State House Race Headed For Nasty Finish
BY BUDDY NEVINS
The next six weeks of campaigning in Florida House District 96 Democratic primary is bound to turn nasty.
That is clear from a poll that was conducted earlier this week.
The poll tested the effectiveness of negative attacks that could be used in the August 26 primary against former state Rep. Steve Perman, a Coral Springs Democrat who is seeking to return to Tallahassee after serving one term 2010-2012.
Broward County Commissioner Kristin Jacobs, Perman’s opponent in the Democratic primary, denied she was behind the poll.
“It’s not my poll,” Jacobs said. “I don’t know who did it.”
Steve Perman and Kristin Jacobs (Photo: Browardbulldog.org)
But the attacks mirrored those that Jacobs has leveled at Perman in speeches across the Broward district, which includes Coconut Creek and portions of Margate, Parkland and Coral Springs.
The questions are asked without mentioning Perman’s name.
One question asked voters how they felt about using public money for private school vouchers.
Jacobs has savaged Perman for voting in 2011 to allow state money to be used by the poor to pay for private school tuition.
Perman noted that the money for the vouchers did not come from traditional public schools. Other Democrats voted for the bill, including the outgoing state Rep. Jim Waldman, D-Coconut Creek, the termed out House District 96 occupant.
Another question bizarrely asked “How do you feel about chiropractors?”
Perman is a chiropractor and a great deal of his campaign has been funded by other chiropractors. That has led Jacobs to contend that her opponent would be a “special interest representative” focused on issues that help chiropractors rather than all District 96 residents.
A third question asked how the Democratic voters “would feel about a Democrat who gave 17 checks to Republican candidates?”
Jacobs has criticized Perman for donating to Republican campaigns. Perman said the contributions were to fellow chiropractors.
“She wants to paint me with sleeping with the enemy. It’s a false charge,” Perman said.
Although denying any roll in the poll, Jacobs reiterated in an interview her charge that Perman had supported Republicans while she was a “true Democrat.”
“He wrote checks to Republicans while he himself was on the ballot. That’s not standing up for Democratic values,” Jacobs said.
The poll also tested how much the endorsement of Sheriff Scott Israel will mean for Jacobs. While Jacobs got the sheriff’s endorsement, both candidates got co-endorsements from the Police Benevolent Association.
Perman predicts that the campaign will degenerate into a blizzard of negative mailed ads aimed at him. “She’s going to paper me,” he said.
A sitting county commissioner, Jacobs has more than $100,000 in the bank, which can buy quite a lot of ads in a primary where as few as 8,000 could vote. Perman has roughly $43,000 in the bank.
But Perman is not worried.
“I’m very proud of my performance and my record as a state representative,” he said. “I stood up for the highest values of Democrats.”
July 4th, 2014 at 2:31 pm
This race won’t even be close. Jacobs will win by ten percent.
July 4th, 2014 at 2:33 pm
What about Jacobs record. She allowed the expansion do the land fill which has been a smelly dump for over 25 years to pompano, Deerfield and coconut creek. She did it while mayor and lied to the public about the expansion. Check the minutes of the commission meetings. That is the fact. She did not tell the truth to her constituents and voted in favor of the expansion. She failed to tell the constituents what was really going on. She doesn’t deserve to represent us! I know I am voting for PERMANENT and I’d you live in Deerfield, coconut creek or pompano, so should you!!
July 4th, 2014 at 3:09 pm
Problem is, as I understand it, that the primary may be open to all, including Republicans and Independents.
If true, those wonderful positions taken by Jacobs may turn on her, by Republicans (who would disagree with her) and Independents (that don’t care about the answers and may even resent the question).
If it is open to everyone to vote, I predict Perlman wins as the more moderate candidate by being in the middle.
July 4th, 2014 at 3:57 pm
It’s no wonder that Jacobs put a write-in candidate in the race, because Republicans will support Perman, who doesn’t represent the crazies in the Democratic party. Let’s hope the law suit is successful in opening the vote up to all who would be represented in the district.
July 4th, 2014 at 4:42 pm
Dave Brown can throw elbows with the best of them. Eric Johnson a Jacobs consultant (he is also working as Patrick Murphy chief of staff I believe) is a lightweight on his best day.
July 4th, 2014 at 4:45 pm
Jacobs didn’t have anything to do with this poll just like she didn’t put Ronald Bray up to being a write in candidate. If you believe that, I have some beautiful scenic property to sell you on Monarch Hill.
Jacobs is a typical lying sack of shit politician.
July 5th, 2014 at 11:23 am
Jacobs did lie to a group of angry constituents, belittling them from the Dias as ignorant, about the landfill expansion. But in all honesty it was pure incompetence, not malicious. Regardless, she is unfit to be a state rep. Especially since recycling is supposed to be her main issue of interest.
July 5th, 2014 at 2:39 pm
@SamThe Sham and @Creeksir forget that it is Perman who benefits from allowing Republicans to vote in a Democratic primary. He is a Republican in Democratic clothing who voted for school vouchers. He gave money to many Republicans. He wants the primary open to Republicans. Primaries are for party members to pick their nominee, not for Republicans to pick the Democratic nominee. Perman is behind the lawsuit to reopen the primary.
July 5th, 2014 at 4:27 pm
Jacobs is a fake liberal like all the crooks that pretend to be democratic by running as Democratic candidates. This is the arrogant hack that told elected officials where the resort taxes were collected that the money was HERS not tbe publics. She is letting the shady owners of the panthers gst 40 million of public money by letting bertha henry prepare the argument for the robbery of the public.she is a phony thru n thru based on the public record.i have never met her. I am alergic to liars n phonies
July 5th, 2014 at 4:33 pm
You’re all missing the point. Of course the attacks are the same; they’re even proven to be effective! Why would Jacobs need to poll when she can plainly see that Steve Perman has lost 4 other Democratic primaries for state house! If he can explain and justify to the Democrats why he wrote more than a dozen checks to Republican candidates, then let’s hear it.
July 5th, 2014 at 4:40 pm
Perman Is Really A Republican, you just don’t get it do you?
It doesn’t make any difference that Perman was or wasn’t a Republican, just like it doesn’t for Crist.
If he is a Democrat now and it is an open election, it spells trouble for Jacobs since the vote will be far more moderate which fits the general public and Perman far better than Jacobs does.
So huff and puff about it, but it won’t fire up the base, and may actually polarize the election even more, making Jacobs lose by even more.
What can Jacobs do? Move to the center but I don’t think its possible in 1 month.
July 5th, 2014 at 7:09 pm
Whoever wins a closed primary will represent everyone. A write-in has never won here, so the primary is really the election and the closed primary in these types of elections cuts out a whole lot of people who will never be allowed to vote for their representative . This is not democracy, this is gaming the system.
July 6th, 2014 at 7:18 am
Perhaps Perman’s campaign slogan should be, “Preferred by Republicans.”
July 6th, 2014 at 10:03 am
Politicians that lie do not deserve your vote. Say what you will, I was one of the hundreds that became aware of the vote that gave the landfill the green light to expand. She denied that the vote would not open the door for the expansion. When it was too late and after numerous complaints by me and my neighbors and neighboring cities.she apologized in public. It was too little too late Kristin.
I urge voters to vote for the honest person in the dance. STEVE PERMAN
July 6th, 2014 at 10:37 am
All this drama. One thing for sure make sure you always cover your ass and be able to document everything you state, or more importantly be able to rebute whatever mud is thrown at you. Dot all your i’s , cross all your t’s, and you will have no proplems. Take this advice it comes in very handy during mediation($$)(huh JUdge Fred Berman)…..
July 6th, 2014 at 5:17 pm
@Freedom
“This is not democracy, this is gaming the system.”
just bizness as usual in broward
July 7th, 2014 at 10:51 am
As a chiropractor maybe Perman would prefer to offer voters a lifetime contract?
July 7th, 2014 at 11:20 am
Perman will offer voters an “adjustment” He hopes if he adjusts their backs enough, Democrats will adjust to vote for a republican-leaning Perman.
July 8th, 2014 at 1:09 pm
Jacobs will not win the seat whether open or closed
she didn’t make a lot of friends in her twelve years (yes 12 yrs) on bcc regardless of her facebook stuff and environmental kudos from obama