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STEVE BOUSQUETCiting ties to Democrats, an adviser to the former President Bush switches his backing to Bill McCollum in Florida's U.S. Senate race.
TALLAHASSEE -- C. Boyden Gray, who served as White House counsel under the first President Bush, has withdrawn his support of U.S. Senate candidate Mel Martinez and switched to another Republican, Bill McCollum.
Gray, a Washington lawyer and lobbyist, was a member of a host committee for a Martinez fundraiser several weeks ago.
But in a letter released today, Gray said he was renouncing his support for Martinez after learning that the former U.S. Housing secretary Martinez was a former president of Florida's trial bar lobby and had donated money to Democratic candidates. Gray also said he disagrees with Martinez on the issue of limiting lawsuits -- an issue on which Martinez and McCollum disagree.
"Legislation to crack down on frivolous lawsuits and "regulation by litigation" has been stalled in the U.S. Senate for nearly a decade because of the desire of Democrats (and unfortunately, an occasional Republican) to please the trial lawyers," Gray wrote. "We simply do not need any more Republicans who oppose tort reform in the Senate. ...Let's make sure we elect a United States Senator that we know will consistently support rather than oppose meaningful tort reform."
Martinez's previous ties to the trial lawyers and Democratic candidates, mostly in the late 1980s when he was president of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, have been widely reported in Florida.
A spokeswoman in the Martinez campaign, Jennifer Coxe, said the about-face by Gray "isn't that big a deal for us, quite frankly." She said the Martinez campaign was assembling a list of prominent Republicans who supported McCollum in his first Senate race in 2000 but who support Martinez this time.