Politics: Both Parties’ Primary Races for the U.S. Senate Heat Up
Florida Republicans can anticipate a well-funded, hotly contested primary race for U.S. Senate in 2010. Governor Charlie Crist announced on October 8, 2009 that his Senate campaign had raised $2.4 million in the quarter ended September 30, 2009. The governor’s fundraising during the quarter was substantial, even if it did not match the pace of Gov. Crist’s first 50 days as a candidate, when he raised $4.4 million. Currently, Gov. Crist’s campaign has approximately $6.2 million in cash on hand.
Third-quarter fundraising also pointed to the viability of the candidacy of Gov. Crist’s main primary opponent, former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio (R-Miami). On October 6, 2009, Mr. Rubio announced that his campaign had raised nearly $1 million from July through September, almost tripling his second-quarter fundraising results. Mr. Rubio also has recently been the subject of favorable articles from conservative columnists and magazines and has received support from national conservative political figures.
Official fundraising data will be available by October 15, 2009, when federal candidates are required to file their third-quarter financial reports.
The Democratic U.S. Senate primary race received another entrant on October 7, 2009, when former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre announced his candidacy. Mr. Ferre served as mayor of the city from 1973 through 1985 and also has been a member of the Dade County Commission, the Miami City Commission, and the Florida House of Representatives.
The leading Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate seat is U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-17th Congressional District). Rep. Meek has not announced his third-quarter fundraising, but his campaign had raised $2.7 million through June 30, 2009.
Politics: Democratic Candidate for Governor Raises Nearly Twice as Much as Her Chief Rival in the Third Quarter; Republican Candidate Could Face Serious Primary Opposition
The Democratic gubernatorial campaign of Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink announced fundraising totals of more than $1.6 million for the calendar quarter ending on September 30, 2009. The third-quarter results represent a gain of approximately $300,000 over the previous quarter. Ms. Sink has raised more than $4 million, and her campaign reports that it currently has $3.6 million in the bank.
The leading Republican candidate for governor, state Attorney General Bill McCollum, raised $853,000 during the third quarter, down from the $1 million raised in the second quarter. His campaign currently has approximately $1.7 million in the bank.
Attorney General McCollum’s Republican primary campaign may soon receive serious opposition. State Sen. Paula Dockery (R-Lakeland) gave interviews to several reporters on October 6 and 7, 2009 in which she said that she was likely to enter the race. “I’m leaning toward doing it and I’m getting close to an announcement. I’ve given myself a deadline of about three weeks,” she told one reporter. She added, “I’m going to stop short of saying I’ve made the decision, but we’re almost there.”
Sen. Dockery, who currently chairs the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, served in the Florida House from 1994 – 2000 and has been in the Florida Senate since 2002. In 2009, she was the de facto leader of the opposition to the Sun Rail Central Florida rail plan.
Legislature: Trial Court Dismisses Some Charges Against Former House Speaker Ray Sansom; House Retains Former Prosecutor to Conduct Separate Investigation
On October 5, 2009, Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis dismissed the bulk of the indictment against former Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom (R-Ft. Walton Beach) and two others. Judge Lewis dismissed official misconduct and perjury charges, but did not dismiss one of the perjury charges or a portion of one of the official misconduct charges.
The allegations against Rep. Sansom grew out of appropriations legislation passed when he chaired the House budget process, and alleged misconduct in directing funding for a purported emergency operations center that was in fact an airplane hangar to Northwest Florida State College. The judge dismissed the bulk of the official misconduct charges based on his finding that neither Rep. Sansom nor his codefendants could have “falsified” an appropriations act passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor.
The trial on the remaining charges is now scheduled for October 26, 2009.
Rep. Sansom also faces scrutiny from the House Select Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, which is investigating whether he violated any House Rules. On October 7, the committee voted to retain Melanie Ann Hines as independent counsel for its investigation of the former speaker. Ms. Hines served as Florida Statewide Prosecutor from 1991 – 2003.
State Budget: Budget Shortfall for the 2010 – 2011 Fiscal Year Could Reach $2.6 Billion
Florida lawmakers are anticipating that, in spite of recent years’ budget cuts and tax and fee increases, a continuation of state activities at their current level would produce a $2.6 billion shortfall for the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2010.
Amy Baker, Director of the Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research, presented the latest projections to the Senate Ways & Means Committee on October 6, 2009. According to Ms. Baker’s data, revenues will grow by 3.3 percent in the 2010 – 2011 fiscal year, but the state’s “critical and other high priority needs” will see incremental growth of 17.4 percent, resulting in the $2.6 billion shortfall. The bulk of the shortfall would be the result of approximately $1.6 billion in additional Medicaid costs that the state will sustain once federal stimulus money runs out in December 2010.
Property Insurance: Nationwide Will Non-renew 60,000 Florida Homeowners’ Insurance Policies
On October 7, 2009, Nationwide Insurance Co. of Florida announced that it intends to non-renew 60,000 Florida homeowners’ insurance policies over a two-year period beginning in July 2010. A company spokesperson said the action was based on Florida’s overexposure to natural disasters and the company’s need to “preserve financial viability.”
Nationwide has been reducing its presence in Florida for many years. It stopped writing new homeowners’ policies in the state in 2005 and it non-renewed almost 100,000 policies from 2006 – 2009. Under the new announcement, Nationwide will continue to cover approximately 45,000 Florida residential policyholders who also have Nationwide auto policies.
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation announced that the Tower Hill Group, Florida’s fifth-largest writer of residential property coverage, would offer coverage to any policyholders that Nationwide decides to non-renew. In August 2009, the A. M. Best Co. downgraded the financial strength rating of several Tower Hill companies from B (Fair) to D (Poor) and then, at Tower Hill’s request, changed the companies’ status to “not rated.” An Office of Insurance Regulation spokesperson said that the Tower Hill companies “all meet or exceed Florida’s financial statutory guidelines.”
Public Policy News Alert is part of our ongoing commitment to providing up-to-the-minute information about pressing concerns or industry issues affecting our clients and our colleagues. If you have any questions about this alert or would like to discuss these topics further, please contact your Foley attorney or any of the following individuals:
Marnie George
Tallahassee, Florida
850.513.3398
[email protected]
Michael P. Harrell
Tallahassee, Florida
850.513.3373
[email protected]
Robert H. Hosay
Tallahassee, Florida
850.513.3382
[email protected]
Jonathan P. Kilman
Orlando, Florida
407.244.3256
[email protected]
Thomas J. Maida
Tallahassee, Florida
850.513.3377
[email protected]
Leonard E. Schulte
Tallahassee, Florida
850.513.3380
[email protected]
Marnie George of The George Group assists Foley on a variety of government and public policy matters as a consultant.