The self-financed campaign of Karen Saull followed few of the standard campaign rules.
By CURTIS KRUEGER
Published August 5, 2004
He launched a bold anti-tax initiative. She began a self-financed, multimillion-dollar bid for U.S. Senate.
Now Jeffrey and Karen Saull, a little-known Vero Beach couple with big plans, have ended their peculiar foray into Florida politics the way they began: mysteriously.
Karen Saull dropped out of the Senate Republican primary this week, but even her campaign staff was trying to understand what happened.
Asked Wednesday if Saull had withdrawn, adviser Rick Wilson said: "That is my current understanding but I would ask you to wait."
He said he wanted to provide a more definitive statement, but never did.
Later Wednesday, Saull's husband told the Associated Press: "My wife just finally had it." She was offended that Republican Party officials, including Gov. Jeb Bush, said they didn't know her. Saull said the governor had met his wife several times.
"One thing you would remember is my wife," Saull said, "she's a very beautiful woman both inside and outside."
Her decision comes a month after Jeffrey Saull's proposed constitutional amendment to double the homestead exemption was shot down by the Florida Supreme Court, which concluded the wording was misleading. It was widely expected to pass, and local government leaders feared its fiscal impact.
It was unclear if Karen Saull's name will appear on Aug. 31 primary ballots. State elections officials had not received official word, said Division of Elections spokeswoman Jenny Nash. If they do, they will have to contact local supervisors of elections to see if it's still possible to remove her name.
Karen Saull's Senate bid defied traditional rules of politics. Most people running for office in a state with more than 9-million registered voters make endless public appearances and conduct countless media interviews. But after more than three months in the race, it's not clear if Karen Saull attended a single fish fry. She declined numerous interview requests, skipped candidate forums and stayed away from editorial boards.
"It's pretty hard to run an effective campaign when you don't have a message and don't have a message out and then you turn around and blame the party," said University of South Florida professor Darryl Paulson, who is writing a book about Florida politics.
"I guess the best you can say is that they're not foolish with their money."
Saull reported spending about a half-million dollars on the campaign, and she had said she was prepared to spend up to $4.9-million of her own money.
But her husband said she was upset she wasn't taken seriously.
"Karen said she's not dealing with people who are disingenuous, who aren't truthful, who aren't honest," Jeffrey Saull said. "Karen just doesn't want to be in this race right now. She's very upset, and she really doesn't have to take this from anyone."
