The three hurricanes have put candidates Betty Castor and Mel Martinez behind in their fight for a U.S. Senate seat.
By ANITA KUMAR and STEVE BOUSQUET
Published September 12, 2004
After winning their party nominations with ease, Democrat Betty Castor and Republican Mel Martinez now face each other in a U.S. Senate race with big money, a star-studded supporting political cast and sharp differences on key issues.
If only the weather would cooperate.
The eight-week sprint to the general election begins with both candidates struggling for traction while the state remains mesmerized by a third major hurricane in a month. For many Floridians, a Senate campaign is the furthest thing from their minds.
Castor and Martinez are largely avoiding public events so as not to appear insensitive and because so few voters are paying attention, but both are meticulously planning events through Nov. 2.
Vice President Dick Cheney plans to raise money for Martinez this month. Castor is setting up fundraisers all over the country, and women senators from three states will campaign with her in Florida.
"We are really going full steam ahead," Castor said. "But we're not going to compete with a hurricane."
Martinez said Hurricane Ivan forced him to cancel events this week in Pasco County, one of the few places where he lost to rival Bill McCollum in the primary. "It's really difficult," he said.
Eventually, the storms will subside and the race will draw lots of national attention and a parade of supporters, including President Bush and his Democratic rival, John Kerry. Both are expected to visit the nation's biggest battleground state frequently, with their Senate counterparts in tow.
With a commanding lead in the polls as the primary approached, Castor, a former state education commissioner from Tampa, began planning for the November election more quickly than Martinez, who has met privately with McCollum to heal wounds from their brutal nomination fight.
Martinez said he has "made changes in our organization" to prevent another incident similar to one in which a mailing attacking McCollum was sent without his approval.
Castor plans to spend much of September raising money out of state as she tries to collect the $10-million she estimates she needs to win. She has events scheduled in Washington, Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle, Atlanta, Texas, Alabama and California.
"She will become a national candidate now," said Larry Biddle, Castor's deputy campaign director. "There will be a huge focus on Democrats throughout the country, and it won't let up. Everybody's always concerned about an open seat."
Castor lined up events with Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisana, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Dianne Feinstein of California, and plans to call Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. Castor's former rival, U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, will raise money in South Florida with Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000.
Martinez, a former housing secretary and Orange County chairman, said he looks forward to drawing sharp distinctions with Castor on issues, and that her events with politicians like Feinstein will help him.
"I think what it will do is crystallize for the people of Florida what an extreme liberal they might be electing to the Senate," he said, "someone who will be in league with people like Dianne Feinstein."
Castor's campaign expects help from EMILY's List, a national political fundraising group that supports Democratic women who support abortion rights. EMILY's List, which stands for Early Money Is Like Yeast, contributed about a third of Castor's $5-million in the primary, and helped with publicity and research.
Candidates expect to have an easier time raising money for the general election because of the race's national importance. Both ended the primary race with about $200,000.
Florida is one of a handful of states with contested Senate races that could determine whether Republicans maintain their narrow 51-48 majority in the U.S. Senate.
Both the Democratic and Republican parties collected money before the primaries to be used in the general election - $1-million by the Democrats. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in Washington plans to spend another $2-million on Castor's campaign. No comparable Republican figures were available.
Despite Martinez's relatively late entry in the Senate race, he proved to be an effective fundraiser, thanks partly to the perception that he was the White House favorite. Martinez raised slightly more than $5-million for the primary and set a goal of $8- to $10-million for the general election.
Martinez, who moved to the right in the crowded Republican primary dominated by social conservatives, is expected to surround himself with moderates, such as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, to try to move back to the political center.
"There will be a steady flow of luminaries in and out of the state," said Jennifer Coxe, a Martinez spokeswoman. "We'll be competitive."
Even though polls show the presidential race a dead heat in Florida, Martinez will hitch his prospects tightly to those of President Bush and Cheney.
Cheney is expected to attend a Martinez campaign fundraiser in Jacksonville on Sept. 27, said Duval County Republican Party chairman Mike Hightower.
More than two dozen of President Bush's biggest Florida fundraisers have given money to Martinez. They include Gary Morse, developer of The Villages near Ocala; Thomas Petway III, an owner of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars, and John Thrasher, Tallahassee lobbyist and former state House speaker.
Castor's campaign said the focus will not change from the primary race when she staked out centrist positions on abortion, national security and health care, while opponents, Deutsch and Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas, sought support from the party's liberal base. She tried to mold herself in the image of Bob Graham, the popular senator she is trying to replace.
"We were trying from Day One to build on issues that will last us through the entire campaign," Castor said.
She plans one or two public appearances a week in September, though that schedule will pick up in October. She has held three events since the Aug. 31 primary, including one with Graham and Democrat U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.
A unity event with Deutsch and Penelas is planned in Miami, but has been postponed twice because of hurricanes.
Floridians likely will see more of a change in Martinez.
"He's on the record for being extreme right, but voters, I think, have short memories," said Richard Pinsky, an adviser to another Republican Senate candidate, Doug Gallagher. Pinsky said Florida's Senate race "is sort of a classic race that will be tied to the top of the ticket. If George Bush is doing well, I think Mel will be doing well."
Martinez said he is the same candidate but is "speaking to a much broader audience. I'm not changing who I am."
Martinez won his primary easily, but polls suggested a much tighter race. That's part of the reason Martinez criticized McCollum with a series of critical attacks in the last week, one of which accused him of supporting "the radical homosexual lobby."
Since the primary, Martinez has been privately trying to mend fences with McCollum, who called a Martinez mailing and TV ad "bigotry" and "political hate speech."
The two men met privately Tuesday, but neither side will discuss what took place. McCollum's campaign Web site still features a statement in which he says: "Sadly, my positions on social issues were grossly misrepresented in a mailer and a targeted TV ad that appealed to hatred and bigotry."
Martinez can only hope that most McCollum supporters are ready to help Martinez to victory - such as state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey.
Fasano, who criticized Martinez for a "smear campaign" two weeks ago, says now: "Once a primary is over, you've got to get behind a winner, and that's what I'm doing. . . . Mel Martinez will be a more effective senator for Florida than Betty Castor will be."
