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Political junkie

Pinellas GOP wows Crist

By Times staff writers
Published October 12, 2005

Charlie Crist won the official endorsement of the Pinellas County Republican Party on Monday night during the local GOP's monthly meeting. That, of course, was no great shocker.

Crist was raised in St. Petersburg, and party chairman Tony DiMatteo has made his support clear for months.

But then there was the check.

The endorsement came with $50,000 from the Pinellas GOP.

Even the ever-bronzed Crist seemed to turn pale.

"Wow. What can I say about Pinellas?" asked Crist, who is running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. "I love you. I absolutely love you."

Pinellas Republicans also formally endorsed state Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, who is running for his father's congressional seat. State Rep. Everett Rice, R-Treasure Island, who is running for attorney general, also won the endorsement and received $5,000.

Crist, former St. Petersburg High senior class president, later spoke to the party faithful for 15 minutes, touting his pledge to never sign a new tax, and his challenge to fellow Republican candidate Tom Gallagher to hold a series of debates before the September primary.

"I asked my opponent to debate. Actually, I've asked him to debate 12 times," Crist said. "And he said, "Well, maybe we'll do it in July.'

"Whatever."

MONEY MOVING TO BERFIELD: The early buzz about Florida's most competitive state Senate race - the Pinellas/Hillsborough District 16 seat being vacated by Republican Jim Sebesta - was that Republican state Rep . Kim Berfield of Clearwater was a tireless campaigner but Republican Rep. Frank Farkas was a champion money raiser.

New campaign reports show that Berfield may be the real fundraising dynamo. She said this week she raised nearly $160,000 in the three months ending Sept. 30, while Farkas said he raised about $90,000. That means Farkas has taken in about $182,000, while Berfield has raised more than $270,000.

Farkas brushed off the numbers, attributing much of her success to the Florida Medical Association, which is aggressively opposing Farkas. Berfield said she never imagined she would best Farkas in fundraising and said certain constituencies like the FMA are backing her just as she expects Florida chiropractors will back Farkas.

The lone Democrat in the race, state Rep. Charlie Justice, is not even in the same league as the Republicans when it comes to money. He reported raising nearly $8,200, bringing his total this year to $17,585.

A DEMOCRAT, WITH MONEY?: Don't count on it being the start of a trend, but state House District 52 candidate Chris Eaton of St. Petersburg has proved to be the rare Democratic candidate who can (sometimes) outraise Republicans. Eaton reported raising $18,455 in the three months ending Sept. 30, making him the fundraising leader in his first fundraising quarter. His rival for the Democratic nomination, Liz McCallum of St. Petersburg, raised $7,635, but spent nearly as much.

Still, Eaton has a long way to catch the race's top money man, Angelo Cappelli, who added another $13,120 to his account, bringing his total raised to more than $50,000. Ross Johnson raised nearly $5,500, bringing his total to about $22,150. Newly filed Republican candidates Sandie Curran and Sean Scott have just started raising money.

HELM CASHING HIMSELF IN: In St. Petersburg, Mayor Rick Baker is handily winning the money war, raising more than five times as much as challenger Ed Helm.

But Helm said he still has one very large donor to tap: himself. He and his wife, Adrien, have decided to spend $50,000 of their own money on the campaign.

Why would a father of four risk so much money? Helm said the race is important to him and he doesn't have the time to raise enough funds to catch Baker.

"We feel like it isn't really our money," Helm said. "We're just stewards."

NO SUCH THING AS A NONPARTISAN: While the St. Petersburg mayor's race is nonpartisan according to the city's charter, that's not deterring Helm from running a decidedly Democratic campaign.

Jon Ausman, a Democratic national committeeman who is helping Helm, sent an e-mail to registered Democrats, urging them to visit Helm's Web site and donate to the campaign. The message notes Baker was the co-chair for the George W. Bush for president campaign in 2000 and 2004.

"If we can oust Baker with a progressive Democrat like Ed Helm then it is very likely other victories in Pinellas County will follow," Ausman wrote.

A HISTORIC WAR: Tension was palpable between the two candidates for the District 4 City Council seat at a forum sponsored by the Euclid/St. Paul's Neighborhood Association last week.

The uncomfortable exchange began when incumbent Virginia Littrell noted Historic Kenwood was named to the National Register of Historic Places under her watch. Her opponent, Leslie Curran, got her political start as a Kenwood neighborhood activist.

"That's something that should have happened years ago," Littrell said of Kenwood's recognition, turning to face Curran.

"It was started years ago," Curran said.

"No, it wasn't," Littrell retorted.

Littrell began to speak again but then turned around to face Curran.

"You know, I was very courteous while you were speaking," Littrell said, as audience members shifted in their seats.

With that, Littrell continued her speech. Curran, who has emphasized her positive attitude during the campaign, smiled.

Carrie Johnson, Aaron Sharockman and Adam C. Smith contributed to this week's Political Junkie. Contact the staff at politicaljunkie@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 12, 2005, 00:19:18]