Free Republic

By ANITA KUMAR, Times Staff Writer Published August 18, 2006 ORLANDO - U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris came to Sen. Bill Nelson's hometown Thursday to try to prove she could unseat him in the fall, but the help she hoped for didn't come. It was expected to be one of Harris' biggest events leading up to the Republican Senate primary next month, with a host of prominent public officials standing by her side. But no elected official showed up at Orlando Executive Airport for Harris' fly-in - just 30 to 40 people, in a hangar that could hold hundreds. Those who...

Amid bad press, four more staff members have left Katherine Harris' U.S. Senate campaign, for various reasons. Four more staffers have left Katherine Harris' troubled U.S. Senate campaign, which is putting an upbeat face on the reams of bad publicity that have rolled in with renewed force this week. ''We're excited,'' said spokeswoman Jennifer Marks, touting the endorsement of Florida Right to Life on Wednesday. ''We have new management, a new staff and we're energized to see the congresswoman through the election,'' she said. Over the past week, some of the staffers left without explanation, but at least one confessed...

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.

TALLAHASSEE, FL (AP) -- US Representative Katherine Harris has a challenger for the Republican senatorial nomination in Florida. Peter Monroe is a developer who helped manage the government's savings and loan bailout. Governor Jeb Bush and other Republican leaders had been looking for someone to take on Harris because she trails incumbent Democratic Senator Bill Nelson by about 30 percentage points in public opinion polls. Bush has said he didn't believe Harris could beat Nelson. Monroe of Safety Harbor in the Tampa Bay area managed the liquidation of more than $400 billion in real estate assets from failing savings and...