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Webster gathers team for U.S. Senate run

TALLAHASSEE - State Sen. Daniel Webster said Thursday he has assembled a campaign team for his U.S. Senate run that includes a former Republican National Committee staffer, a pair of Tallahassee lobbyists and a veteran GOP media consultant.

Webster, R-Winter Garden, said his campaign manager will be Timmy Teepell, 28, RNC's former deputy political director. Rich Heffley, a lobbyist and political strategist with ties to many state senators, will hold the title of senior adviser, as will lobbyist Brecht Heuchan, who worked for Webster when he was House speaker from 1996 to 1998.

Webster's pollster is Dave Sackett of the Tarrance Group, and his media consultants, responsible for TV advertising, will be Brad Todd and Alex Castellanos. The finance director is Slayter Bayliss, a former aide to Gov. Jeb Bush, who until recently was head of corporate relations in the state economic development office.

Meanwhile, former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum said he will kick off his Senate campaign with a two-day trip to Tampa and five other cities Monday and Tuesday, joined by his campaign chairman, former U.S. Sen. Connie Mack.

Webster, McCollum and House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, R-Plant City, are seeking the Republican nomination for the seat held by Democrat Bob Graham.

Byrd hosted a $1,000-per-person fundraiser Thursday night in Tallahassee that was attended by about 50 people, including a broad cross-section of lobbyists.

ORLANDO - A 6-year-old boy injured when his father drove into the path of an oncoming semitrailer truck in an attempt to kill himself and two sons is out of the hospital.

Julian Randall was released from Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Women on Wednesday night and reunited with his mother, Lisa Randall, two days after the crash on Interstate 4 that killed his father, Bryan Randall, and fatally injured his 8-year-old brother, Bryan II. A 2-year-old sister, Yana, was drowned by her father over the weekend.

Another child Randall attempted to drown, 4-year-old son Regal, was listed in fair condition at Florida Hospital Orlando on Thursday.

In a suicide letter, Randall said he decided to kill himself and his children because he didn't approve of how their mother was caring for them.

The parents were separated and involved in divorce proceedings. Lisa Randall had obtained a restraining order against her husband last month.

On Wednesday, investigators said Randall may have drugged Julian and Bryan II before the crash. Empty blister packs of sleeping pills were found in the wreckage, Lake Mary police Chief Richard Beary said.

DE FUNIAK SPRINGS - Walton County Supervisor of Elections Melissa Beasley died of leukemia Wednesday, seven months after she was diagnosed with the disease. She was 49.

Mrs. Beasley, a Republican and former teacher, became supervisor in 1998 and ran unopposed last year for a four-year term. She is survived by her husband, Bobby Beasley, and two sons.