GOP leaders scold own candidate

The state GOP chairman and House speaker-designate say Cary Burns is too negative.

By CURTIS KRUEGER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 6, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- In a rare move, the chairman of the state Republican Party and the speaker-designate of the Florida House have stepped into a Pinellas County primary election to criticize one of the GOP's two candidates.

GOP Chairman Al Cardenas and House speaker-designate Johnnie Byrd of Plant City wrote a letter to Cary Burns "to tell you how profoundly disappointed we are with your campaign."

Burns hopes to unseat incumbent Rep. Frank Farkas of St. Petersburg in Tuesday's Republican primary. They are running in House District 52, which includes northeast St. Petersburg and portions of Largo and Clearwater.

The letter accuses Burns of "only running a negative campaign that distorts the true Frank Farkas record" and urges him "to re-evaluate the direction and tone of your campaign, end the distortions of the Frank Farkas record and offer the Republican voters of District 52 a positive vision."

Republican and Democratic leaders often stay out of primary battles. But after hearing about this letter, University of South Florida political science professor Darryl Paulson said: "It strikes me that perhaps the ground rules have changed." He pointed out that Gov. Jeb Bush endorsed Farkas in this primary, another unusual move.

Towson Fraser, press secretary for the state Republican Party, said he is not aware of any similar letter Cardenas has sent this campaign.

"It is rare, thankfully. It's rare that a candidate distorts an incumbent's record like Cary Burns has distorted Frank Farkas'," Fraser said.

Farkas said the letter was appropriate, because he said Burns is willing "to accuse me of things that didn't happen, to lie and distort the facts, which he has done repeatedly in every one of his mailings."

Burns, meanwhile, said the letter showed "they're pulling out all the stops. . . . They must be worried that I'm going to win."

Asked why he thought the letter was sent, Burns said, "I think it's because Frank has carried so much of their water for the lobbyists on the one hand, and if they can't protect a member of their leadership then they're going to have a hard time keeping the rest of their Indians on the reservation."

He denied distorting anything. Burns said the whole thing makes him wonder if party leaders are worried about what would happen "if, God forbid, some legislators went up there and actually did what was right, rather than what the leadership wanted them to do."

The winner of the Burns-Farkas primary on Tuesday will face Democrat Chris Eaton and Libertarian Alison Lipscomb in the Nov. 5 general election.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright