Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Power plays in state Senate

GOP members have the majority, but internecine fighting could threaten that. "Tension is good," one says.

By STEVE BOUSQUET
Published March 19, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - The Florida Senate is a house divided.

Two competing Republican camps are locked in a bitter struggle for future control of the Senate, and the power and perks that go with it. The battle threatens to derail the GOP's agenda in Jeb Bush's last year as governor.

Senators trade insults on the floor. Shadowy phone calls blast Sen. JD Alexander, R-Lake Wales, over an old vote. Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, is accused in writing by the Florida Chamber of Commerce of "going against her word" - and blames Alexander for orchestrating the attack.

"I got in his face today," Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Dunnellon, said following a tense encounter with an enemy, Alexander, who she said accused her of arranging nasty phone calls to his constituents. She called Alexander a "hypocrite" for using the identical tactics against other senators.

The battle has been simmering for weeks, since a group of Republicans withdrew written pledges to support Sen. Alex Villalobos of Miami to be Senate president in 2008. He would become the first Cuban-American to hold one of the three most powerful posts atop state government.

The coup was spearheaded by some of the Senate's craftiest power players. As they defected to Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, seven others, including Argenziano, quickly closed ranks around Villalobos, whom they see as a victim of betrayal.

"It becomes very uncomfortable," said Lynn, a Villalobos ally. "People are less inclined to sit with you, less inclined to talk with you."

The strife in the Senate poses new challenges for a Republican Party eager to show its ability to provide strong leadership.

Although the 2006 session is in its early stages, there are clear signs the feud is already affecting public policy:

Legislation making it harder for citizens to change the Constitution, a priority of business groups, is stuck in committee after Lynn sided with three Democrats in opposition. After switching, Lynn was accused by the chamber of "siding with out-of-state special interest groups." She said she switched because many mainstream groups oppose the changes. The bill's sponsor? Alexander, a leader of the Villalobos coup that she opposes.

Villalobos' camp suspects the next Senate president, Ken Pruitt of Port St. Lucie, was involved in orchestrating the coup. Pruitt calls the charge baseless, but the suspicion adds mistrust and complicates his ability to prepare for his leadership role.

Bush, the House and business groups are counting heavily on the Senate to pass a broad package of legislation this spring. But a proposed revamp of the class-size amendment hasn't been set for a hearing, and shifting alliances could alter close votes on key issues such as limiting businesses' exposure to lawsuits.

"It's a little worrisome," said Rick McAllister of the Florida Retail Federation. "I'm worried that important issues can get caught up in internal bickering."

The sense of division is palpable because the Senate is a small club made up of just 40 members, 26 of them Republicans.

The fate of most legislation is affected, in some way, by personal relationships between individual senators.

As senators struggle to focus on the insurance crisis, budget and other issues, personal antagonisms keep getting in the way.

Intraparty strife in the Senate can trigger big repercussions because some of the most decisive votes occur in committees made up of seven or eight senators each. The fate of a major bill could rest on the shift of a position by one senator or absence of another.

The plot thickens if a leader of Atwater's group seeks to pass a bill in a committee chaired or dominated by members of Villalobos' group.

"I have tried, successfully, to stay away from all that," said Bush, trying to put space between himself and the Senate's problems. "I'm a little confused about how something that's going to happen in 2009 should be relevant for a session in 2006."

It's relevant because term limits have forced legislators to crown future leaders years in advance. Villalobos is the first senator in two decades to collect enough pledges to take the reins only to face a challenge from within his caucus before he can grab the gavel.

"I'm going to persevere," Villalobos said.

Villalobos' hold on the presidency began to crumble a few weeks ago.

Four senators, including Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, arrived at his office and asked to revoke their signed pledges.

Fasano said he had previously offered a verbal pledge to Atwater, a friend, regardless of when Atwater would run for the presidency. When he learned Atwater would seek the presidency in 2008, Fasano said, he quickly bolted.

"We sat down, and I said, "Alex, we're here to ask for our pledge cards back,' " Fasano recalled. "He was very gracious. Nobody in that room was belligerent or loud."

The others seated around Villalobos' round conference table were Sen. Lisa Carlton, R-Osprey, Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, and Alexander, who is interested in becoming Senate president in 2010.

"It's a series of things," Alexander said of his decision to shun Villalobos.

He said Villalobos' moderate stands, especially on criminal justice issues, are "in the mix" of factors, and that Villalobos hasn't worked hard to help fellow Republican senators raise money for their campaigns.

"For whatever reason, he hasn't done it," Alexander said.

In response, Villalobos criticized the exaggerated role of special interest money in the Legislature, while portraying his opponents as tools of lobbyists.

"I want to be president so we have a free flow of ideas," Villalobos said, "where issues are won or lost based on merit - not campaign contributions or what special interest extorted somebody."

Senators in both camps talk confidently of victory, but the winner of the struggle won't be known until after the fall elections, if then.

"The fact that it's unsettled is unsettling," said Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville.

A toxic atmosphere will linger through the summer campaign season, and several senators in both camps must seek re-election. Each side is angling for a way to unseat a rival, and thus improve its chances of ultimate victory.

Alexander recently found himself a target of phone calls in his Lakeland-area district by an electioneering group with ties to political consultant Rocky Pennington. The Committee to Restore Integrity in Politics financed calls that criticized his 2003 vote in support of higher phone rates.

Argenziano is one of several senators who has employed Pennington as a consultant, but she emphatically denied she was behind the attacks.

"I had nothing to do with that. I would take credit for it if I did. I wish I thought of it," Argenziano said.

Argenziano and Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, accuse Alexander of having a hand in similar tactics by a group affiliated with State Farm Insurance, against Rep. Frank Farkas, R-St. Petersburg, a Senate candidate.

"Absolutely, positively not," said State Farm lobbyist Mark Delegal. "No way."

As the tension simmers in the Senate, King, who was Senate president from 2002-04, said Republicans will be the losers if the battle for power affects the legislative agenda.

"The minute we let this thing degenerate into an issue-oriented fight, then we're on the slippery slope of losing the majority," King said. "And the only people who benefit from that are the Democrats."

Not to worry, said Pruitt, who's poised to be Senate president in November.

From where he sits, Pruitt said, the Senate is humming along efficiently with a budget coming together "as smooth as I've ever seen it."

He rejected the effects of "political intrigue" on public policy.

Argenziano, who's known for her outspoken style and willingness to challenge Republican orthodoxy, said the power struggle is not all bad.

She said the personality conflicts that used to be swept under the rug are now on display.

"It's all out in the open now," she said.

Villalobos agreed. "Tension is good," he said. "I don't think the Senate should be a rubber stamp for anything."

[Last modified March 19, 2006, 22:14:01]