Posted on 02/19/2002 4:10:01 PM PST by anniegetyourgun
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Democrat Carol Roberts, an outspoken member of Palm Beach County's canvassing board during the 2000 presidential recount, announced Tuesday that she is running for Congress.
The former West Palm Beach mayor wants to challenge Republican Rep. Clay Shaw Jr.
Republicans accused Roberts of being too partisan during the recount, but she said she expects to benefit from her role on the three-member board that manually counted punch-cards from the infamous "butterfly ballot."
"Certainly it's not going to hurt me that people respect what I did for democracy," she said.
Roberts, 65, once offered on live television to go to jail after a court order halted the recount that she wanted to continue. She was assigned a sheriff's deputy as a bodyguard after receiving threats.
Luis Rosero, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Roberts' nearly 30 years of experience in public office make her a contender to unseat Shaw.
MM
Her a$$hole supporters will mistakenly vote for Pat Buchanan.
Does she still have a bodyguard?
PAGING HENRY BOWMAN!
Roberts to run for Congress; replacements line up
By George Bennett, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Tuesday, February 19, 2002 With Palm Beach County Commissioner Carol Roberts poised to run for Congress, at least four Democrats are considering running for the commission seat she's held since 1986.
Democrat Roberts, who gained international fame during the 2000 presidential recount as a member of the county's elections canvassing board, has called a news conference in Boca Raton today to announce she is challenging U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale.
Roberts, 65, was considered a shoo-in to win a fifth term on the commission this year representing a heavily Democratic mid-county district. She plans to remain on the commission through the end of her term in November while she challenges Shaw.
Meanwhile, a swarm of candidates could run to replace her in the fall.
Former West Palm Beach City Commissioner Jeff Koons said he'll file papers today to open a campaign. Koons, a Democrat, was a city commissioner from 1989 to 2000. He's also chairman of the multi-governmental Metropolitan Planning Organization.
West Palm Beach City Commissioner Al Zucaro said he's giving serious thought to scrapping his Democratic state Senate bid and running for the commission seat instead. Zucaro lives just outside Roberts' county commission district but says he'd consider moving.
Children's Services Council member Bonnie Weaver is also mulling the race. Weaver was appointed to a six-week stint on the West Palm Beach City Commission in 1999 and lost a Democratic special election primary for state House in 2000.
Also interested is Larry Winawer, the president of the Palm Beach County Young Democrats and a relative unknown in local politics. Winawer, 33, filed in December as a candidate for the congressional seat held by U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-West Palm Beach. Party leaders want him to step aside so their anointed favorite, sheriff's Capt. Ken Eggleston, can avoid a primary.
Roberts represents county commission District 2, which includes parts of West Palm Beach, Greenacres and suburban Lake Worth. The district is 49.3 percent Democratic and 30.1 percent Republican.
Republicans did not put a candidate on the ballot against Roberts in either of the last two elections, and the GOP has shown little interest in the seat this year. Republican David Floering, who ran an unsuccessful write-in campaign against Roberts in 1994, opened a campaign account for the District 2 seat more than a year ago but has not raised money or actively campaigned.
Perhaps the best-known Republican in District 2, former West Palm Beach Mayor Nancy Graham, said she's not interested in Roberts' seat. County GOP Chairwoman Mary McCarty said she did not know of any potential Republican candidates.
District 2 is 6.5 percent Hispanic, the highest Latino percentage of any commission district. Hispanic leaders said Monday that they will look for candidates to run for the seat. Some mentioned Democratic Port of Palm Beach Commissioner Rafael Rondon, but Rondon said he is not interested.
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