Ed.’s note: George Niemann filed this report before Brian Blair’s arrest on Father’s Day on two child abuse charges.
By George Niemann PoHo contributor and R-LAND and UCAN activist
Here’s the latest update on the Brian Blair campaign finance scandal.
In case you didn’t know, former Commissioner Blair is headed to a “trial” on charges he violated Section 106.19 of Florida Statute relating to campaign finance regulations (Case# FEC 08-224).
On Feb. 28, the Florida Elections Commission ruled that there was “probable cause” that he violated the statute more than once. His violations involve the acceptance of illegal campaign contributions from two contributors. Anyone can make a clerical error, however, the Elections Commission looks beyond just the accounting. They look for actions that indicate the intent of not following the law.
Federal investigators are sifting through the records of money that helped John Edwards’ presidential campaign to determine if any was used to keep quiet his affair with Rielle Hunter.
Edwards, a Democrat and former U.S. senator, acknowledged the investigation to The News & Observer.
“I am confident that no funds from my campaign were used improperly,” Edwards said in a statement.
Hunter is the filmmaker employed by a PAC aligned with Edwards to make campaign films – while the two were “doing it.” While Edwards wife was being diagnosed with terminal cancer. While Edwards held himself out to voters as a paragon of caring for the little guy (’memba his work in Louisiana’s Katrina wreckage photo ops?).
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Mar. 12, 2009, at 6:13 am
OK, let’s start with a bit of media law: It is almost impossible to libel a public official, thanks to the protection of the First Amendment and Times v. Sullivan. Anyone who wants to win such a lawsuit not only has to prove he/she was defamed but that it was done with actual malice or reckless disregard of the facts. It is a very high hurdle to jump.
That’s why former Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair’s lawsuit against Kevin Beckner, who beat him in 2008 at the polls, reeks of sore loser rather than a principled stand for the truth.
Blair argues that Beckner leveled false allegations of self-dealing and racism that exposed him to “hatred, contempt” and “ridicule,” on his way to election victory.
“This wasn’t negative campaigning. It was false campaigning,” Blair said during a news conference to announce the suit. “My children have come home from school crying from some of the things that were said.”
Blair said he wants to restore his reputation and be compensated for lost wages and earning potential.
Earning potential??
As for Beckner, he isn’t taking it lying down.
“If Brian Blair’s looking for someone to sue, he should sue himself,” Beckner said. “He defamed his own character and integrity when he consistently voted for special interests and self interests instead of the interests of the people of Hillsborough County.”
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Feb. 4, 2009, at 7:39 am
From ABC Action News:
In an audit released Tuesday, former Hillsborough County Elections Supervisor Buddy Johnson went over his budget by almost one million dollars last year. The report says he then violated a state law for failing to reimburse the county.
The audit was conducted by the accounting firm Ernst and Young.
According to the audit, Johnson spent more than he was allotted for elections equipment and operations. It’s not clear how the $940,000 was spent.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Jan. 27, 2009, at 8:40 am
Today’s installment of the St. PetersburgTimes deconstructing former Hillsborough Supervisor Buddy Johnson goes like this:
Hillsborough elections officials knew about missing ballots that could swing a close Temple Terrace race a month earlier than previously disclosed.
The discovery came during the week of Dec. 12, when a temporary worker found 440 ballots from two precincts in a ballot box stored in a warehouse, according to a memo obtained Monday by the St. Petersburg Times.
Although a top deputy for then-Elections Supervisor Buddy Johnson was told about the find, nothing was said publicly until mid January.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Jan. 14, 2009, at 7:10 am
The state’s top elections chief says former Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson’s $2.3 million cost overrun has caught his eye and might warrant a probe:
Secretary of State Kurt Browning said he was surprised when Buddy Johnson’s office told commissioners in December that the office had more than $2.3-million in cost overruns.
Browning said there should be no deficit, considering that Hillsborough received a federal grant meant to cover many of the costs associated with a new voting system.
“We keep hearing that he’s short $2.3-million, and I wonder, ‘What did he spend it on?’ ” Browning said. “I don’t understand.”
Johnson was supposed to provide a full accounting of how he spent the $2.5-million grant by Dec. 31, but Browning said the form explaining the expenditures wasn’t filled out completely. So Johnson’s successor, Phyllis Busansky, has inherited the job of explaining how the money was spent.
Browning said he’ll wait for audits already under way before he calls for a state inquiry. He said he’ll also hold off until Busansky wraps up her own inquiries into the deficit.
The news comes a few days after the St. Petersburg Times called for a criminal investigation into the office.
C’mon, if a Bee Gee can’t smuggle a little doobich on the plane, who can?
Lawyer tasered at Tamp Code Enforcement Board hearing.
“Your corn is sweeter, your potatoes are starchier and your turkey is much, much bigger than the foods that sat on your grandparents’ Thanksgiving dinner table.” Thanks, science.
Posted by David Warner on Nov. 6, 2008, at 9:37 pm
The votes have finally been counted in Hillsborough County, and shockingly enough, the good guys (or rather, the good guy and gal) won. And both wins could pretty much be considered upsets. Kevin Beckner, whose lead in the county commission race had been evident since election night, pulled ahead of incumbent Brian Blair for good with the final count: 55.26% to Blair’s 44.74% (259,831 to 210,399 votes). Yup, he trounced him.
And, with a justice that can only be called poetic, incumbent incompetent Buddy Johnson — the man who presided over the Hillsborough vote-count debacle — lost to Phyllis Busansky in the race for Supervisor of Elections.
Ya think Buddy will call for a recount?
UPDATE: The answer appears to be no. Johnson conceded defeat at about 6 p.m., according to TBO.com:
“Anything we can do to make her transition smooth, we will,” Johnson told reporters. “There’s a lot of big issues to deal with.”
The supervisor dodged questions about his handling of the election but praised his staff.
“The pressure they have been under in this election is tremendous.”
The Timesreported that Johnson also said: “You may not have seen the last of Buddy Johnson.”
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Nov. 3, 2008, at 4:46 pm
We will be fanning our correspondents out throughout Tampa Bay tomorrow in search of the pulse of the electorate … and Jello shots.
Log in to PoHo blog starting in the morning for our coverage of Election 2008, coverage throughout the day that will end up being anchored at our multimedia Election 2008 Media Center (Joe the Blogger’s couch at home) starting at 7 p.m. Here’s what we have on tap so far:
9 a.m. — Senior Editor Eric Snider will be reporting in from his polling place in St. Petersburg to give us an idea of how long the lines are.
Throughout the day, news from Alex Pickett covers Pinellas County breaking election news and Wayne Garcia handles Hillsborough.
7 p.m. — Pickett takes to the streets of St. Pete to report on the end of the voting and reactions to returns as they come in; Snider blogs about voting in a mixed marriage (he’s for Obama, she’s for McCain) over on The Daily Loaf; David Warner visits several election parties, including the Stonewall Democrats; Brian Ries reports from Sarasota where the Vern Buchanan-Christine Jennings race has dominated the ballot; and Wade Tatangelo holds down the fort at the TIny Tap in SoHo Tampa, equal parts politics and cheap beer. Leilani Polk, Sal the Angry Copy Editor and Stephen Hammill join in with blog and vlog reports about the returns and coverage of the coverage.
7:30 p.m. — Garcia reports from “Barack Obama’s Florida Campaign for Change statewide Election Night event ” in downtown Tampa. He’ll also visit the Republican Party of Florida/Pinellas REC’s party in downtown St. Pete at some point in the evening.
Joe the Blogger gives Pinellas, Hillsborough and national vote totals throughout the evening as they come in.
Sometime between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. — Garcia reports from the Kevin Beckner for HIllsborough County Commission party at Gaspar’s Grotto in Ybor City.
10:30 p.m. — Garcia will talk live on WMNF 88.5 FM community news coverage of the election for 30 minutes.
Later into the evening — CL correspondents go in search of the best Election Night celebrations, being careful of course to observe all state laws and journalism ethics.
Let us know in comments if you have a particularly groovy Election Night planned.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Nov. 3, 2008, at 3:08 pm
Got a question about Election Day or any of the campaigns or candidates? Just want to vent a bit or ask “Hey, Wayne, where can I find that talking bear political commercial?” Then just leave a comment and I will do my best.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Oct. 21, 2008, at 7:56 am
FLA is already drawing notice about its early voting as some screw-ups are reported. And Barack Obama flies to see his sick granny instead of campaigning. And say it ain’t so: UF’s Mr. Two Bits is calling it quits after this season?!? It’s Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008. Now the headlines:
Cheatin’ Congressman Tim Mahoney’s wife files for divorce.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Aug. 19, 2008, at 10:27 am
Been covering politics or in it for nigh on to 25 years in Florida and I have never seen anything like last night’s candidate forum at the Metropolitan Community Church in Tampa. Don Kruse, who is running in the primary against anti-gay rights Commissioner Brian Blair, showed up to speak to a storm-dwindled audience of about 35 people at the event co-sponsored by Equality Florida.
A few days ago I asked in a blog post, “What does somebody have to do to lose newspaper endorsements to Blair?” Last night I might have received my answer.
So let me set this up: I was a panelist at the forum, along with EF Executive Director Nadine Smith and moderator Chris Krimitsos of The Bleepin’ Truth on public access. It was later in the evening that Kruse’s turn came, and he was solo on the stage, as Blair did not show up to the gay-friendly event.
So I asked the first question: Given Blair’s anti-gay record (voting against gay pride displays, criticizing the anti-bullying Day of Silence in public schools), where did Kruse stand on gay rights?
Kruse started in explaining that he wanted some enlightenment from the audience. “Educate me,” he said. Then he veered to the issue of hate crimes. Crimes are crimes, there are no distinctions of shades of right or wrong depending on the skin color or sexual orientation of the victims involved. “They are crimes against humanity,” he said.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Aug. 6, 2008, at 3:14 pm
Just got off a conference call set up by the Campaign for America’s Future, a progressive strategy group, that outlines the launching of its Economic War Room. The distribution center for progressive economic messages will send out daily e-mails with message points and polling data once both national conventions are done, co-director Robert Borosage said.
The bottom line: The Democratic message on the economy was falling flat because it was all about criticism without giving solutions. Voters didn’t disagree with the criticism of the GOP and the Bush Administration, pollster Celinda Lake said; but any five or six people sitting around a dining room table would have come up with those same criticisms. Voters want to hear how we can get out of this mess.
“A critique of the economy doesn’t win; a populist and focused solution wins in polling,” Lake said. The economy “is a powerful issue out there. The voters, if anything, want to hear more about it.”
Drew Westen, Emory psychologist and “The Political Brain” author, added that the framing of the message matters, with populist and even progressive themes testing well in the campaign’s polling. “It matters a great deal how you talk about the economy,” he said. “It’s not about the rich vs. the poor;. It’s about the special interests vs. the rest of us.”
Westen provided a fascinating breakdown on why John McCain is winning the energy-message battle with Barack Obama, despite the fact that the Democratic economic platform tests better with voters. Republicans understand much better than Democrats, he said, that voters think in nonlinear and subconscious ways. Connecting rising gas prices with the solution of new offshore drilling works because the mind instantly recognizes that we need to drill to get more oil. Making the case that offshore drilling will take 10 years to have an impact on prices and will only lower them by an estimated 3 percent takes more thought and is less intuitive. So even if people hear that counter-message 1,000 times, they still make the positive connection between “drilling” and “more oil,” and “more oil” and “lower prices.”
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Jun. 17, 2008, at 10:51 am
It started at noon Monday and ends at noon on Friday, but it is the biennial spectacle of Qualifying Week, during which campaigns for local and state offices (minus the judicials; they’re already qualified) must officially put their candidates on the ballot in a process called qualifying.
The dailies don’t cover this stuff much any more; plus, with state candidates qualifying in Tallahassee and locals qualifying in their respective counties, you have to have several reporters making the rounds, and there just aren’t that many political writers left ’round these parts.
Locally, The State of Sunshine has a good wrap-up of Tampa Bay legislative seats and who is (and isn’t) qualified so far. The only surprise so far is to see local Democratic and Obama activists and fundraiser Yvonne Yolie Capin throwing herself into a race against the practically unbeatable Faye Culp, a Republican who represents a South Tampa district in the Florida House. It won’t help that Capin didn’t open a campaign account and fundraise early — unless she has a wad of personal fortune she wants to throw into the race.
In Hillsborough County, the following incumbents have qualified: Property Appraiser Rob Turner, Tax Collector Doug Belden, County Commissioners Al Higginbotham and Brian Blair, and School Board Members Susan Valdes, Jack Lamb and Doretha Wynn Edgecomb.
In Pinellas, the following incumbents qualified: Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark, Clerk of the Courts Ken Burke, County Commissioner Karen Williams Seel, School Board Member Carol Cook and Sheriff Jim Coats. The following challengers have qualified: For Elections Supervisor, Democrat Jack Killingsworth; for County Commission, Democrat Paul Matton; for School Boar, Jennifer S. Crockett, Nina Hayden, Ken Peluso, Robin Wikle, and Chris Hardman.
We’ll keep our eyes peeled for any more last-minute challengers or dropouts.
Posted by David Warner on May. 19, 2008, at 10:58 am
OBAMA IN OREGON: Barack Obama spoke to a crowd of 65,000 on Sunday in Portland; another 15,000 couldn’t get in. How well will he pack the St. Pete Times Forum Wednesday? (photo by Ryan Harvey)
So, among the items in the shrunken section formerly known as ‘Metro’ in the St. Pete Times was this tidbit: “Obamania, or Obamaybe Not?” — in which the writer raises the specter that “snubbed Floridians” might “stay home and sulk” rather than attend the Obama event in Tampa on Wednesday. Really? Biggest political celebrity in years, who attracted 2,000 without hardly trying last time he was in town, and now arrives with nomination in reach? Who are these “snubbed Floridians,” anyway? As far as I can tell, they’re a projection conjured up in the minds of “snubbed” St. Pete Times political reporters who haven’t been paid sufficient homage by the Obama people, and so have been harping endlessly on his failure to campaign here — whereas I suspect most voters (except for the Clinton-or-else crowd) see that both Democratic candidates have been hobbled by an impossible situation aggravated by the FL legislature and the DNC, and will gladly turn up to see either.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Feb. 6, 2008, at 10:30 am
Phyllis Busansky, a Democratic Hillsborough County commissioner in the 1980s and ’90s, is set to announce her bid for Supervisor of Elections on Thursday.
Busansky would take on incumbent Supervisor Buddy Johnson if she wins an expected primary contest against fellow Democrat Lee Nelson. Johnson, although a frequent target of news reports about screw-ups in his office, is expected to be a tough pol to dislodge, given Hillsborough County’s skew toward GOP candidates.
Busansky confirmed her candidacy in a conversation with PoHo last night. She is recovered from lung cancer surgery and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2006.
(Full disclosure: I previously worked in Busansksy’s 1996 congressional campaign and worked for her when she was the director of the state’s welfare-to-work program, WAGES.)
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Oct. 1, 2007, at 4:01 pm
Former Plant City Mayor John Dicks made it official today that he will try to challenge Congressman Gus Bilirakis in 2008.
Dicks is a lawyer by trade (and a fellow UF journalism school grad) and is a Democrat. He could face Tampa attorney Bill Mitchell in the primary. Biliarkis is a Republican and holds both the advantage of incumbency and geography, since Bilirakis’ home base in Tarpon Springs gives him closer contact to Pinellas-Pasco voters who make up about 60 percent of this district.
So let me set this up: I was a panelist at the forum, along with EF Executive Director Nadine Smith and moderator Chris Krimitsos of 
for Supervisor of Elections on Thursday.
