Posted on 07/30/2006 10:55:12 AM PDT by eartotheground
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- More than a month before the start of the Florida primary, one race to watch is the battle for the Republican nomination for Jacksonville's Senate seat.
The latest skirmish has candidate Randall Terry accusing incumbent Jim King of having the backing of a bikini bar.
Terry, 46, who has lived in Ponte Vedra Beach for three years, will run against King in the heavily Republican district that stretches from Duval County to northern Volusia County.
In a move Terry called disappointing and sad, Gov. Jeb Bush publicly announced Wednesday that he is endorsing King.
King has served in the Legislature since 1986, which was the last time he had a primary opponent. He was Senate president in 2003 and 2004.
Terry recently struck back, accusing King of taking contributions from a Jacksonville gentlemen's club called Wackos.
"He (King) offered money to see private parts and to see more than what I was showing," said a woman who said she used to be a dancer at Wackos.
She's not the only former Wackos employee who allegedly saw King at the bikini bar.
"I was there when he was there. There's no mistake in it. I've seen him there," said a former Wackos disc jockey.
The person who brought the former dancer and disc jockey to light was none other than King's opponent -- Terry.
"He will lie to the public and try to position himself as a family-values Republican," Terry said.
He said not only does King frequent the club, but that King has also been accepting political contributions from it.
"He knew, and now he's trying to lie his way out of it," Terry said.
When confronted about the allegations against him, King turned the accusations back on his opponent.
"When we got the check, I looked at the sheet where it said list employer and it said bar and grill. Well, how do I know? Randall must frequent some of those places, I guess," King said.
After learning that Terry had provided the media with a dancer and a disc jockey from Wackos, his campaign said: "These allegations are patently not true. This is a desperate reaction by a desperate campaign. Clearly, he (Terry) is doing this because he didn't get the governor's endorsement. This should prove to the voters what type of man Randall Terry is to counter that."
To counter the campaign statement, Terry said he's the type of man who tells the truth.
"This is critical because it goes to the core of a man and what he will do legislatively," Terry said.
Randall Terry is bad news . It doesn't surprise me that he would stoop to this level .
This is outrageous! He should be hiring expensive hookers that frequent the Radisson and Marriott like the other politicians!
I certainly would never vote for a man who denies going to nudie bars.
I suggest everybody in this district write in 'Al Bundy'.
I love the parade of disgruntled former employees they have as witnesses. Dangle an envelope with a few crisp $100 bills in front of an unemployed stripper or disc jockey and they'll say anything.
FL has great weather and no state income tax but after that there is so much crap.
>>"He (King) offered money to see private parts and to see more than what I was showing," said a woman who said she used to be a dancer at Wackos.<<
That sounds like it could describe a table dance... If that is upsetting Terry, he may be a touch too uptight for public office.
I don't know about Jacksonville in particular, but strip clubs in Florida are a dime a dozen. This type of news may shake up someone in a more pristine environment, but FL has tons of strip clubs and topless bars. It's not that big a deal, IMHO.
I remember Randall Terry from his anti-abortion 'antics.' I think he sets himself up to be a bit too 'righteous.' He seems a little off his rocker. Just my two cents.
.Randall Terry has no room to talk of family values!!!
I wouldn't vote for him dog catcher....
(unfortunately there was a day, years ago, when I wouldn't have said this, so you can see how deeply disappointed I am in this man)
..Let's not start in on Florida.
I'm right with you.
I'm sick of people like Randall Terry.
I worked for Barbara Boxer.
-PJ
And yet if they were saying this about a dem, there would be little doubt expressed about this behavior. Go figure.
That was 1992.
The world, kinda changed in this area, really quickly and suddenly.
In any case, I don't care and I don't see why any voter should care. These days, I'm just happy when my politicians aren't running around with call boys.
What a dope King is. He could get young interns to come to his office and strip for free, like former President Clinton did.
amen brother and is suspect there is a lot less to this than meets the eye - at least where king is concerned... i wonder how many keyes & simcox consultants the terry campaign is using.
Plenty.
I thought frequenting strip bars was a prerequisite for being in the Senate.
King is bad news, a man I would never trust who keeps some creepy company.
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