Free Republic

Businessman Curt Clawson's easy win on Tuesday for the GOP nomination in Florida's 19th Congressional District resonated beyond the borders of the upscale, safely Republican district. With results nearly final, first-time candidate Clawson rolled up 38 percent of the vote to 26 percent for state Senate Majority Leader Lizbeth Benacquisto and 25 percent for former state Rep. Paige Kreegel. Along with fueling the candidacies elsewhere of fellow businesspeople-candidates and "anti-politicians," Clawson's primary win in the district vacated by GOP Rep. Trey Radel — who resigned after pleading guilty to cocaine possession — is also a boost for a likely presidential...

Curt Clawson has hired a record 25 consultants for his campaign. It’s a lie that he’s an outsider. He’s not a principled Conservative either, something those supporting him claim he is. Just recently Breitbart News contributor Javier Manjarres of Shark Tank wrote a hit piece on Sarah, criticizing her for choosing the wrong Conservative in the race: Sarah Palin Jumps the Gun May Not Have Fully Vetted Recent Endorsee. That is ironic coming from a RINO-infested tank who shilled for Marco Rubio when he was lying about being against amnesty early on. Where was his research and vetting then? Shark...

An unprecedented event occurred in Southwest Florida politics Wednesday. Three Republican rivalries form an alliance, less than two weeks before the District 19 Republican primary special election. They are questioning an opponent's ties to a registered sex offender and his financial disclosures.

Former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska will be in Southwest Florida on Thursday for a fundraising event with Florida Senate Majority Leader Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, who is running in the Republican primary to replace former U.S. Rep. Trey Radel, R-Fla., in Congress. “Excited to announce that Sarah Palin is coming to Southwest Florida this week to join me on the campaign trail,” Benacquisto announced on Monday. But tea party leaders in the district backing Curt Clawson in the primary are urging Palin to reconsider her endorsement. Jack Tymann of the Naples Tea Party, Kathy Jones of the Lee County...

NAPLES — Sarah Palin is heading back to Southwest Florida. Palin, the former governor of Alaska and the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, is scheduled to attend a fundraiser for District 19 congressional candidate Lizbeth Benacquisto on Thursday. The invitation-only event is being called a backyard barbecue. Donors can pay $500 per person to attend, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by the Daily News. Erin Isaac, a spokeswoman for Benacquisto, confirmed Palin would be in town for a fundraiser. “We anticipate a tremendous turnout for Gov. Palin and Lizbeth Benacquisto,” she said. Benacquisto, a state senator and...