Update: Sheriff’s Candidate Granteed Stumbles

BY BUDDY NEVINS

 

Is Louis Granteed the hare to Scott Israel’s tortoise?

And is Sheriff Al Lamberti the eagle ready to swoop down and pick off either one in November?

The Democratic candidate for sheriff Granteed first raised $89k. In the next three months he raised $30k. In the latest three-month report released this week, he raised under $18k.

Hey, Louie, you’re going the wrong way!

Granteed was actually out raised by his Democratic primary opponent Scott Israel.

Israel has been plodding along, raising $39k, then $15k and last quarter $25k. He did approximately $7K better than Granteed.

Despite Israel’s good quarter, he is in horrible financial shape.  He has raised a total of $88k, but spent $48k of it.  Granteed has almost all of the $137k he raised saved for the final push before the primary.

Granteed crowed about it: “I’ve got a better campaign. I’ve got tons more money than Israel.”

Who spend that much money this early in the campaign? A campaign amateur, that’s who.

Israel is no amateur.  He was the Democratic nominee for sheriff four years ago.

But then his campaign manager was veteran Judy Stern.  This year its Amy Rose, who has other ways of managing.

While Democrats were struggling, Lamberti out raised three times what both Democrats did.  He took in $127,331 in the last quarter.

Lamberti now has raised a whopping $268,118 — over $220,000 in the bank after expenses — which he can save for the General Election while Democrats must deplete their money in a primary.

He’ll need a lot more with the overwhelming Democratic majority in Broward.  Four years ago he spent over $785,000 not including the committees paying for additional advertising.  He only won by around 15,000 votes out of 681,465.



33 Responses to “Update: Sheriff’s Candidate Granteed Stumbles”

  1. Jeanne says:

    Funny he was at the Parkland/COral Springs Democratic Club last week passing out literature.

  2. Central Broward says:

    Hey Buddy,

    If you are going to use number then you should get your facts right. The records show Israel did not out raise him by 7K, it was a little over 3K. The bottom line is contributions versus expenditures and Israel is in trouble.

    According to the SOE records, Granteed has raised $143K versus Israel’s $88k. Also, Granteed never stopped campaigning or made excuses for anything. Unfair shot again, especially when Granteed has thousands more than Israel. What stumble are you looking at!!!

    You are right about one thing, Israel does not know how to manage money and clearly does not have the backing to raise a bunch of money either. He raised 88K over the course of a YEAR and spent $47K leaving him with a measley $40K in the bank.

    Granteed has raised $143K in less time and has only spent $9K leaving him $134K, which is an incredible advantage.

    Granteed is running a much beter campaign and his experience managing money is far superior than Israel’s.

    The 2008 “Democratic Nominee Israel” who spends more of peoples contribution money on gas than anything else is the one floudering and has to show people he can raise mone yagain and so far he hasn’t and Granteed has, even as a first time Candidate.

    FROM BUDDY:
    You are wrong based on the Supervisor’s website. Israel did out raise Granteed.
    According to that website, Granteed raised $17,926.02. Let’s call it $18k.
    Israel raised $24,800. Let’s call it $25k.
    The difference between 25-18=7
    Basic math.
    As I wrote, Israel is spending his money faster than is usual in a campaign. Granteed has more cash on hand.
    I believe I candidate who wants to be the front-running should continue to out raise his opponent. Granteed was out raising Israel. He stumbled in this quarter.

  3. Real Deal says:

    Scott Israel has very strong name recognition among Broward Democrats while Mr. Granteed remains a relative unknown.

    It would take much more than double what Mr. Granteed has raised to to make a dent in the name recognition disadvantage Mr. Israel presents. The notion that the Granteed campaign has plenty of cash is not very impressive.

    A persistent rumor hounds Mr. Granteed in this campaign. The rumor has not been disproven that Sheriff Lamberti and Mr. Granteed are in league to undo Israel, who is the greater threat to Lamberti. We already know that Israel is not who Lamberti wanted to win the last time he ran.

    Further, it is widely speculated that a job awaits the retiring Granteed at BSO after the election. Finally, that the people donating to Mr. Granteed are overwhelmingly friends of the Sheriff.

    Mr. Granteed has not been asked to publicly refute those tough claims by promising not to accept any position except Sheriff in Broward County’s BSO. Mr. Israel offers reasons when he campaigns for why he would perform better than the current Sheriff. One would expect that from someone challenging an incumbent.

    Mr. Granteed does not offer any reasons why he would outperform Sheriff Lamberti. That is very unusual behavior for a candidate, the excuse of taking the high road in a campaign is insulting to any listener, and in the minds of many makes Mr. Granteed’s campaigning for office suspect.

  4. Stan says:

    One look at Scott Israel’s financial expenditures and it’s easy to see why he’s being bled dry;

    Almost $28K for his consultant!
    Over $3400 for gas (what is he driving a Hummer???)

    And we aren’t really into the full primary season yet.

  5. Local D says:

    How has Ashley Walker been getting paid for a year? Or is she hiding behind an ECO because her Obama job doesn’t allow her to work in a local race like this? Hmmm…..

    FROM BUDDY:
    Ms. Walker, who is the face of the Obama campaign in this area, is Granteed’s campaign strategist.

  6. Seth R says:

    Sounds like another botched job by Amateur Amy! She’ll bleed him dry, doesn’t care whether Israel wins or loses, it’s all about making money!!!

  7. Sam the Sham says:

    Ha ha ha! It is fun watching Dems fight amongst themselves. Go ahead, drain your donors dry and spend all your money. In the end, Lamberti will take a cake walk back into office.

  8. Seth R says:

    Stan is right on the money. Who spends $28,000 for an inept campaign consultant? That says a lot about how Israel would manage the taxpayers money as Sherriff.

  9. Lamberti is garbage says:

    Lamberti won’t be in office for the election.

  10. Legit says:

    Hey Real Deal…Just stop your stupid Lamberti/Granteed schtick already. You’re ridiculous attempt to discredit Granteed with your foolish slime attempt is insulting to anyone with a brain.

    Granteed is in this election to win and Lamberti is pissed because Louie is a legitimate threat. Lamberti could beat Israel by staying home and napping on the couch until election day, but Granteed has garnered the support to beat Lamberti.

    You and your type do Israel no favors by reinforcing Israel’s image as an unethical politician and former police officer

  11. SoFla Distortion says:

    Its not all about the Benjamins.

    If Amy Rose is in charge of Israel’s social media she should be fired immediately. Every post is some self serving praise of him. Little to no interaction and the same statements repeated over and over again. This is called spam in any other business. Its embarrassing.
    Granteed on the other hand has been at every Democratic event held in the last year carrying the flag. I think the candidate with who is a true D with the most experience should get the vote. That’s Granteed. Israel is obviously self serving and is unqualified for the job.

  12. Central Broward says:

    Once again in response to Mr. Real Deal? Which one are you anyway, there must be a few of you under the sanme tag..

    I know for a fact that Granteed has made it perfectly clear in meetings and to anyone who has asked him that he is NOT INTERESTED in a job with the BSO, except to be the next Sheriff. This is nothign but a Scott Israel, Jeff Marano and Russ DePerna desperation rumor.

    Why would a solid candidate like Granteed take a job when he will be the next Sheriff.

    He has been perfectly clear that he has never made any election deals with anyone about his running. He has not been offered any jobs by Lamberti. He has never asked for any position with the BSO. He has never had any meetings about a position before or after the election. He is not in with Lamberti as Israel trys to portray and is in the race to win the race.

    It seems pretty clear that the Israel camp is desperate and really full of themsleves thinking that the Sheriff spends anytime thinking about him at all. The Sheriff would prefer to run against Israel over Granteed anyday because Israel hos no money, no support and can’t win. Granteed is a much more concerning opponent for the Sheriff. Granteed has an excellent reputation and is well know regardless of the relative unknown remarks. He is respected and runs a big police department in Broward while his opponent Israel has been out of police work for over 5 years. There is no comparison between Granteed and Israel, Granteed has what it takes and can and I believe will win.

    Also, on the contribution remarks. Granteed gets contributions from many people Dems, Rep and Indep. that would not support Israel in 2008, thats why he lost and Lamberti won. Granteed is doing very well and should just keep it up. I can care less who is running his campaign, but whoever it is has been doing excellent and steering him in the right direction.

  13. Chaz Stevens says:

    Hey Buddy.

    Did you hear the one about Hallandale Beach possibly under OIG investigation?

    People/things of interest include:

    Mike Good
    Dave Jove
    Mark Antonio
    CRA
    and dare I say Joy “Kill that damn dog” Cooper.

  14. Not for nothin' says:

    Buddy,

    It might have shown some sensitivity to note that Mr. Granteed was spending much of his time with his ailing father who passed away during this quarter.

    FROM BUDDY:
    I did originally have a line saying that. Mr. Granteed asked me to remove it.

  15. all that glitters... says:

    Hey not for nothing but when Granteed was at the Cheetah strip club, how exactly did that factor into the time he needed to spend with his ailing father?

    http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2011/12/broward_sheriffs_candidate_cou.html

  16. Dem Party says:

    I have been in the Dem. Party for many years. I feel Israel had his shot in 2008, even after switching from Republican to Democrat and it didn’t work out. I and many many others in the Dem. Party feel Lou Granteed is a super person and is much more qualified and experienced than Scott Israel. There is big support for Lou and the party should step in and ask Scott Israel to bow out, so the party can support one candidate. How many times does a person keep running and damaging the party. The party should be full force behind Lou Granteed. We need someone new and someone people believe can win and it’s not Scott Israel. I don’t mean any dis-respect to anyone, just talking facts. What is a person going to do in a countywide election with just 40K versus a person with $140K. This is not 2008 and the party needs to change it’s philosophy and stop going with the same people ove rand over again and expecting a different result. It is also disturbing how much negativity the Scott Israel campaign spreads. It was the same game in 2008 and it cost us the election without a dount. I said my peace and hope for change.

  17. Not for nothin' says:

    Class act.

  18. Advisor says:

    We need to clear up a few things regarding Israel’s mis-management of campaign funds. Amy is not in charge of the campaign money, Scott is and makes the money decisions. The mis-management is all on Scott, not Amy. Amy wants her money because Scott screwed Judy Stern in 2008 and didn’t pay her, so why would Amy get burned the same way. It is clear, Scott Israel cannot manage campaign contributors $88k, how could anyone expect him to remotely manage $650 million taxpayer dollars. NOT ME!!! If you are going to point the blame, point the finger at the amatuer Scott Israel, not Amy. She has told him over and over there will be no more money left, but Scott keeps faking he’s getting gasoline and when he goes inside he pays a few dollars for gas and takes cash back to pay workers. How does anyone keep using over $3000.00 in gas every quarter….. it’s not right and insiders like myself wont stand back and let Amy take the hit for Scott’s mis-managemnent and poor decisions. It has been said by Buddy that Scott’s campaign is in financial trouble and that it exactly right.

  19. Hollywood Police Corrupt says:

    Granteed was a commander of a police force that is thoroughly corrupt and without discipline. TV have shown that the Hollywood Police commanders allow out of control officers to abuse their power and cheat the public by sleeping on duty. It can’t be pinned on Granteed totally. He was never spoken out against it. He set a bad example in his current job.

  20. Springs says:

    O okay All the Glitter “Scott Israel” from your cell phone… Give it up dude!!!

  21. Fort Lauderdale says:

    Scott Israel was on-duty in a Fort Lauderdale Police Uniform and was caught shoplifting cologne at the Galleria Mall. He and his brother beat up young black men as Fort Lauderdale Raiders and were corrupt as they come then the Internal Affairs Records disappeared. Talk about corrupt. The remarks made i na negative way by the Israelites are a signs of desperation….

  22. Byline says:

    The issues that occurred in Hollywood were quickly and severely dealt with by police management as they should have been. The Broward Sheriff’s Office has had numerous officers arrested. many other agencies; Fort Lauderdale, Miramar, Coral Springs, Miami, FBI, etc.. all had unfortunate incidents involving their officers as well. A few bad apples don’t spoil the bunch. It’s how police management responds that counts.

    Hollywood has always had full-time capable reporters assigned to the police beat. Anything that happens in that agency makes the news.

  23. Hollywood PD says:

    Anybody who came out of hollywood his whole career is corrupt. Lamberti may be a lot of things, but corrupt is not one of them.

  24. FDP says:

    Hey Buddy,

    The Broward Democratic Party should get Israel to bow out of thje race. He had his chance and it didn’t workout. He has less a chance this time to even win the primary. The party should take a position to fully support Granteed because there is strong support for him and people believe he is much more qualified with the best chance to beat Lamberti. Have you talked to Mitch Ceasar?

  25. Clarion News says:

    BSO Fails To Read Triple Murder Suspect His Miranda Rights- and HE WALKS!
    April 10, 2012

    Stunning Screw-up By Lamberti
    When Broward County prosecutors were forced to release triple murder suspect Lineten Belizaire recently they not only felt they had insufficient evidence to warrant Belizaire’s arrest, but also had to contend with a failure by Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti’s deputies to read Belizaire his Miranda rights.

    “This was a major screw-up by the Sheriff’s Office” an assistant to State’s Attorney Mike Satz told the Florida Clarion with the condition of anonymity. “It made it impossible for us to make a case.”

    Al Lamberti
    The new charges of incompetence in Lamberti’s office come on the heels of a full fledged ethics investigation into the Sheriffs Department purchase of patrol cars where Lamberti appears to have paid more then the state’s approved rate to a campaign contributor’s dealership. Additionally there is a probe into whether Sheriff’s aides intentionally planted pornography on the computer of a Broward Sheriff’s officer who Lamberti targeted for removal for internal political reasons.

    Rumors are also swirling that two top aides to Lamberti could be on a list of those who used a high-rise luxury apartment “sex pad” supplied by Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein.

    Sheriff’s Deputy David Benjamin actually drove Rothstein to his Morocco get-away in a BSO Patrol Car. Rothstein requested the ride because he said he was “traveling with a large sum of cash’. Benjamin told prosecutors that Rothstein never told him he was fleeing the country as his Ponzi scheme collapsed around his ears.

    “What was Al Lamberti dong while his top aide chauffeured a convicted felon to his get-away?” Democratic Candidate for Sheriff Scott Israel asked the Florida Clarion. “What was Lamberti doing while BSO became Rothstein’s personal police department with Rothstein paying Senior BSO Officers for ‘Security and Personal Services’ while wearing their uniforms and utilizing BSO vehicles”?

    The Clarion thought is was quite interesting that Scott Israel candidate for Sheriff was poasing the questions to the Clarion since he too received over $190,000.00 from Scot Rothstein. This is the same person he is attacking Lamberti over when he is a hypocrit himself. Scott israel has a long way to go attacking anyones ethics and integrity when he has none himself.

  26. BSO says:

    The remartks by Scott Israel is exactly why nobody at the BSO should give him the time of day. I am offender by his remarks that the BSO was Rothstein’s personal police department. Speak for yourself Israel, you would be the worst thing that could ever happen to us. Not to mention, your old P.D. is smack in the middle of the Rothstein investigation and you have no place to make derogatory remarks about anyone at the BSO.

  27. Real Deal says:

    Central Broward: With respect Mr. Granteed must make these statements himself creating these suspicions. Judging by the widespread nature of the concern, he should say it in public and put in writing that he will not accept any position at BSO under Sheriff Lamberti.

    He must also make his case for why he would be a better sheriff then the incumbent. Otherwise why would anyone want to vote for him? No candidate can be considered viable without making that case.

    People believe that Mr. Granteed is secretly to the Lamberti campaign. How can he not put those concerns to rest in an undeniable way? Until he does he does these suspicions will continue to grow as well they should. He has refused to put the concerns to rest.

  28. Citizen says:

    …… “What was Lamberti doing while BSO became Rothstein’s personal police department with Rothstein paying Senior BSO Officers for ‘Security and Personal Services’ while wearing their uniforms and utilizing BSO vehicles”?

    This is what they are asking Fort Lauderdale PD. So which is it? BSO or FLPD?
    And how did one guy, whether attorney or not, have so much influence to corrupt? Yet the chiefs at both still have their jobs.

  29. all that glitters... says:

    The only thing Granteed ever talks about is how he’s the only lifelong Democrat in the race, and a long list of degrees and certifications he’s received. Never a word about why he should be the sheriff. Like Israel or not, he speaks quite often about problems at BSO and specifically what he’d do differently. He actually makes it clear that he’s running against Al Lamberti, and by the way, he’s a Democrat too.

    FROM BUDDY:
    Mr. Granteed and Mr. Israel were inverted to write a short statement for Browardbeat.com why they wanted to be sheriff. Neither could put their reasoning in words. Makes me wonder if they have a real reason for being sheriff or vision for the future sheriff’s office.

  30. Lamberti is garbage says:

    Yeah and Lamberti’s vision is to drive BSO further into the toilet of internal corruption. Ask Lamberti for his vision…the only thing you will get is a taxpayer funded, script written by someone else. Lamberti is a fraud of the worst kind.

  31. JD says:

    Israel has no clue. Have you ever heard him speak. He makes no sense and has no clue what he’s talking about. He does not have the leadership, experience or temperament to be Sheriff. Granteed does talk about issues while Israel is busy mud slinging. Granteed is always talking about issues, especially praising the excellent men and women that work at the BSO. All Israel does is tear down the BSO and the people that work there. Tearing down our Sheriff with negative attacks is an attack on all of us at the BSO. I think Granteed is much more professional and is more definitely more respected because of his character than Israel. Israel is not for us at the BSO and that’s why Granteed is heavily supported all around Broward.

  32. sidelines says:

    given comments here on the 3 Lamberti will be re-elected as the least inept. No one else more qualified will run?

  33. Real Deal says:

    No one should be running at all. A position like sheriff does not require election.

    Sheriff requires the most competent police chief that we can find to run the operation of that office.

    No law enforcement official should ever have to undergo the indignity of running for office. That applies to sheriff and it absolutely applies to judges.

    These individuals should be appointed based on merit and that is easy to do.

    Explain the benefits of merit selection to the citizens and put a charter change on the ballot. Until this is done we expect more acidic and pointless campaign commentary from those who obviously owe their jobs to whoever becomes sheriff.

    For them, public safety is at best a secondary priority to making sure they continue to have a good paying job.

    That’s what running for sheriff has become. It’s all about which candidate can collect more of these weasle-like individuals to help them campaign. It is not at all about protecting you and me. It’s all about them and we the voters simple pawns in their game.

    If anybody has had enough of that crap speak up. I have.