Early rift emerges in Senate campaign to succeed Graham (Florida)

MIAMI — U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch lashed out at fellow Democrat Alex Penelas Sunday, accusing the Miami-Dade mayor of damaging the 2000 Democratic presidential ticket in Florida in the first sign of a rift in the primary race for U.S. Senate.

Deutsch, D-Pembroke Pines, said he declined to attend the state party's annual Jefferson-Jackson gala Saturday in his home county because party officials were planning to honor Penelas with an award for his work on a constitutional amendment requiring the state to offer pre-kindergarten classes to all 4-year-olds.

"This man did as much to hurt Al Gore as any person in the United States of America," Deutsch said Sunday in a phone interview. He later added: "It is inappropriate for the Democratic Party to honor someone who helped elect George W. Bush."

Penelas called Deutsch's comments "very unfortunate. I don't think good Democrats should be acting that way. This is a time when we're trying to rebuild the party and I think this kind of bickering is just going to tear down the party further."

Deutsch and Penelas are among five Democrats hoping to succeed Sen. Bob Graham, who is running for president. Graham has not ruled out seeking re-election but told reporters Friday he did "not anticipate" being on the ballot for Senate next year.

Deutsch and some South Florida Democrats have accused Penelas of failing to aggressively campaign for the Gore-Lieberman ticket in Florida, where Bush defeated Gore by 537 votes and secured the White House after a five-week legal battle and a critical ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.

During the aftermath of the election, some angry Democrats contended Penelas had shied away from actively supporting Gore because he didn't want to hurt his own chances in the September 2000 mayoral primary. The up-and-coming Cuban-American mayor was re-elected after winning that primary with 52 percent of the vote.

Many Cuban-Americans, who make up the largest voting bloc in the county, had vowed to punish Gore for the Clinton administration's handling of the Elian Gonzalez seizure even though the vice president opposed sending the Cuban boy back.

Penelas also attended a trade mission to Spain in mid-October 2000 and failed to attend campaign events with Gore in South Florida during the race's stretch run, further angering some activists. But the mayor said Sunday his work for the Democratic ticket was formidable.

"I was an early and strong supporter of Al Gore. I helped him and President Clinton raise millions of dollars and I helped him win Miami-Dade County by 30,000 votes," Penelas said. "We all wish the presidential race turned out differently but it didn't."

The skirmish was first reported in Sunday's edition of The Miami Herald. Deutsch said he was particularly irked when he read similar comments made by Penelas in the Herald that the mayor had helped Gore win the county.

Penelas was one of several Democrats honored during the evening. Others who accepted awards on stage included former state Education Commissioner Betty Castor, who is also a candidate for Senate, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek of Miami, Duval County Sheriff Nat Glover, Jacksonville Councilman Matt Carlucci and Adele Graham, the wife of Sen. Graham.

Deutsch was one of Gore's most ardent supporters during the 2000 race and ensuing recount and donated $250,000 to the Gore campaign that year.

A state Democratic party spokeswoman did not immediately return a phone call Sunday.

The intraparty squabble is unusual this early in the election cycle. The Democratic primary is scheduled for Aug. 31, 2004 — about 14 months from now.

They don't mention a word about this:

Legal analyst's opinion ignites controversy about 2004 ballot

By Mark Silva | Sentinel Staff Writer
June 20, 2003

TALLAHASSEE -- Bob Graham might be able to seek re-election to the U.S. Senate next year while also appearing someplace on the presidential ballot, according to a new private legal analysis.

Florida's director of elections disagrees, however, maintaining that Graham cannot appear twice on the same ballot.

Florida's senior senator insists he will appear only once on the ballot in 2004 -- as the Democratic candidate for president. Yet Graham trails in early opinion polling in the presidential contest and has not publicly ruled out seeking re-election to the Senate.

Most Florida observers have assumed that Graham cannot have it both ways.

Nothing in Florida law should prevent Graham from qualifying for re-election to the Senate in May 2004 and then accept his party's nomination for either president or vice president next summer, according to a legal opinion drafted this week by Mark Herron, an election-law expert in Tallahassee.

"It's a distinct possibility," Herron said Thursday, aware that the state elections director disputes his reading of the law. "It's open enough that there is an issue that needs to be settled. How we get this thing settled is another matter."

Graham isn't worried about the question, for now.

"He expects to be the [presidential] nominee," campaign spokesman Jamal Simmons said. "It's just not a question that's really relevant to the campaign."

It is a relevant question to at least six other politicians who want Graham's seat. Herron wrote his memo for U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, a Broward County Democrat who plans to run for Senate if Graham does not seek re-election. At least three other Democrats and two Republicans also are lining up to run.

"Everyone has been working on the presumption that the senator would have to make a decision in May to stay on the [Senate] ballot or not," Robin Rorapaugh, an aide to Deutsch, said Thursday. "But frankly, it doesn't look like he has to make that decision. He can have it all."

Nothing in federal law stands in Graham's way of appearing on two ballots, according to the Federal Elections Commission. It didn't stop Connecticut's U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman from winning re-election in 2000 when he ran for vice president with Democrat Al Gore. It didn't stop Lloyd Bentsen of Texas in 1988.

"It has nothing to do with us," said Ian Stirton, a spokesman for the Federal Elections Commission. "It's a question for the states to determine."

Florida's election law prevents anyone from qualifying to run for more than one office at the same time. Candidates for Senate will qualify for places on the ballot the week of May 3, 2004, by filing paperwork and paying fees.

Candidates for president and vice president don't qualify for ballot placement the way other candidates do, Herron notes. They are nominated by parties at conventions. The Democrats will nominate candidates at the end of July 2004.

The presidential nominee should be known by spring, following early party caucuses and primaries, but the party will have until July to name a running mate.

This means that Graham, should he fall short of nomination as president, has the ability to file for Senate re-election in May 2004 and still win nomination as vice president come summer, Herron thinks. That would mean appearing on a November ballot twice.

Ed Kast, state Division of Elections director, disagrees. He thinks the placement of candidates for president and vice president on the state's ballot amounts to a qualification to run under state law -- and no one can qualify for two offices.

"A candidate cannot be placed on the ballot twice," Kast said Thursday. "I think the provision is pretty clear cut. If somebody wants to try to make a case of it, I don't know."

Kast said Graham could file to run for re-election in May 2004 and then accept his party's nomination as vice president -- but then step out of the Senate race.

Both Herron and Kast agree that Florida's "resign-to-run" law, which forces candidates to forfeit an office when they seek another one, has no bearing on Graham. The senator does not have to resign next year if he is running for president or vice president. Both his office and the one he wants are federal, beyond the reach of state law.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-loccake20062003jun20xx,0,6262881.story?coll=orl-news-headlines

(Yes, it is the same Mark Herron who wrote the memo telling Florida democrats how to toss miliay ballots in 2000.)

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