Political Tidbits: Steve Vs. Sue; Where Is Mitch?
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Campaign contribution reports for the second quarter of 2009 will start trickling out next week and I’ll be watching the south Broward county commission campaign pitting Steve Geller against Sue Gunzburger.
Gunzburger, who votes on dozens of items every month that lobbyists have a vested interest in, should easily out raise Geller. If she doesn’t, she’s got problems.
The key to this one is Geller.
He needs to raise at least $25,000 to stay competitive. If he does, he will be in fine shape this far out from the 2010 Democratic primary.
Geller is a former state senator. Emphasis on the word former.
He doesn’t have a vote on anything anymore. That makes it exceedingly difficult to raise money.
In addition, the former state senator is running against an incumbent county commissioner. Gunzburger could, if she wanted to, take revenge on anybody giving money to Geller.
So lobbyists, the source of much of the money in this race, are reluctant to piss her off. That’s what several told me.
If Geller raises $25,000, that’s a lot for a guy who is swimming upstream in this race.
So I say: $25,000 and he is still competitive. He has about $130,000, soft and hard money. Another five quarters of $25,000 apiece will put him at over a quarter of a mil.
That’s enough money to run a Democratic primary race in a single-member district.
But if Geller raised less than $25,000 between April and June, he should reconsider his run.
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It isn’t surprising that the Florida House Democratic leadership has handed over the choice of a candidate for District 91 to lobbyist Judy Stern.
What does amaze me is how little say the Broward Democratic Party leadership apparently has in the decision.
Amy Sherman and Breanne Gilpatrick tell the story in today’s Miami Herald here.
Notice that nowhere in the story is Democratic Chair Mitch Ceasar or the Democratic committee members mentioned. Can you say irrelevant?
Why anybody bothers with the Democratic organization is beyond me.
School Board member Maureen Dinnen, who is being romanced to run for the seat, had better be careful if she makes a deal to run. Does she remember what happened to Faust?
It’s incoming House Democratic Leader Ron Saunders who asked Stern to help. He’s trying to increase the number of Democrats in the House.
Saunders and Stern go back a long way. He knows Stern’s reputation of winning elections. . .sometimes.
Stern helped on Saunders’ 1994 campaign for Secretary of State.
Saunders lost.
July 5th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Gee, I hope Dinnen runs for the seat win or lose. She needs to leave the School Board. She’s arrogant and condescending like most teachers I know.
Anybody remember Dinnen’s comment when the School Board tried to move the start of the school year to mid-July? Despite the fact that the entire county was in an uproar, she just had this to say: “We know what’s good for your children.”
Mitch Ceasar irrelevant? Now that’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one. Ceasar really hasn’t been relevant since he was kicked out of the leadership of the FDC. Under Ceasar’s leadership the entire DEC has become irrelevant. Just too bad that his opponents over the past several election cycles were so far outside the mainstream that their challenges were nothing but a bad joke on the Democratic party.
Opponent #1, Randy Fleischer was going to move out west a year or so ago. If he ever passes the Bar out there, he should pack up and go.
Opponent #2, Phil Busey, a Fleischer clone, needs to get a life and stop trying to take the party left of Obama.
Opponent #3, Peter Deustch, once garnered respect in Broward. But then again, for those with a short memory, Deustch was pressured by the House Democratic leadership to move into his own district after he was first elected. Too bad his choices of executive leadership were chock full of whiners and complainers with no real background of leadership. Peter needs to stay in Israel and leave Broward to real Democrats.
Who can possibly knock out Ceasar? Look to leaders like Howard Forman. Four years ago he sent out a series of letters to county Democratic leaders testing the waters. I don’t know what the response was, but perhaps Howard should consider a real run in three years. Forman’s an accomplished organizer and leader who’ll take the DEC into the 21st century.
July 5th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
Howard Forman is a nice man but he’s not who we need at the Broward DEC, frankly I’d rather stay with Mitch if that’s the choice.
Forman took the mostly irrelevant job of Clerk of Courts so he could pad his pension and nobody can blame him for that. He’s one of the few elected officials who didn’t become rich after decades of service. That says he’s honest.
But that Frosty the Snowman routine of his does little inspire a great following. He’s been popular with the masses having been around so long. People feel bad about his limp and he is clearly likable. But all that falls short of being a true leader. Mostly it looks to most like he’s a puppet on Irys Syple’s strings. He can’t go to the bathroom without her saying something, the rumor goes.
July 6th, 2009 at 4:29 am
I disagree with Forman Not. Howard Forman is the type of Democrat that could put the party organization back on track. He is liked by everyone, with the exception of Forman Not. He wouldn’t be using the party for his own gain, which Mitch does to sell his lobbying. He has a record of modernizing the clerk’s office, which was falling apart under Lockwood. The only qualm I have about Forman is that he is old and may not have it in him to whip some of these committeemen and committeewomen in line.
July 6th, 2009 at 4:47 am
Steve Geller couldn’t get elected dog catcher right now with all this Mutual Benefits stuff swirling all around him. His next government office may have bars on the doors if he isn’t careful.
July 6th, 2009 at 6:49 am
Why would Dinnen give up a sure thing at the school board for a CHANCE at a state house seat that pays 25% less, and has more ethical restrictions and public scrutiny?
The same goes for Kristen Jacobs. Plus she has another 4 years after 2010 before term limits kick in.
July 6th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Let me guess, David Brown called and told you Steve raised somewhere close to $25 last quarter?
July 6th, 2009 at 8:30 am
How about some NEW blood?
July 8th, 2009 at 11:57 am
David Brown is an imbecilic rat.
He’s be homeless if he wasn’t married to a Dentist.