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LEONORA LaPETERA new state law requires new campaign disclosure language on signs and other literature.
TAMPA - Rich Glorioso got to his printer just in time. The Plant City candidate for a state House seat was able to stop an order of 1,000 signs that soon would be in violation of a new state law.
But Glorioso, who is running for the seat being vacated by House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, had already printed 12,000 handbills that he recently learned will violate the law. Now he's worried his campaigning will come back to haunt him after July 1. That's when the new law, which requires a slight wording change to the disclaimer at the bottom of all campaign advertising, goes into effect.
"What about a palm card that I gave out last month and someone gives it to a friend who gives it to a friend?" said Glorioso, a 60-year-old retired Air Force colonel and a Republican. "I think there has to be some sort of grandfathering. We're changing in midstream."
The new law will affect hundreds of candidates statewide who have already printed billboards, yard signs, bumper stickers and brochures.
Candidates will be forced to change the disclosure on their campaign literature to read: "Political advertisement paid for and approved by (name of candidate), (party affiliation) for (office sought). The previous disclaimer read "pd. pol. adv. Paid for by the (name of candidate) Campaign Account. Approved by (name of candidate) (party affiliation).
The law, part of a campaign reform bill supported by incoming Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, was designed to expose groups that buy television advertising and fail to clearly mark their political affiliations or funding sources.
But it is having unintended consequences. The Florida Division of Elections and supervisors of elections have only now begun notifying candidates who were unaware of the new disclaimer.
Most campaigns are just beginning to heat up, but many have already done the work of producing their literature.
"I think the whole thing is ridiculous," said Mike Gudis, a Democrat running for the Citrus County Commission. "First of all, the candidates should be told of these things as soon as they happen. We've all spent a lot of money on these signs."
A Republican Party staff member sent a memo to House Republican legislators explaining the law change and urging candidates to order stickers with the new disclaimer to put on top of old materials.
But some candidates say that would be a burden. First-time candidate Frank Shannon, a Valrico Republican running for House District 56, printed 5,000 handbills and placed 50 signs on street corners throughout the district, which spans Brandon to Davis Islands. He'd have to go to all 50 signs and place the sticker on them.
"Now I've got to run out and put stickers on them or whatever the case may be," said Shannon, 42, a former bank employee who works at HobbyTown USA.
Jenny Nash, a spokeswoman for the Department of State, which oversees the elections division, said the law does not grandfather literature and signs printed before it went into effect. But elections officials are considering how strictly they will interpret the new law and plan to inform candidates and elections supervisors next week.
Some candidates are aware of the new law, while some are still oblivious. In Pasco and Citrus counties, for example, election supervisors informed all candidates of the change.
"Most of my candidates were pretty docile about it, but it's pretty early," said Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Kurt Browning. "None had printed anything. I have not heard any wailing or gnashing of teeth."
Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson said he planned to inform candidates after the state fine-tunes the rules about literature already out.
But many candidates and their political consultants worried that the new law, which carries as much as a $1,000 penalty, could be used by political opponents.
"You could have all kinds of shenanigans," said Doug McAlarney, a Tallahassee consultant who represents a handful of Republican candidates. "Someone could hold up a palm card and make a false accusation. It's going to happen. ... I think you need to do something. Somebody somewhere needs to put some sanity back into this."
- Times staff writer Justin George contributed to this story.