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Maybe Rep. Charlie Justice, D-St. Petersburg, saw it coming. Months before four Republican lawmakers took a $48,000 trip to Canada at the expense of a gambling conglomerate, the Florida Democratic Party tried to save Rep. Frank Farkas from himself. But as usual, the Democrats lost the vote.
The Canada trip was bankrolled by Magna Entertainment Corp., owners of Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, a likely future home of voter-approved casino gambling in Broward. The trip - with Farkas and three other lawmakers - was initially reported as an in-kind contribution to the Republican Party of Florida, but it really wasn't.
In the end, the GOP reversed itself last week and said it would pay Magna for the two-day junket in July.
Farkas, R-St. Petersburg, is now a candidate for a state Senate seat against Rep. Kim Berfield, R-Clearwater.
In the 2005 session, Justice (the Democratic candidate for that same Senate seat), offered an amendment to Senate President Tom Lee's lobbying-reform bill that would have made Magna's "in-kind" donation illegal. The Justice amendment would have prohibited elected officials from accepting, "directly or indirectly," anything from a lobbyist worth more than $10, and said: "No lobbyist or principal shall make a gift to a political party for the purpose of circumventing the gift limits provided in this section." Justice's amendment failed along party lines, 82-34. Farkas voted no. But Berfield can't use that against him in the primary; She voted no, too.
ENDORSEMENT BATTLE: Democratic gubernatorial candidates Jim Davis and Rod Smith are battling it out over endorsements. One day last week, Smith held a news conference to tout his support from former state Attorney General Bob Butterworth. A couple of days later, Smith announced the endorsement of former state party chairman Charlie Whitehead of Panama City.
The Davis campaign responded within the hour by touting its endorsements from some prominent Broward County Democratic leaders, including members of the Broward congressional delegation: Reps. Alcee Hastings, Robert Wexler and Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
"Jim Davis is the best person in the race to be governor," state Democratic vice chairwoman Diane Glasser said in a statement. "I have known him a long time. He is a wonderful father and family man. He is a thoughtful person and legislator. We need that kind of integrity back in Tallahassee."
Whitehead's statement: "Jim Davis is a nice man who has served Florida well in Washington, but Rod is the candidate who can bring North Florida voters back into the Democratic column."
Smith in September rolled out 32 endorsements from Broward politicos, but later quietly trimmed that list by one. It seems Smith prematurely listed among his Broward endorsers Jeremy Ring, a former Yahoo executive and candidate for Skip Campbell's senate seat who has a lot a positive buzz surrounding his candidacy. But Smith's campaign didn't exactly have Ring's support nailed down when it included him on list of endorsers, and Ring subsequently asked that his name be removed.
This has happened before. In a 1992 race for state attorney, Smith had to backtrack after running newspaper ads inaccurately touting the endorsement of a radio station, according to the Gainesville Sun. His opponent in that race also accused Smith of claiming the endorsements of several police chiefs who had not actually endorsed him.
WHAT'S $1-MILLION?: Republican U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris told reporters recently that her quarter fundraising total was "approaching" $1-million. Then the reports became public and showed just how liberally Harris defines "approaching."
Turns out she raised about $500,000, and spent most of that. Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson raised about $2-million in that three-month period. He had more than $6.5-million on hand through Sept. 30, while Harris had nearly $470,000.
SMITH-DAVIS RACE: State Rep. Chris Smith of Fort Lauderdale, the leader of the 36 hardy but often-hopelessly outnumbered House Democrats, foresees a great race between U.S. Rep. Jim Davis and state Sen. Rod Smith for the Democratic nomination for governor. But Chris Smith - who's neutral in the governor's race and has his own race to run for a Broward Senate seat - sees a political horizon that strongly favors Davis' chances.
As Chris Smith sees it, it's all about turnout, and the most hotly contested Democratic primaries in 2006 will be in the Tampa Bay region, where Davis is far better known and has a history of winning elections to Congress and the Legislature. Those candidates will all be working hard to drive up the turnout, in races for Davis' own congressional seat as well as down-ballot Democratic battles for a slew of state Senate and state House seats.
By comparison, Rep. Smith pointed out, the region where Rod Smith is likely to perform strongest, the north-central region around Gainesville and the Panhandle, has a dearth of hot primary races. (At this early juncture in the race, Chris Smith sees Davis and Rod Smith battling to a draw in vote-rich South Florida).
As for his own refusal to take sides in the Davis-Smith race, Chris Smith laughed and said: "I'm out of the governor-endorsing business." (He backed Republican Jeb Bush in 1998, but later renounced his support after sharp differences on the One Florida initiative and other issues).
PRAISE FOR NEGRON: State House Appropriations Chairman Joe Negron drew praise and endorsements Tuesday from 41 fellow legislators in his race to become the next attorney general. More than 20 House members and two senators stood behind Negron at a news conference. Some noted the difficulty they faced in endorsing Negron over two other lawmakers also seeking the Republican nomination for the office, now held by Charlie Crist.
"I'm supporting him although my own senator, Sen. (Burt) Saunders (of Naples), is in the race and my good friend Bill McCollum, who I have donated money to in the past, is apparently getting in the race," said House Rules Chairman Dudley Goodlette, R-Naples. Republican state Rep. Everett Rice of Treasure Island, the former Pinellas sheriff also running for attorney general, saw only only a few Tampa Bay Republican legislators get behind Negron: state Sen. Mike Fasano of New Port Richey and Reps. John Legg of Port Richey and Ed Homan of Tampa.
NEW SHOW: A new Tampa Bay public affairs show is set to debut Oct. 30 on Bay News 9, with Gov. Jeb Bush as the first scheduled guest. Political Connections is a joint venture between the St. Petersburg Times and Bay News 9 that will include interviews with political figures and analysis of political developments. Bay News 9 anchor Al Ruechel will host the show Sundays at 11 a.m., and Times political editor Adam Smith will join him for the interview segment.
BUZZ ONLINE: For more political news, check out www.sptimes.com/blogs/buzz
Adam C. Smith and Steve Bousquet contributed to this week's Buzz.