Geller Outraises Gunzburger
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Former State Senator Steve Geller outraised County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger in the last quarter of 2009.
It is unusual that a challenger raises more money than an incumbent. Geller’s success raising money means that many in the political, lobbying and business community believe he has a chance to beat Gunzburger.
Geller
Geller raised $26,040 for his campaign and in his political committee in the quarter ending Dec. 31. Gunzburger raised $21,420.
In total, Geller has raised $292,555, while Gunzburger has raised $230,094.
Gunzburger, however, has confined her donations to hard money with its $500-per-entity limit. That didn’t stop her from collecting some money from those doing business with the county, but it makes it harder.
She received 20 individual contributions from an October 15 fund raiser thrown by tw0 engineers raising more than $2,000. She got another seven checks worth $3,500 from businesses and individuals associated with the Florida Panthers, who play in a county-owned facility.
Geller has collected large checks from individual businesses through his political action committee, which has no limit on donations. For instance in the last quarter, Geller got $5,000 from Greenspoon Mader, the law firm where he is a partner, and another $2,500 from HCA North Florida, which operates 14 hospitals in North Florida and South Georgia.
But both have spent a lot of money laying the ground work for their campaigns.
Both also have had to give money back donated by disgraced lawyer Scott Rothstein and his associates.
Geller received a lot more than Gunzburger from Rothstein, et al., so returning the donations cost him a lot — $50,000. Gunzburger only had to return $7,500.
Gunzburger has around $200,000 left to spend, while Geller has $160,000.
What this means is that both will have plenty of money to use in the race for the south Broward commission seat that Gunzburger has held since 1992.
Consultants expect only 20-30,000 will cast ballots in the Democratic primary, so voters in Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, Hallandale Beach and other areas should be flooded with advertising mailed, phoned and broadcast to their house.
January 12th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Too bad Geller had to give back the money from his crooked friends. If Mutual Benefits ponzi fraud was still in business, he would have even more campaign cash. So many of his campaign contributors are behind bars that he could hold his next fund raiser in prison.
January 12th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Anyone would be better than either of these two.
January 12th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Luckily Sue Gonesburger has all the money from the shady plastic bus bench deal she voted in favor for, where her husband made millions! If she needs to, she’ll spend her own personal money to continue to do nothing for South Broward Residents!
January 12th, 2010 at 9:10 pm
Big business, special interests and lobbyists are betting on Steve Geller… that should scare everybody!! Vote BUNZBURGER 2010!!
January 12th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
sorry for the typo it’s late…
GUNZBURGER 2010!!
January 13th, 2010 at 7:09 am
Once again, I don’t get the logic (or LACK of logic) of the GONEzburger camp: both candidates returned money to Rothstein, Sue racks up donations from groups doing business with the County, and HER ENTIRE FAMILY was or is making money off county jobs or contracts, yet somehow Steve Geller is the crook?!? It’s delusional thought like that that’s allowed her to be in office this long…and do NOTHING in the process.
January 13th, 2010 at 7:10 am
Sue Gunzburger is going to be re-elected and I will tell you why. In terms of campaign cash, the reason Gunzburger doesn’t seem to care what Geller does is that anytime she wants to, Sue Gunzburger can write herself a check for any amount her campaign may need. That’s just a fact.
Steve Geller cannot do the same. He is forced to cater to unions and hungry businesses, special interests of every kind to scratch together as much as he can knowing he will need every nickel to try and unseat her. Geller is sweating it out trying to raise cash and support. Gunzburger is cool as a cucumber.
And this is why when Sue gets re-elected she will not have anyone to owe in her last term. If Steve Geller gets elected, his list of return favors will be longer than you can imagine. The taxpayer will end up footing his bill.
Add to that the following. Sue has done a fine job for a long time as our county commissioner. She likes doing that job and wants to continue doing that very job. Geller is running for county commissioner because he has to. It is not a job that he wants, it is the only elected job left that he thinks he can win. Geller would much prefer to be back in Tallahassee. He should wait a few years and run for his old Senate seat again. That’s his best move. There is no cause to remove Gunzbuger from office.
Last, Sue Gunzburger is comfortable in life. She has no need to sell her vote. She votes as she pleases, based on what’s best for her community and her own sense of right and wrong.
In contrast, for years Geller has earned the reputation of using his elected office to prop up his lobbyist and legal practice. That poses profound ethics and public trust concerns. Geller is by far the greater public trust risk. He has this habit or misfortune, I cannot say which, of mixing with unsavory people. Sue avoids that crowd altogether and always has.
By the time this election is over, people will have enough information to arrive at the right conclusion. Sue Gunzburger is in our best interest for the next four years while Steve Geller, try as he might, is a much greater risk on a number of levels.
January 13th, 2010 at 8:07 am
LEAVE STEVE GELLER ALONE!
How dare anyone out there make fun of Steve after all he has been through!
Steve was term-limited out of his House seat. Then he was term-limited out of his Senate seat in 2008. It really cut into his ability to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars each year as a lobbyist if he can’t leverage his elected office into cash. $600,000 a year in lobbying fees doesn’t go nearly as far as it used to. He has two kids and a wife to support. And Steve needs to eat, too. A lot. Food doesn’t grow on trees, you know, it costs money! Especially when you have to buy so damn much of it every day! It isn’t nice to kick Steve when he’s down and going through a hard time because he cannot get enough lobbying jobs without holding an elective office. Steve’s high-rise developer partner had some projects go bankrupt. His “racino†gambling clients are struggling. They barely have enough to pay Steve his lobbying fees. And all you people who bash him here care about is “good government†and “ethics.†What’s wrong with you people? HE’S A HUMAN!
What you don’t realize is that Steve was recognized as the world’s biggest expert in Tallahassee on insurance, land use, law, quantum physics, endocrinology, submarines, fingerprints, Hindu ritual, high speed trains, Big Macs, whining, animal husbandry, log cabins, gaming, all-you-can-eat buffets, yatzee, 11th century Norse mythology, famous blowhards, puff pastry, tsetse flies, doo-wop groups of the 1950s, and so much more. We’re lucky he’d even deign to look at us, let along be willing to rent an apartment in the district and pretend to move half-way across the county just to run for this seat.
But all you do is write a bunch of anonymous crap about him. Not like our campaign. We never attack our opponent Sue GONESburger and post under fake names.
But Steve’s record isn’t good enough for you. You want to distort his record by using “facts” and “truth.” You want to say how he was friends with felons and ponzi schemers and Joe Eggelletion. You know who made allegations like that before against his opponents? Mao and Stalin and Ellyn Bogdanoff and Ferdinand Marcos. And Marcos’ wife had lots of shoes. And do you know who else wears shoes? Sue GONESburger, that’s who!!! And she’s just like Stalin and Mao and Nixon and Bogdanoff because ….. well …. because it sounds really menacing to say she is. And unlike our opponent, we would never attack her by name. We’d never call her GONESburger (okay, we would do it…. but we’ll deny doing it, and that’s ALMOST the exact same thing as not doing it at all).
GONESburger!!!
GONESburger!!!
GONESburger!!!
Little Ronnie GONESburger!!!
Oops, I did it again. Wait, I mean, “Tommy the ‘Out with the Old’ Fry Cook†did it. Not me. Not David Brown-noser. I’d never do it. You’ve got my word on it, or my name isn’t Joe Isuzu.
LEAVE STEVE ALONE! You people are lucky he’s willing to represent you losers. He doesn’t even live in your district, but Steve is willing to represent you anyways if you will just fawningly recognize his unquestionable genius! LEAVE STEVE ALONE! And I’m talking to you, Little Ronnie GONESburger!!!
STEVE DOESN’T DESERVE THE ABUSE. So I repeat, in our campaign’s entirely positive and non-anonymous Geller/Brown way you can trust: DON’T LISTEN TO SUE GONESburger AND LITTLE RONNIE!!!
Leave Steve Alone, Please!!! I mean it!!
January 13th, 2010 at 8:11 am
What’s the name of Geller’s political committee and are those reports filed with the county or the state?
FROM BUDDY: Floridians For A Stronger Tomorrow found here
January 13th, 2010 at 8:13 am
There is something really wrong with our system when it allows a candidate to set up a separate “political committee” that has no limits on the amount of money they can accept from a single source.
Granted, they can only “technically” deal with issues and not specific candidates, but we all know the “issues” are going to be very anti-Gunzburger.
January 13th, 2010 at 9:02 am
Big Steve has been the Tallahassee “boy” of the special interests for years. He is the gambling and insurance industries’ flunky. He was the Mutual Benefits go-to-guy and to this day he meets with the indicted principals of this ponzi fraud. He was friend enough with Scott Rothstein to get $50,000 out of him for his campaign, the biggest contribution he got so far. If you like that special interest record, vote for him.
January 13th, 2010 at 10:45 am
I don’t see how Geller’s “committee”, Floridians For A Stronger Tomorrow is not in violation of Florida election law.
A Committee of Continuous Existence must get “At least 25% of the income of such organization, excluding interest, must be derived from dues or assessments payable on a regular basis by its membership pursuant to provisions contained in the charter or bylaws.”
Even a cursory examination of the income of this committee would indicate this is not the case.
January 13th, 2010 at 11:58 am
How many times are certain people going to change their name to protect the corrupt.
January 14th, 2010 at 5:59 am
If these two are the best we can come up with, we are truly doomed. It ould be better for the district if we just put a fresh out of high school kid in there. Doesn’t anybody know somebody who can run against these two corrupt career politicians? I am so serious. Anyone. I suggest some novelty candidate that might draw some publicity based on being a non traditional candidate.
January 14th, 2010 at 6:19 am
Please don’t insult me anymore, David Brown-Noser.
If I don’t get elected, how can I pay back all the developers, race tracks, insurance companies and other special interests who have supported me all my career.
January 14th, 2010 at 6:03 pm
We need somebody new in this race. How about the mayor of Hallandale, Joy Cooper?
January 15th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Gunzburger spent her time in office getting business for her husband who sold millions $$$$ in benches to the countyparks. She used her position to put her son and her daughter on the public payroll, although neither are qualified. Gunzburger believes being a commissioner means everybody in her family benefits.