Judicial Ad Watch and Other Campaign Tidbits
BY BUDDY NEVINS
When you get campaign literature, be skeptical. Be very skeptical.
Take Circuit Judge Lisa Porter. She has literature which states that 84 percent “of Broward attorneys polled will vote to keep Judge Porter.
True. Absolutely accurate.
Let’s look deeper.
The poll was done by political consultant Dan Lewis’ Internet company. Dan Lewis’ company collected almost $40,000 from Porter’s campaign.
Like I said, be skeptical. Be very skeptical.
*****
The Broward Democratic Party’s endorsements, e-mailed to the party’s executive committee members, were wrong, wrong, wrong.
The endorsements said County Judge Lee Seidman and his wife, Laura Seidman, were Republicans.
Try again.
The Seidmans are registered independents.
The Democrats were forced to send out a retraction.
Laura Seidman is Porter’s opponent. Lee Seidman is running for the circuit bench against Sandra Perlman.
*****
Since I’m writing about the Seidmans, Lee Seidman’s television ad due to begin on Monday when Early Voting starts. View it here.
Although the spot looks and feels cheap, it gets the Seidman name across. The side benefit for the couple is that it also helps Laura, too, because she is a Seidman.
*****
There are all kinds of conspiracy theories floating around the legal community about political consultant Judy Stern.
I never realized she was so fascinating.
Some of the talk surrounds a list of candidates she is endorsing that was e-mailed extensively and was reproduced on websites.
She says the e-mail is phony and the work of an opponent also involved in judicial races.
Here is the story:
According to the whispers, the race between Circuit Judge Ken Gillespie and Oliver Parker was left off the list deliberately by Stern. It is part of a bizarre political deal.
The list was designed to get incumbent judges like Gillespie re-elected. So Parker benefits by leaving race off the endorsement list, which was paid for by others and will be distributed at polls starting this week.
In return, Parker will work for Stern’s daughter Barbra Stern in her Florida House race.
“You’ve known me a long time, Stern said. “Can you imagine me helping Oliver Parker?
No, I can’t.
I also find it hard to believe Parker, a long-time Republican activist, would help a Democrat in a House race.
But if this fantastic story is true — Again, Stern denies it. — Parker could be in serious trouble. The Judicial Qualification Commission tends to frown on judicial candidates who make political deals.
August 9th, 2010 at 8:20 am
The Seidman’s were Republicans until moments before this campaign season got going. We all know if they had always been Independents then they would not have both been given appointments by Jeb Bush!
August 9th, 2010 at 9:42 am
I believe the Broward Democrats endorsement list also wrongly identified Alan Schneider as a Democrat. I think he is a Republican. I mentioned it to some DEC members but they didn’t seem to care. Maybe they don’t like Judge Williams, who also is not a Democrat.
August 9th, 2010 at 9:51 am
@Aap
As a DEC member, my friends and I do not care because Judge Williams with all respect due his office told us to drop dead by saying that “Jeb BUSH is the greatest governor EVER!”. So Many of us are too polite to say it but we are either not going to vote in the race or are going to vote for Schneider because party affiliation does not matter anymore.
August 9th, 2010 at 9:52 am
Buddy, you cant imagine a mother doing anything she can to help her daughter win a House seat?
Even if that same Mother is Judy Stern, who was involved in the scam black voter guide?
The same Mother, Judy Stern, who had a candidate change her name to be at the top of a ballot.
The same Mother, Judy Stern, who hands out flags of Israel on Election Day to get Jews to vote for Scott Israel. Not even to mention the lies and smears she did against Sheriff Lamberti
The same Mother, Judy Stern, who has used ECO’s like Common Sense, Liberty and Justice for all(something like that) and now Citizens for a Strong Judiciary, to smear candidates?
The same Mother, Judy Stern, who was at the hip with Joe Eggeletion and Ken Jenne until they went to Jail?
Of course Stern is going to deny involvment with the ECO, that is why you have an ECO.
The ECO protected Judges list leaves off Luzzo and Destry. Why? That would be very helpful to the PD candidates Levine and Jackovich. Has not Stern been best buds with Howard since she was his secretary many years ago?
Stern’s judical races have two opponents, Roshawn Banks and Frieda Goldstein.
Are we to believe either of these candidates sat down and used Judy’s email to make a phoney email and then sent an email all over town about Judy’s ECO. Really.
Come on Buddy, if you are going to write about this, you should at least add Stern’s history of political dirty tricks so the voters have a fair view of the person denying any wrong doing.
Where there is smoke thre is fire, and there is always smoke around Stern.
SAY NO TO JUDY STERN CANDIDATES:
JUDGE CARLOS RODRIQUEZ
MINDY SOLOMON
ANGLEO CASTILLO
BARBRA STERN
August 9th, 2010 at 11:38 am
Make it easy on yourself, I just grab it from the box and rip the ads up. I especially hate the ads done by Jeff Green.
August 9th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
This is nothing new with “lists” from the Broward Democratic party. Every time they do this they have had to issues retractions/changes because they get information wrong.
Quality is not a feature of the party under Mitch Ceasar.
August 9th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
Both Seidmans were Republican until recently. Not to make excuses for the Dems, but it is likely they didn’t realize that the long time Republicans changed their party affiliation recently. Laura Seidman in particular was a heavy hitter with the Republican party for years. See, for example, the May the May 6, 2008 article in the Sun-Sentinel discussing her incompetency as legal counsel to the North Broward Hospital Board which she was hired by the all-Republican Bush appointed board, and from which she was ultimately fired. Reporter Tony Man states ” She had no background in health-care law, but did have political connections from her involvement in the local Republican Party and as a donor to Republican candidates.”
A quick google check on the Seidmans will confirm their long held ties and involvement with the Republican party.
August 9th, 2010 at 7:53 pm
Can someone please provide concise information on which judges hired which political consultants as campaign managers. I need to get my absentee ballot in, and I am lost with these judge races. Any help will be appreciated.
August 9th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
Judy Stern involved with secret ECO and denies knowing about what it does. Never
Judy Stern laying or donating to a candidate like Gillespie and using it as cover to hide helping the other side like Parker. Never
Judy Stern double dealing to help her daughter with a powerful former mayor of a city in the house district where the daughter is running. Get outta town.
Seriously Buddy, people have ECO’s so they an deny their dirty deeds.
In writing this piece you should have at least educated the readers on Judy’s past so they can make an informed decision whether is she wrong or not.
August 10th, 2010 at 10:04 am
I realize it’s difficult for judicial candidates to communicate to such a large voter block as Broward county-wide, but someone needs to tell these judicial candidates they are creating far more ill will with all of their robo calls of recent days.
I’m averaging 3-5 canned phone calls a day and frankly, am getting more than a little annoyed.
If it’s important, call me yourself…not with a robo call. Stop taking the easy way out.
August 10th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
It is so easy to lie about people, especially when you obviously support their opponents.
First, the list sent out by the Broward Democratic Party was not a list of endorsed judicial candidates, but a compilation of Party affiliation. As was pointed out in the correction, the mistake regarding the Seidman’s registration was due to an error in state Democratic Party records (a system known as VAN). When that error was pointed out & doubl checked with the Supervisor of Elections(something any of the geniuses who put out mis-information here could have done), Mitch Ceasar had a correction sent to DEC members.
For the record, both Lee & Laura Seidman changed their registration from Republican to No Party Affiliation more than a year before qualifying to run for election as judges. That’s not “just before filing to run”. In addition, Lee Seidman was a Democrat for many years before he chnged to Republican. Many lawyers who aspire to be judges & who aren’t political activists switch to the Party of the governor to increase their chances of being appointed. That’s one of the problems with the appointed process.
And finally, Laura Seidman was hired as General Counsel for the North Broward Hospital District, but lost that position when she wouldn’t play along with the kind of shenanigans Buddy has often written about. She should be applauded for that, not attacked.
Lee Seidman has been & is an excellent judge. Laura Seidman will be.
August 12th, 2010 at 9:44 am
about 200,000 voters may vote Aug. 24th that would take over 4,000 volunteers. This is 2010 stop being a whiner and join the 21st century.