martinez announced he would not seek re-election, using the age-old political excuse of wanting to spend more time with his family.
Unlike the Sink announcement, this is something I expected.
This blows the race wide open. Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum has already stated his interest in running for the Senate again: [...]
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Politico is reporting that Florida CFO Alex Sink will not run for either the governorship or the U.S. Senate, and instead will opt to seek a second term as CFO.
Sink has for some time been the most widely discussed Democratic candidate for either race, and if she chose to run for either, would almost certainly [...]
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Continuing our series of articles looking forward to races in 2010, we take a look at the race for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Mel Martinez.
The Republicans
Mel Martinez
Republican incumbent Mel Martinez is not incredibly popular, with only a 42% approval rating among Floridians, according to a recent Quinnipac poll. In fact, Martinez [...]
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