Republicans Doug Gallagher, Mel Martinez and Bill McCollum scatter across the state, trying to turn a tight race.
By STEVE BOUSQUET
Published August 12, 2004
CLEARWATER - A day after their testy TV debate, three Republican U.S. Senate candidates scattered across Florida Wednesday, chasing very different strategies in a wide-open race.
Former U.S. housing secretary Mel Martinez toured Clearwater's Sky Way Global, a company developing anti-terrorism security systems.
Former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum headed to Jensen Beach, where he toured the Indian River Lagoon with a county commissioner to highlight his commitment to restoring the Everglades.
Coral Gables software developer Doug Gallagher jetted to Jacksonville and called for eliminating the Internal Revenue Service and creating a flat tax. He said the tax code is so complex it "saps production in the economy of our country."
Martinez stresses his ties to the White House at every opportunity. But as he rode west on Interstate 4 in a green Chevrolet Tahoe SUV, he said he's not getting advice directly from the Bush team, even though they share a media adviser, Stuart Stevens.
Martinez said Stevens came to Orlando last week to coach him on Tuesday's debate, but left to provide advice to Vice President Dick Cheney.
More out-of-state help is flowing to Martinez, who is viewed as the White House favorite because of a perceived ability to draw Hispanic votes. He'll fly to Texas today where both of that state's U.S. senators, Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, will host fund-raisers for him.
As Martinez arrived at Sky Way Global Wednesday morning, company chairman Glenn Kovar told him: "You did wonderful last night."
Martinez was frequently the target of barbs from Gallagher, who criticized his rival as a "personal injury lawyer" whose firm sued Disney World and a Baptist church. Gallagher lumped Martinez and McCollum together, calling the two lawyers "the M and M boys," and said he doubted McCollum's electability because he lost a bid for the Senate in 2000.
"You did not even win your own congressional district," Gallagher told McCollum.
"We ran a very good race," replied McCollum, who says his experience in intelligence and national security is much better suited to this race.
The debate was watched in about 160,000 homes in the state's five largest TV markets, said managing editor Kent Morton of WESH-Ch. 2 in Orlando, citing overnight Nielsen ratings. The largest audience was in Tampa-St. Petersburg, where an estimated 52,600 homes saw the debate. The smallest viewership was in Miami.
On a visit to Martin County, McCollum vowed to "continue fighting for our environment," and cited his work in giving the Wekiva River status as a scenic waterway.
In Washington, the League of Conservation Voters said that when McCollum was in Congress, the Orlando-area Republican had one of the worst voting records on the environment of anyone in Florida's congressional delegation.
The league named McCollum to its "Dirty Dozen" list in his 2000 Senate campaign for some of his votes, including backing of amendments that weakened the Clean Water Act. His final-year record with the league was 7 out of a possible 100.
"This man is not a friend of clean water," said Betsy Loyless, the league's vice president for policy.
McCollum also pointed to victory in an unscientific straw poll of members of the Florida Federation of Republican Women. McCollum said he received 55 percent of about 1,600 ballots returned, compared with 25 percent for Martinez, 7 percent for Gallagher and 6 percent for Johnnie Byrd.
Times staff writer Alisa Ulferts contributed to this report.
