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Her opponents in the Republican U.S. Senate primary cast front-runner Katherine Harris as a liability to the party.Harris casts herself as a true believer who doesn't kowtow to Washington elites and doesn't play politics as usual.Few would argue the last point. The Republican race to challenge Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in November has been anything but usual.It pits three political unknowns against one of the most recognized -- some might say infamous -- women in the Republican party in a race where name recognition has sometimes looked like a bad thing."I'm not a Beltway boy, and I'll never go along...

Not very long ago, the term conservatives most often used to describe Katherine Harris was "rock star." Writing in The Weekly Standard, John Podhoretz praised her as "a local official in Florida who looked to the letter of the law for guidance at a time when we needed the law the most." Among conservatives, this was one of the more measured assessments. In the eyes of her admirers, she was Mother Teresa, Marie Curie, and Joan of Arc all rolled into one--passionate, deeply moral, and honest as the day is long. Not only that, she was also smart as a...

SARASOTA- The only candidate Katherine Harris is talking about these days is the man who won't appear on the ballot with her next week. While Harris faces three Republican primary opponents on Tuesday, she is largely ignoring the trio to focus her television ads and stump speeches on Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. "She's focusing on unseating Bill Nelson," said Jennifer Marks, a campaign spokeswoman for Harris. That has meant bypassing recent forums where her opponents appeared before groups in Tampa, Orlando and Lakewood Ranch. On Monday she refused to go on a nationally syndicated radio show with Will McBride. When...

Open thread for anyone who has been listening to Katherine Harris on the Michael Medved Show today.

U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris told a religious journal that separation of church and state is "a lie" and God and the nation's founding fathers did not intend the country be "a nation of secular laws." The Florida Republican candidate for U.S. Senate also said that if Christians are not elected, politicians will "legislate sin," including abortion and gay marriage. Harris made the comments - which she clarified Saturday - in the Florida Baptist Witness, the weekly journal of the Florida Baptist State Convention, which interviewed political candidates and asked them about religion and their positions on issues. Separation of church...

Snip... Of the three Republican candidates who belatedly jumped into the race to challenge Ms. Harris, Windermere lawyer Will McBride is the best choice to represent his party. Mr. McBride also takes conservative positions on most issues. But he has shown admirable independence in calling for a more balanced approach to immigration reform than the security-only plan that Ms. Harris voted for in the U.S. House. He is proudly touting his Hispanic heritage in his campaign. Mr. McBride's declared commitment to ethics and lobbying reform also is welcome, given the ethical questions swirling around Ms. Harris. And he recognizes the...

ORLANDO, Aug. 25 -- Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) said this week that God did not intend for the United States to be a "nation of secular laws" and that the separation of church and state is a "lie we have been told" to keep religious people out of politics. "If you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin," Harris told interviewers from the Florida Baptist Witness, the weekly journal of the Florida Baptist State Convention. She cited abortion and same-sex marriage as examples of that sin. Harris, a candidate in the Sept. 5 Republican primary...

SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. - Peter Monroe knows Washington. The Safety Harbor developer and U.S. Senate hopeful built a solid reputation as a behind-the-scenes player on Capitol Hill, tackling some of the nation's stickier messes, including managing the taxpayer-backed $140 billion savings and loan bailout. He thinks that experience will resonate with Republican voters in the Sept. 5 primary. If only they knew him. "When you're head of an agency, nobody knows who you are unless it's maybe a high level position," Monroe said. "Who's the secretary of agriculture?" Monroe, 62, is betting on a recent mailing of a million pamphlets...

The National Right to Life Committee PAC announced today its endorsement of Will McBride for the U.S. Senate. In a letter from David O’ Steen, Executive Director, and Karen Cross, Political Director, National Right to Life wrote to McBride “The endorsement reflects your commitment to renewing a culture of life, not only in Florida, but throughout the nation. We look forward to working with you in the Senate to restore legal protection for innocent life”. Commenting on the news, Will McBride said, “It is extremely gratifying for me to have been endorsed by National Right to Life. I have been...

Thursday, August 24, 2006 JUNO BEACH — LeRoy Collins Jr. — a retired two-star admiral and son of the man considered Florida's first modern governor — tells audiences he's best known now as "one of the guys running against Katherine Harris." Collins, 71, of Tampa, used that line Wednesday as he addressed about 60 people at the Waterford retirement community in Juno Beach. "Everybody knows who Katherine Harris is, and a lot of those reasons are the wrong reasons," said Collins, one of three candidates running against Harris in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate nomination. Harris, a two-term...

Metzler, who had been the campaign’s political director, confirmed late Sunday that he quit the campaign, but declined further comment. “I left her campaign and I wished her well,” Metzler said. He said the tree incident was “not necessarily” the reason for his quitting. He hung up when asked for further reasons. The tree incident occurred Thursday when Harris blamed the paltry turnout at a campaign rally at Orlando Executive Airport on the need to move the event because a tree had damaged the hanger in which the rally was originally scheduled. Airport officials later said no tree fell on...

And Subjective Justice For All By Jenni Vinson Trejo August 19, 2006 William S. Mosher lived in Harris County in Houston, Texas. Mosher was a prominent Houston businessman and philanthropist who had been a long-time active and supporter of a local Christian charity, the Star of Hope Mission, that provided food and shelter to indigents. William Mosher died in 1948. In 1953 the president of the Star of Hope Mission approached the Harris County Commissioners Court and secured permission to erect a memorial to Mosher on the Courthouse property. Morris testified that Star of Hope selected a location in front...

Come to Free Republic and SEE!"Cannibal", featuring a bunch of angry FREEPers, eating each other alive over who gets to run against former goofball "Astro-NAUGHT" Bill Nelson! SEE!Bill Nelson and his sorry Michael-Moore-supporting ARSE laugh his way to re-election as conservatives ignore the issues and argue over whether someone is entitled to run for the Senate! Bill Nelson gives "Cannibal" a BIG THUMBS UP!"Cannibal" is almost as good as Fahren-Fraud 9-11!"--Bill Nelson

TAMPA, Fla. - Retired admiral and U.S. Senate candidate LeRoy Collins, Jr. called the recent planned terrorist attacks against U.S. bound airliners from Europe an ominous threat we must take seriously and not ignore. Collins' remarks followed exposure of the coordinated plot to take down several commercial aircraft departing the United Kingdom, and the arrest of 21 suspects in London. "Americans cannot deny there are people in the world who despise our freedoms and beliefs, and there are those among us who want to kill innocent civilians to advance their cause. The threat is real. These people are still living...

Fans continue to support Katherine Harris, despite the candidate's lack of party support and her low poll ratings.''Agua? Could we have some agua?'' the woman asked, in the banquet room of a restaurant in Hialeah, before Katherine Harris arrived to stump. Two years of high school Spanish will take you further than you think and soon the waitress brought some, along with milk in mugs and a pitcher of coffee. ''This is café con leche,'' the woman explained to her companions. ``It's Cuban coffee. Isn't it so good?'' They sipped. It was. They were three Anglos in a roomful of...

In the U.S. Senate primary, Rep. Katherine Harris has been touting key political endorsements from fellow Republican lawmakers. The problem is, some of them never endorsed her. Several members of the U.S. House called the Harris campaign to complain Wednesday after the St. Petersburg Times notified them of the endorsements listed on Harris' Web site. Minutes later, their names were removed. The list of politicians whose names came down includes Reps. Ginny Brown-Waite of Brooksville, Cliff Stearns of Ocala, Mark Foley of West Palm Beach and Jeff Miller of the Panhandle. "The congressman has not made an endorsement in the...

In keeping with her unusual Senate campaign, Rep. Katherine Harris has failed to meet with most of the state's major daily newspapers to seek their endorsements. Editors across Florida say it's unheard of for such a major candidate to decline to visit with an editorial board - an opportunity to make a good impression and explain the candidate's positions. "I can't ever recall a candidate saying, 'I'm not going to see anybody,' " said Randy Schultz, editorial page editor at the Palm Beach Post. "It just doesn't happen." Harris, who has been hurt by months of negative publicity, said her...

On the campaign trail, U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris says Democrat Bill Nelson is so liberal that even his own family is turning on him. Proof, she says, came at the Wausau Possum Festival two weeks ago in rural Washington County in the Florida Panhandle, where Nelson's family roots lie. That's the county where his mother, Nanny Myrle Nelson, grew up. "I even had Bill Nelson's relatives coming up saying: We love him but, hey, he's not voting and doesn't vote our conscience in Washington, D.C., and we are going to support you," Harris said during a speech to the...

SALT LAKE CITY - An evangelical Christian minister claims he was unlawfully arrested while trying to tape a performance of a Mormon-themed pageant in the Clarkston Cemetery near Logan Friday night. Joel Kramer, 39, was arrested and booked for disorderly conduct after he told a Cache County sheriff's deputy he was not violating any laws by videotaping the pageant. The pageant depicts the life of Martin Harris, an early disciple of Joseph Smith, founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "These are free pageants, so there's no copyright violation and I'm within my rights to be on...

Click the page. In other news, SurveyUSA has Davis (GOP) beating Lucas (Dem challenger and former incumbent) in the Kentucky 4th district by 2%.

U.S. Senate candidate Will McBride demanded an apology from Republican rival Katherine Harris Friday after learning that the person who asked him a racially charged question at a debate works for Harris. Jackie Brownhill, identified as a co-chairwoman for the Harris campaign in the Tampa Bay area, asked McBride why he changed his name from Rodriguez in front of a crowd last week at a Pinellas County Republican club forum. McBride, who has grandmothers from Mexico and the Dominican Republic, denied he had changed his name. It "is more compelling proof that Ms. Harris should apologize clearly and sincerely for...

In the latest pre-primary straw poll, Will McBride beat Katherine Harris, his primary opponent for the Republican nomination, and incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson. The outcome of the ballots cast at the Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce Hob Nob was 72 votes for McBride and 51 for both Harris and Nelson. Two other candidates for the GOP nomination, LeRoy Collins Jr. and Peter Monroe, received 12 and 2 votes respectively. “This is the sixth significant straw poll in a row, in which we have virtually equaled or run ahead of Katherine Harris, making it very clear that a strong trend is...

WASHINGTON — Standing outside a Starbucks in Sarasota, U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris was berating a campaign aide as customers at outdoor tables sat watching. Two days earlier, she had left some books in the aide's car as he drove her to campaign events in Florida. That night, when she returned to Washington, she called the aide and told him to send the books to her right away. He sent them the next morning by FedEx, but Harris returned to Sarasota that day before the books arrived. "She kept saying 'I need those books. Why didn't you get them to me?'...

2006 YR Hob Nob This 2006 YR Hob Nob was a great success. Thanks to all of the candidates, campaigns, and volunteers that made the event possible. A very special thank you goes to Suzanne Delaney and Kathy Reid. Suzanne and Kathy spent countless hours preparing for the event and did a great job! The results YR Hob Nob straw poll are as follows: Governor Austin Brooks 2 Charlie Crist 117 Richard Paul Dembinsky 0 Tom Gallagher 48 Vernon A. Palmer 0 Berthram B. Samuel 0 Joseph Smith 0 Michael W. St. Jean 0 U.S. Senate LeRoy Collins 26 Katherine...

ORLANDO - The FBI was contacting Rep. Katherine Harris' former congressional and Senate campaign staff this week and it was revealed that she didn't tell top-level staff about a federal subpoena related to a case against a corrupt defense contractor. It is the latest trouble for Harris, who has endured setback after setback in her attempt to unseat Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson. Still, those who have worked for her say nothing short of death or a conviction will get her out of the race that even Republican leaders say she can't win. "I honestly believe that if she's indicted, she...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris received a grand jury subpoena from federal investigators and concealed the fact from top campaign advisers hired to help her deflect negative publicity, her former campaign manager has disclosed. "Yes, there was a subpoena. She didn't tell us," said Glenn Hodas, Harris' third and most recent campaign manager. He said he learned of it in June while reviewing invoices from powerhouse Washington lawyer Benjamin J. Ginsberg and confronted his boss. The invoices, Hodas said, were for work relating to a "DOJ subpoena," referring to the U.S. Department of Justice. The discovery culminated in...

BRADENTON - Candidates and their supporters buzzed around the room at a Bradenton American Legion post Tuesday night, but it was obvious when the biggest name in the local ranks walked into the fray.A circle of people at the door made it known with vigorous applause that Republican Congresswoman Katherine Harris still had their support. Despite turnover in her campaign staff, questions about her ethics and sagging poll numbers, these supporters and volunteers proudly donned her Senate campaign T-shirts and stickers.Dozens of Republican candidates set up booths at the Manatee County Republican Party's meet-the-candidates night. Harris, of Longboat Key, was...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The state Republican Party bluntly told Rep. Katherine Harris that she couldn't win this fall's Senate election and that the party wouldn't support her campaign, a letter obtained Monday by The Associated Press shows. Party Chairman Carole Jean Jordan made a last-ditch attempt in the confidential May 7 letter to force Harris out of the race for the nomination to challenge Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson. But the next day, Harris turned in paperwork to get her name on the Sept. 5 Republican primary ballot. The letter came as Gov. Jeb Bush was trying to get state House...

Katherine Harris' former communications director has joined the campaign of one of her Republican opponents for the U.S. Senate, LeRoy Collins Jr. Chris Ingram, who was one of five senior staffers to leave Harris' campaign two weeks ago, is now Collins' campaign manager, according to a news release from the Collins camp. "Admiral Collins has the leadership abilities, integrity, and common-sense values Florida voters need for effective representation in Washington," Ingram said in the statement. "Governor Bush was right when he said, '(Katherine Harris) can't win.' At 30 points down in the polls, it is safe to say a vote...

In the latest poll on the U.S. Senate race, Republican Katherine Harris remained far behind incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson, indicating that her prospects of beating him are slim. In only three months, U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris has lost almost half of the Republicans who planned to vote for her, according to a new poll that suggests the congresswoman has little chance of unseating Sen. Bill Nelson. "This candidacy was an uphill battle to begin with. But it can't even climb now. It just loses ground," Brad Coker, director for Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc., said Tuesday. Were the election...

TAMPA - Congresswoman Katherine Harris, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, received positive results from a biopsy taken during last week's surgery to remove an ovarian mass. The Attending Physicians office contacted Harris on Monday to inform her that the mass was benign and that no further tests are required. "I appreciate all the kind words and prayers leading up to the surgery and throughout my recovery," Harris said in a statement. "Thankfully, I had a good surgeon and a great God."

STUART — Before the Sunday service at a church near downtown, U.S. Senate hopeful and Republican U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris gave brief but pointed comments on issues including immigration, abortion and gay marriage. Appealing to about 200 at First Baptist Church, Harris said her views were rooted in what she described as the country's Christian origins and principles. Harris, flanked by two large American flags, spoke mostly about immigration, from which she drew parallels to the current fighting between Israeli troops and the Hezbollah militia. "Israel is fighting a global war, a global enemy, its terrorists, on all of our...

Katherine Harris gave her campaign more than $3 million to run for Senate, but then took back $100,000 to finish renovating her "historic home in Washington, D.C." her campaign revealed Friday. The campaign said that the Republican congresswoman would sell the house, if necessary, to fund her embattled Senate race to unseat Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson. The decision was immediately questioned. "I have never heard of a candidate taking money out of a campaign coffer like it's an ATM. It absolutely boggles my mind," said former Harris campaign manager Jim Dornan. "This is a woman who has completely lost touch...

TALLAHASSEE - Katherine Harris' floundering U.S. Senate campaign lost its high-level staff again this week and is groping for a message -- which doesn't surprise Republican insiders who trace the seeds of her trouble to the story of ``Joe's dead intern.'' This wasn't any old Joe. It was Joe Scarborough, host of the prime-time MSNBC show Scarborough Country and a former Pensacola Republican congressman who was courted last summer by national Republicans to run against Harris. But before he could announce he wouldn't, Harris called major donors and suggested Scarborough would have to answer questions about the strange death of...

U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris talks with supporters at the Martin County Republican headquarters in Stuart on Monday morning. The informal meet-and-greet was one of several of Harris' campaign stops on the Treasure Coast Darrell Orman, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Stuart, prays with Harris at Martin County Republican headquarters in Stuart on Monday morning. Lightning-rod political figure Katherine Harris made two Treasure Coast appearances Monday to her Republican party faithful as part of an effort to boost grass-roots support in an uphill battle against incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson. Harris spoke at Republican headquarters in Port St....

Will McBride, a political newcomer running in the GOP primary, has switched campaign managers after only two weeks. Gerry Scimeca left the campaign a month after McBride announced he would take on Harris in the primary. ... McBride's new campaign manager is Jack St. Martin, a political operative who has worked for the Christian Coalition and the Republican National Committee. In 1998, he ran a losing Senate race in Washington state and later served as executive director of Americans of Faith, a group that sought to add churchgoers to the voting rolls. Most recently, St. Martin was campaign manager for...

US Representative Katherine Harris visited a small gathering of local people at the H&F Restaurant in Jasper on Saturday, June 17. "Small groups are more intimate - almost like family," she noted. Rep. Harris is running against Senator Bill Nelson for a seat in the Senate. She addressed several key issues during the meeting, such as the need for tax reform and legislation to help small businesses and farms. "Ninety percent of businesses in Florida are small businesses and we need to focus on them. I worry about farms and other agricultural aspects of business, too," Rep. Harris said. Florida...

For eight years, Sabrina Harris said she has gotten word through the community grapevine about the two boys who were wrongly accused of killing her daughter Ryan. She said she wouldn't hear much about one of the boys. But of the other, Romarr Gipson, she said she would get stopped by people familiar with her daughter's case who were eager to inform her about Gipson's run-ins with the law. So when a friend told her Saturday that Gipson was implicated in a shooting, she said she wasn't surprised. "They say that the police have made him that way," Harris said....

I got word that Representative Katherine Harris was going to do a bus tour. Her campaign was floundering, and she had just injected $3 million of her own money and hired a new staff from out of state. Officially, the three mil is a loan but it’s not looking like she’s going to get any return on that investment. The former secretary of state of Florida, the woman most responsible for George W. Bush’s improbable victory in 2000, would not take a hint from Jeb or anyone else and drop out of the Senate race this November. So off I...

The chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris announced his resignation Thursday, becoming the latest in a long list of staffers to leave the Longboat Key Republican. In an e-mail, Fred Asbell said he's leaving to pursue a business opportunity, but he did not say what type. He also said he would do some consulting work with Harris' campaign for U.S. Senate. His last day is today. Asbell said he had "greatly enjoyed" his time working for Harris and referred to the past year as "an exciting adventure." Asbell was seen as a stalwart staff member who has sought...

May 22, 2006--Senator Bill Nelson (D) from Florida has hit the 60% level of support in his bid for re-election. The latest Rasmussen Reports election poll shows Nelson leading likely GOP challenger Katherine Harris (R) by twenty-seven percentage points, 60% to 33%. This Senate seat was once considered a a pick-up opportunity for the GOP. However, as the Harris campaign imploded earlier this year, Florida Republicans were unable to recruit a top-tier candidate to challenge Harris in the primary. As a result, Nelson is now one of the nation's safest incumbents. Senator Nelson is viewed favorably by 66% of the...

The two Democrats seeking to unseat U.S. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., virtually ignored him yesterday and trained their sights on each other. In the first televised joint appearance of the campaign, James Webb referred to a union description of Harris Miller as "the anti-Christ of outsourcing." At one point, after being interrupted by Miller, an angry-appearing Webb exclaimed: "Harris, if you shut your mouth, I'll answer the question."

LAND O'LAKES - Katherine Harris was a pro with the .38-special, drilling holes through the center of a person-shaped paper target. But the congresswoman's campaign staff missed the mark at Saturday's gun range photo op, said a local Republican Party official who organized the event. Pasco County Republican Executive Committee chairman Bill Bunting fumed after Chris Ingram, the communications director for Harris' U.S. Senate campaign, tried to block photographers and television crews from taking pictures of Harris firing away. "Katherine is welcome back at any time. She was gracious," Bunting said. "He's not. I think he was wrong, period." Journalists...

Three step forward to challenge HarrisBy JEREMY "Stalker" WALLACE [jeremy.wallace@heraldtribune.com]Sarasota Herald-Tribune (that's "SHT" for short)May 13, 2006 A pair of Republicans with connections to some of the heaviest hitters in Washington are among three candidates challenging U.S. Senate hopeful Katherine Harris for the GOP nomination. Orlando-area attorney William McBride, who is a family friend of White House political adviser Karl Rove, and Pinellas County developer Peter Monroe, who is a friend of Vice President Dick Cheney, both jumped into the race just hours before Friday's filing deadline. A third candidate, LeRoy Collins Jr., the 71-year-old son of a former Florida...

Four qualify to challenge Harris in GOP primaryAssociated PressMay 12, 2006 TAMPA, Fla. - Four relatively unknown candidates qualified Friday to challenge U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris in the race to win Florida Republicans' nomination for U.S. Senate. They are: LeRoy Collins Jr., son of former Florida Gov. LeRoy Collins; Peter Monroe, a Pinellas County developer who helped manage the government's savings and loan bailout; Windermere businessman William "Will" McBride; and Tampa law professor Belinda Noah. The GOP primary is Sept. 5. Gov. Jeb Bush and other Republican leaders have been looking for someone to take on Harris because she trails...

Challenger for Harris still possibleProfessor predicts GOP will "try to get somebody in there"By JEREMY "Stalker" WALLACE [jeremy.wallace@heraldtribune.com] and JOE "Hitman" FOLLICK [jfollick@earthlink.net]Sarasota Herald-TribuneMay 12, 2006 With hours remaining until today's filing deadline, Republicans were still unsure whether another candidate would emerge to challenge Longboat Key Republican Katherine Harris for the U.S. Senate nomination. On Thursday, Republican Party of Florida officials again refused to say whether Harris would be their candidate in November to take on Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat. A party spokesman said the party will "wait and see" what happens by today's noon deadline. Even though Florida...

Harris saga points to turmoil within GOP, observers sayBy JOE FOLLICK [jfollick@earthlink.net]The SHT (that's "Sarasota Herald-Tribune")May 12, 2006 TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Jeb Bush's failure to salvage the Republican Party's uphill quest for the U.S. Senate race this year points to a future of questions for the party. Bush's force of personality and intellectual rigor have dominated the Republican Party of Florida for most of the past decade, creating a cohesive machine that controls the state. But the signs of fraying are evident. Senate Republicans bucked his heavy lobbying and killed his plans to protect vouchers and soften the limits on...

WASHINGTON - A desperate last-ditch Republican effort to replace Rep. Katherine Harris as the party's nominee for the U.S. Senate abruptly failed Wednesday when Florida House Speaker Allan Bense announced that he would not run.

Harris Comments on Bense Announcement Florida House Speaker Allan Bense announced today that he will not challenge U.S. Representative Katherine Harris in the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. According to an Associated Press account, Bense said, "I have been extremely honored and humbled by the strong support and encouragement I have received from my family, my friends, and from people across Florida who I admire greatly, however, I have decided not to run for the United States Senate." "I respect Allan Bense's decision and appreciate his noble service to Florida. Allan has been a friend over the years, and...

I sent a letter to Tommy Franks asking him to get into the Senate race a few weeks ago. His partner sent me back a really nice response that implied he was considering it. Please go to tommyfranks.com to encourage him to get into the race. We only have until Friday. With enough encouragement, maybe there's still time to defeat Bill Nelson. I wish Harris could do it, but I don't believe she can. The text of my email to him follows.