Seven in scramble to replace Katherine Harris (R-FL)

St. Petersburg Times ^ | June 25, 2005 | Anita Kumar

[Clintonfatigued]

In this tony Gulf Coast city that prides itself on a refined attitude and a generous commitment to all things cultural, a nasty fight is brewing.

The race to replace Republican Katherine Harris in Congress has turned into a free-for-all where seven candidates have raised millions of dollars and are now resorting to name-calling.

[Clintonfatigued]

Here is an excerpt that's worth noting:

"Mark Flanagan, a former state legislator who lead the led the Republican Party of Manatee...is the only candidate from a county other than Sarasota and hopes to benefit from securing much of the Manatee vote."

[stuartcr]

...and they taste like chicken.

[Always Right]

Oddly, I thought this was about her droping out of the Senate race.

[fieldmarshaldj]

"and hopes to benefit from securing much of the Manatee vote."

"I swim AND I vote !"

[Joe Brower]

I spoke face-to-face with Mark Flanagan, not ever having met him before and knowing that he was throwing his hat into the ring for 13th US congressional district. Opportunities like this are one good reason to belong to county GOP committees.

He was polished, as one would expect, and I had heard good things about him. On guns, God, Iraq, he came across as a good choice, although not any better than the other candidates, not the least of which is Tramm Hudson, who's earned his GOP and conservative stripes and proved his mettle many times over through many years.

But where Mr. Flanagan fell down flat for me, at least, was illegal immigration. "A wall can't work.", he stated flatly.

To which I answered, "How can you say that when it has never been tried? I lived about 30 miles north of the Mexican border in San Diego county, CA, and the wall we built there worked pretty well. Not perfect, but a lot better than nothing."

At which point he immediately tried to change the subject, to how his mom lived there for many years. "And have you met my mom?", he asked. Yes, I did, and she was a nice lady. But it's you I'm asking questions of, Mark.

Anyway, that particular bit left me rather underwhelmed.

So just a small report from the trenches. The grassroots is where the GOP (and if we do our work well enough, no RINOs) has been winning, and hopefully will continue to.

[conservativewasp]

Those damn things can break your prop.

[gondramB]

>>But where Mr. Flanagan fell down flat for me, at least, was illegal immigration. "A wall can't work.", he stated flatly.<<

That's closer to a reasonable position in Florida than in Texas or California.

[Joe Brower]

Lol! True. But as we both know, Mr. Flanagan is well aware that the border states are where the vast majority of Latino illegals enter the U.S. in violation of our laws.

From Texas, it's only a day's ride to Florida in the back of the van.

[gondramB]

>>Lol! True. But as we both know, Mr. Flanagan is well aware that the border states are where the vast majority of Latino illegals enter the U.S. in violation of our laws.

From Texas, it's only a day's ride to Florida in the back of the van.<


Yep I just meant too much coastline and too many boats in Florida. But any Republican who doesn't understand where the bulk of illegal imigrants come in and what base wants done will have a hard time.

[JulieRNR21]

I'm With Tramm.............who says:

First and foremost, we must secure our borders and stem the tide of illegal border crossings. Only when our borders are secure can we begin to deal the issue of those already here.......

Secondly, we must enforce the immigration laws already on the books.......

Finally, I oppose any form of amnesty for the estimated 11 million illegal aliens already here in the country.

[floriduh voter]

Tom Gallagher is the only candidate for Governor who is against amnesty for illegals. The ONLY one. GOP Primary in Florida is Tuesday, September 5th.

www.tg2006.com

[CJRun]

Julie: Hudson sounds pretty good. I am reasonably content with Bill Young, in my District, especially after having had Corrine Brown [a.k.a., Geraldine McKinney] for the previous 5-years.

Although I have no use for Nelson [and little for Martinez] I can't work up much enthusiasm for Harris. Without exageration, I have contacted Harris' people multiple times to get 2 things accomplished:
1] Correct my street address on their mailings. This could be a very difficult thing for someone aspiring to Secretary of the First Grade Class, but it should be relatively simple for the people to look at the return address, the address on my contribution checks, the numerous letters and emails, etc. What complete buffoons.
2] Take me off the mailing list she has sold to every right-wing whacko in the nation. Easy enough to tell she sold it, since only mail from Harris and the complete whackos is directed to the terribly incorrect address. The mailman actually gets a kick out of filling my mailbox with all this mis-addressed mail. I suspect he will be laughing all the way to the polls, where he will pull a lever for Nelson.

[JulieRNR21]

I sincerely hope you will base your vote for Harris on more than the volume of campaign mailings to the incorrect address.

Volunteers usually stuff the envelopes for these mailings and the database is not readily accessible to the campaign but is overseen by the mailings company.

If you like Hudson you should like Harris as her stance on the issues is much the same.

[zerelda]

I've also been favorably impressed thusfar by Tramm Hudson. At this point--but with the primary just over 2 months away, so who knows what might happen?--he's got my vote.

[Defiant1]

Two months ago we had a mini debate between Hudson, Buchanan, Detert, and Flanagan. I was impressed with Tramm. Unfortunately I don't live in his district but if I did I would be proud to have him as my congressman.