Governor Goes To Bat For State Rep. George Moraitis

BY BUDDY NEVINS

Republican Gov. Rick Scott has gone to bat for fellow conservative state Rep. George Moraitis of Fort Lauderdale.

Facing a re-election fight against Democratic lawyer Barbra Stern, Scott appointed Stern to the Florida Elections Commission.  The appointment got her out of the race.

No more re-election challenge for Moraitis.

 

Gov. Rick Scott and Barbra Stern in governor’s office

Stern dropped out of the northeast Broward state House race on Friday, the same day the governor announced her appointment.

As Browardbeat.com wrote last month, Stern was forbidden by state law from running and being a member of the commission.

Here is the relevant section of the law, with my underlining.

 

Florida Statutes 106.24 (2)
(2) No member of the commission shall be a member of any county, state, or national committee of a political party; be an officer in any partisan political club or organization; or hold, or be a candidate for, any other public office. No person shall be appointed as a member of the commission who has held an elective public office or office in a political party within the year immediately preceding his or her appointment.  

Stern ran for the same seat two years ago and lost.

Now Moraitis is now only facing a nominal challenge for now from Ryan Moffitt. He is member of the Florida Pirate Party, which you can figure out yourselves by clicking on the link.



7 Responses to “Governor Goes To Bat For State Rep. George Moraitis”

  1. ann says:

    If the Broward Democratic Party and the Florida Democratic Party weren’t so inept, they’d find a credible candidate for this now very competitive district.

    Under the new plan making it’s way through Tallahassee now, this district (now called District 93) has improved for the Democrats by about 6-7 percentage points, to the point where it really is an even district.

    However, it would take a exceptional Democrat with good party support to give Moraitis a run for his money, which isn’t likely to happen.

  2. A Real Democrat says:

    What about the local party, Ann? We have been burdened for a decade by a local party that is leaderless and does nothing to find new candidates for office.

  3. not quite says:

    This was all LaMarca. Chip’s new district is heavy Pompano, Judy Stern is close to the Mayor of Pompano. Chip needs all the help he can get with those Dem voters and Pompano and Judy can deliver it.

    George beat Stern by by 14% at best the District change impacts no more than 3%. The reality is that a liberal democrat jewsish female cant win on the east side of Broward. Why would George want to run against the devil he doesnt know than the devil he knows.

    For those of you who counted Chip out after the new maps came out,i would say dont count your chickens before they hatch.

  4. ann says:

    I meant the local party when I said Broward Democratic Party, Real Dem.

    Under Mitch’s leadership, they always take the easy way out and you’re right, have provided no real leadership for a decade.

  5. You must be kidding says:

    I guess chippie is probably stupid enough to trust her; many others brighter than him (ain’t saying much) have. But he is done. She will use him for the next two years (if he lets her) and jump to fisher, keechl, her daughter, resnick,……whoever is the leading dem for the seat in 2014.. Everyone knew that Barbra’s heart wasn’t in the race against moriatis. A strong dem with name recognition is the only one who has a chance. It doesn’t take a genius to see that it’s still a Republican seat.

  6. A Real Democrat says:

    We agree Ann. I will add that Stern was not the best candidate. Mitch Ceasar had two years to recruit a new Democrat to run. He did nothing.

  7. Victoria says:

    Wow, Mitch Ceasar is still around?