Has Perry Thurston Bagged House Leadership Post?
BY BUDDY NEVINS
It’s down to the wire for the next Democratic leader of the Florida House.
Or is it?
Word is that state Rep. Perry Thurston Jr. of Plantation may have enough votes to beat state Rep. Joe Gibbons of Hallandale Beach at Tuesday March 8, 8:45 a.m. Democratic Caucus in the Capitol.
Perry Thurston Jr. on Floor of the House
There are 39 House Democrats, so the winner needs to round up 20 votes.
One source says Thurston has approximately 25 votes sewed up
A key tell is that Gibbons is on the ropes is that he already named state Rep. Darren Soto as his Speaker pro tempore. That’s an ace that I would have kept dangling out to potential supporters while trolling for votes.
By naming Soto, you do pick up folks who like him, but you also lose his enemies.
The only thing I can say for sure at this point is that a Broward House member will be in charge of the beleaguered Democrats after 2012if they win re-election.
My earlier post on the fight is here.
February 25th, 2011 at 7:36 pm
I know both of them and Perry Thuston is the better qualified.
February 25th, 2011 at 10:30 pm
Thurston is a failure. He has turned his back on his constituents by ignoring the racism of police and prosecutors in his own backyard. He may go far but he will never end up anywhere.
February 26th, 2011 at 8:11 am
That was the rumored deal for a long time…
Perry bowed out against Ron Saunders for the position last time so he wouldnt get an opponent to run against Evan Jenne (Frieda Stevens). It is believed that part of the deal years ago was Saunders would support whomever Perry’s campaign manager Judy Stern wanted to run in the open seat Deist 91 (her daughter Barbara). No doubt Thurston will now make sure party funds and support will be behind Barbra Stern again in 2012. I am sure with Thurston’s support Stern will improve to losing by 39 percent of the vote. One would have to guess, that like last time, Mommy Stern will be paid well by the Dem party of Fla to run the race, good use of contributions there Dems.
February 26th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
As I said the other day…give the man his shot..it’s his turn. As for Gibbons love him but he has not been dogged out as much as Thurston..
February 26th, 2011 at 10:56 pm
Check out Soto’s record: anti-choice and pro oil drilling. Actually, if you look I think he may have been away from his chair when those votes were taken. We don’t need D’s like him in leadership.
February 27th, 2011 at 11:43 am
Gabe shouldn’t be surprised.
Mr. Thurston makes a good living defending against aggressively filed criminal charges.
March 4th, 2011 at 5:12 pm
Soto actually is leading the charge on a drilling ban and organized the Save Our Florida Beaches movement. See http://www.saveourfloridabeaches.net. In addition, although Soto comes from a fairly socially-conservative Latin district, he recently voted against the ultra-sound bill. Mortimer Jones should probably know what he is talking about before typing.