County Republican Party sues state

Citing the First Amendment, the GOP wants to endorse candidates and keep its share of filing fees.

By EDIE GROSS

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 14, 2000

CLEARWATER -- The Pinellas County Republican Party has sued the state saying it wants the right to endorse candidates in primary races without facing financial penalties.

Florida law allows local political parties to recommend candidates in primary elections. But if they exercise that right, the state withholds their share of filing fees collected from local candidates for office.

That, says the lawsuit, is a violation of the party's right to free speech.

Local Republican candidates paid the Secretary of State about $14,000 in "party assessments" during the 1998 election. Those fees are passed on to the state Republican Party and then to the local chapter as long as the local group does not endorse any primary candidates.

The Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee did not endorse any candidates in the primaries that year for fear of losing that money, the lawsuit claims.

The local party ought to be able to endorse candidates for state or local office without that fear, the suit says. The Pinellas County committee is expecting between $25,000 and $30,000 in fees this year, said party chairman Paul Bedinghaus.

"What we're doing is not earth-shattering," said Bedinghaus. "We're not seeking a new right, just the right to exercise a right we have without incurring any financial sanctions."

Defendants in the suit include Secretary of State Katherine Harris, the state's chief election officer whose office collects qualifying fees; Treasurer Bill Nelson, whose office disburses those fees to the state political parties; and Attorney General Bob Butterworth, who must be named in suits that question the validity of state statutes.

If the Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee is successful in having Florida's law declared unconstitutional, all political parties in the 6th Judicial Circuit would be allowed to endorse primary candidates without being penalized, said George Jirotka, the Tampa attorney handling the case.

The law was successfully challenged in Palm Beach County in 1994.

Two years ago, the Pinellas County Republican Party successfully challenged a law that forbade local parties from endorsing judicial candidates.

The Pinellas County Democratic Party has not taken a stance on the latest issue, said acting chairman Bob Shirer. But he said it's a good idea for local parties to remain neutral before the primaries.

"When the apparatus is all behind one candidate, it skews the electoral process," said Shirer. "I value freedom of speech. I use it all the time. But there are limits."

Bedinghaus and Jirotka said the local party does not want to endorse a candidate in every primary. But in extreme cases, for instance if an avowed racist runs as a Republican, the party wants the option to say something.

"This would give us the power to say, "Hey, we don't agree with this candidate,' " Bedinghaus said. "So if somebody espouses extreme views . . . this would allow us to say so."- Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

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