Marco Rubio continues to lead in U.S. Senate race

TALLAHASSEE -- Republican Marco Rubio continues his steady lead in the three-way race for U.S. Senate, as his opponents continue to duke it out for the Democratic vote, according to a new poll released Thursday by Mason-Dixon Research.

The statewide poll of 625 Florida voters shows that Rubio has the support of 42 percent of likely voters. Independent Charlie Crist has 27 percent, while Democrat Kendrick Meek has 21 percent, both slightly lower than they were two weeks ago, the poll shows.

``As long as Rubio can stay in those low 40s, I just don't know how the math works for either of them,'' said pollster Brad Coker.

Rubio has a strong base of support among Republican voters - 81 percent -- while he and Crist are nearly even among independents with Rubio getting 35 percent of those voters and Crist 36 percent.

Meek leads Crist by 42 percent to 37 percent among Democrats, the poll shows, down slightly from his 45 percent to 36 percent margin of two weeks ago.

Coker said that although Crist has started his television advertising in the last week, ``it's apparent effect has only been to improve his support among independents.''

But Crist ads do seem to be hurting him with Republicans, who have been steadily moving away from the governor over the past two months.

``Crist's numbers are going down. It's not a good trend,'' Coker said.

His decision to leave the Republican party ``would have played well if he were some kind of a newcomer to politics but he's been a Republican for so long, people see his abandonment of the Republican Party as self-serving.

``He would have been better off going to the Democratic side and running in the Democratic Party. But he was going willing to go half in.''

The poll was conducted Oct. 4 - 6 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Mary Ellen Klas can be reached at meklas@MiamiHerald.com

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Sink, Scott escalate attacks

ORLANDO -- The campaign to become Florida's next governor turned into a war of words this week over who had a role in shady business practices that led to fraud charges at the former companies of Democrat Alex Sink and Republican Rick Scott.

Sink unleashed a new round of attacks Tuesday against Scott, marshaling police, sheriffs and state attorneys in two new television ads. One questioned Scott's decision to plead the Fifth Amendment 75 times in a lawsuit involving one of his companies. The other, featuring the law enforcement officials, accuses him of running attack ads that are ``totally false'' -- a claim that disregards portions of Scott's ads that are accurate.

Scott's campaign fired back by announcing Tuesday that it will be releasing two new attack ads against Sink. One claims that as president of NationsBank Florida she was responsible for questionable sales practices conducted by a separate securities company that reported to NationsBank Corp. The other ad revives two misleading claims that Sink was responsible for state pension fund losses.

Both ads opened what will be a marathon month of punch and counter-punch as both candidates attempt to mar their opponents over the television airwaves and the Internet. Recent polls show Sink trailing Scott in a close contest.

One of Sink's ads features two sheriffs, a Republican and a Democrat, a state attorney from each party and police detectives who sat that Scott knew, or should have known, about the Medicare fraud that was going within his hospital chain. Although his company, Columbia/HCA Corp. agreed to pay a $1.7 billion federal fine, Scott left the company before the fraud charges were filed and was never charged with fraud.

``Scott claims he didn't know the company he led was systematically defrauding Medicare,'' said William Cervone, the state attorney from Alachua County and a Republican.

In another ad, Martin County Sheriff Robert Crowder stands in a courtroom and says: ``Take it from law enforcement: Rick Scott's ads attacking Alex Sink are totally false.''

But independent fact-checkers, including PolitiFact Florida, have found that while many elements of Scott's ads are misleading, they are not ``totally'' false.

In Scott's attack ad, the campaign accuses Sink of failing to know about shady investments made by the securities subsidiary, NationsBank Securities. That company was accused of deceptive sales practices and agreed to settle a class action suit by paying investors $11.5 million and paying a $6.75 million civil fine in 2001.

But documents show that NationsBank Florida and Sink were not a party to the suit; the securities subdivision was a separate entity.

Meanwhile, Sink also announced Tuesday that she would forgo about $4 million in taxpayer-paid public finance dollars after months of wavering on the issue.

Scott, who successfully sued the state to remove the campaign spending limits, never agreed to the limits and is not entitled to public dollars. He has self-financed much of his $52 million campaign.

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Al Gore prods loyalists to back Kendrick Meek

TAMPA -- Needing to corral the support of Democratic voters, and needing to do it quickly, U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Kendrick Meek called on one of the party's most popular figures Thursday, former Vice President Al Gore.

Campaigning with Meek at a West Tampa union hall, Gore pressed Democratic voters to abandon their fascination with newly independent candidate Gov. Charlie Crist. Meek and Crist essentially are now in an election within an election, with the winner to become the viable alternative to Republican Marco Rubio.

``I want to say a word about the third candidate in this race, Gov. Crist,'' said Gore, about half way through his 12 minutes of remarks. ``I want to choose my words carefully. I know him, I've worked with him, I like him as a person. I've been puzzled, really and truly, because I've had direct conversations with him -- about the environment for example. And it's an old charge in politics that somebody flip flops. It's a little unusual to have somebody flip flop, and then flap flip. Seriously.''

The hundreds of assembled partisans loved the line, and they loved Gore, who has evolved from a comically dull political character to a hero to most Democrats. Yes, his monotone drawl was still there, and yes he still seemed a little rigid, but none of that seems to matter much now for Gore.

As he stepped off the podium in a full sweat at the Tampa Letter Carriers Hall on Thursday, Gore was greeted by about 100 supporters who simply wanted to shake his hand or say hello.

``He's someone who rises above all that garbage that we see on TV,'' said Barbara Van Hoek, 50, a Hillsborough County paramedic.

It wasn't always that way.

Gore is a guy who, just 10 years ago, could be summed up in one word, ``dull,'' someone mocked for having claimed to invent the Internet and saying over and over he would keep Social Security in a ``lock box.''

WIMP FACTOR

He was the guy who in 2000 was called a wimp for failing to bitterly challenge the results of the presidential election in Florida, which handed the state's 25 electoral votes, and the presidency, to George W. Bush.

He was the same guy who America poked fun at after the election for growing a beard.

All water under the bridge, apparently.

Gore spoke to an eclectic crowd of retirees, college students and union workers, mixing criticisms of Republicans in general with pleas against global warming and encouragement for Meek and his fans.

``It's an extremely important race. It's a complicated race as everybody knows,'' said Gore, before heading out for a Meek fundraiser. ``When you're coming into the final weeks of the campaign, it's all about who's got the momentum, what's the direction of the candidates.

``One of them [Rubio] is bumbling along. One of them's going down [Crist]. Kendrick's going up like a skyrocket.''

Gore's visit, which follows trips to Florida by former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden, comes at a critical juncture.

While the recent focus in the Senate race has been about Crist's independent campaign failing to gain traction against Rubio, the situation for Meek actually isn't any better. And it might be worse. A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday has Meek a distant third, with 18 percent of the vote. Rubio leads in the poll with 46 percent, while Crist has 33 percent.

The poll found that even of Meek's supporters, four in 10 say they might change their minds -- likely to vote for Crist -- before election day Nov. 2.

A CNN/Time poll of likely voters released Wednesday had Meek finishing third with 23 percent of the vote.

Meek is hoping Democrats rally around his campaign and cast off Crist. Crist, of course, is counting on the opposite. Both need huge chunks of Democratic voters to compete with Rubio, who is campaigning Friday in Land O' Lakes with possible 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

UNPREDICTABLE

The fight for Democratic voters was evident throughout the hourlong rally.

``There are Democrats who are thinking of voting for Charlie Crist,'' said former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre, who finished third in the Senate Democratic primary. ``If that were to happen, we'd have a man who thinks more of the Second Amendment than the First Amendment.''

Added state Rep. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa: ``When Democrats vote for Democrats, Democrats win.''

And when they don't? Rita Smith, 53, of Tampa, attended Thursday's rally and said she'd be voting for Meek. But she admits some of her like-minded Democratic friends prefer Crist. ``I have friends who always vote the same way as me, but this year they're voting for Charlie Crist, and I can't dissuade them.

``And I tried.''

Aaron Sharockman can be reached at asharock

man@sptimes.com.

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Payment to Rubio's car leasing company in 2002 raises questions

Republican Senate nominee Marco Rubio spent heavily on four reelection campaigns as a state legislator, though he never faced a serious challenge.

Between 2000 and 2006, he shelled out about $676,451 for political consulting, television advertising and other routine campaign costs. He reimbursed himself about $11,436 for equipment, travel and meals. That's also routine.

But one payment stands out: a $1,485.55 check cut on June 12, 2002, to ``Marco Rubio Bank of America Auto Finance Corp.'' for ``auto expense,'' according to public records. Rubio was leasing a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee at the time from the bank, said a top advisor to his Senate campaign, Todd Harris.

Harris said Rubio was owed the money for mileage racked up during 11 months while campaigning for reelection in the central Miami-Dade district, though he didn't face an opponent. He said Rubio drove 4,070 miles, which at the Internal Revenue Service's reimbursement rate of 36.5 cents per mile, came to exactly $1485.55.

Harris did not say why the check was made out to the bank instead of to the candidate himself.

``Florida election law allows for reimbursements for travel-related expenditures. This is no different than had the campaign just reimbursed Marco directly,'' Harris said.

Harris added: ``If you are campaigning aggressively around Miami or within the district, the mileage adds up quickly.''

Rubio's legislative district was roughly 30 blocks wide and 120 blocks long, encompassing South Miami, West Miami, Virginia Gardens, Miami Springs and parts of Coral Gables and Hialeah.

He did not seek reimbursement for mileage in any of his other House campaigns. Not when he first won public office in a special election on Jan. 25, 2000, after knocking out three Republican rivals and a Democrat. Not later that same year, when he failed to draw an opponent and automatically won reelection. And not in 2004 and 2006, when he faced only token opposition.

Rubio is the front-runner against Democratic U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek of Miami and Gov. Charlie Crist for Florida's open U.S. Senate seat.

The unusual payment to the bank again raises one of his biggest liabilities on the campaign trail: his use of political donations to cover personal expenses.

Even as Rubio surged to the front of the Senate race as well as the national party's starring lineup, he has been forced to defend personal expenses billed to his state Republican Party-issued credit card and two political committees he started with his wife.

``It looks bad,'' Ben Wilcox, a board member of Common Cause Florida, a government watchdog group, said of the 2002 campaign check to the bank.

``It looks like he's making payment for his car out of his campaign expense. I certainly haven't heard of this happening before. It seems to be a pattern with him in which he plays fast and loose with the rules and tries to go back and justify it once it's pointed out.''

Rubio frequently billed personal expenses on the Republican Party credit card in 2007 and 2008 when he served as House speaker, from a $10.50 movie ticket to more than $10,000 in hotel rooms for a family reunion. Rubio says he sent checks to American Express to cover all of his personal expenses, but he has refused to release his credit card statements for 2004 and 2005.

After The Miami Herald wrote about his 2007 and 2008 credit card bills, he acknowledged double-billing $2,400 in plane flights and paid the party back. ``There are some things Rubio can afford to buy, for everything else there's the Republican Party credit card,'' sneered the Crist campaign in a new Web ad.

An audit of the party's books completed last month accused Crist of taking personal trips to Disney World and New York on the party's dime. Crist has dismissed the audit's findings, arguing that the GOP is trying to destroy him in retaliation for leaving the party five months ago. The audit cleared Rubio and other current party leaders of any wrongdoing.

Last month, Rubio's campaign brushed off allegations by Tampa political consultant Chris Ingram that Rubio told him he once charged between $4,000 and $5,000 to the party's American Express card to redo his kitchen floor.

Rubio's campaign declined to say whether Ingram's recollection was inaccurate, but dismissed him as a disgruntled campaign operative who didn't get hired.

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Outsider `Super PAC' a boost for Marco Rubio

A new and powerful political action committee tied to Republican strategist Karl Rove, fueled by out-of-state corporations and billionaires, is swooping into Florida to put its money behind front-running U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio.

American Crossroads has spent nearly $250,000 so far on pro-Rubio mailings aimed at absentee voters, according to a report filed this week with the Federal Elections Commission.

The group can shell out unlimited money on Rubio's behalf, thanks to a controversial Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that allows corporations and wealthy individuals to funnel money directly to campaigns.

``This group is really at the forefront of this new phenomenon of Super PACS,'' said Dave Levinthal, a spokesman for the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign watchdog group. ``We've been saying that the Supreme Court decision would open up a brand new avenue of money and influence, and we're seeing that very much come true.''

THE CRIST EDGE

American Crossroads is among a number of outside, special interest groups influencing the race for Florida's coveted open Senate seat and helping Rubio erode the fundraising edge held by Gov. Charlie Crist. The pro-business U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the anti-tax Club for Growth have already aired ads attacking Crist. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has pledged to spend $2.5 million for Rubio.

As of early August, the Republican-turned-independent governor had $8 million stashed away, compared to Rubio with about $4.5 million and Democrat Kendrick Meek with about $2.6 million.

``It's a great thing that Karl Rove and others have come to support Marco's campaign, and I think it's going to seal the deal in getting his message out,'' said Miami Republican fundraiser Jorge Arrizurieta.

American Crossroads raised more than $9.3 million between January and August, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Two of its largest donations came from the oil and gas industry: $1 million from Trevor Rees-Jones, CEO of Chief Oil & Gas in Dallas, and $1 million from Robert Rowling, CEO of TRT Holdings in Irving, Texas. TRT is involved in oil and gas exploration through Tana Exploration Co.

Rubio is the only candidate in the Senate race who favors expanding offshore oil drilling. Crist was once open to more oil exploration, but changed his position after the BP oil spill in the Gulf.

Another recent donation to American Crossroads came from Daniels Manufacturing Corp., an aircraft and aerospace company based in Orlando that has received millions of dollars in federal contracts.

``I like his politics,'' President George Daniels said of Rubio. ``He's pro-defense, pro-lower taxes and has been that way for a long time, as opposed to the flip-flopping governor.''

At the same time, voters are receiving the American Crossroads mailing, Meek and the Florida Democratic Party are airing a television ad that seeks to repel Democrats from Crist by reminding them of his Republican past. About $400,000 worth of spots are running in Miami, Palm Beach, Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville.

With Republicans gunning to take back control of Congress in November, it's not surprising to see outside groups meddling in Florida politics. American Crossroads has spent millions of dollars attacking Democratic candidates, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada. The source of some of its money is a secret because it is affiliated with a non-profit arm, Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, that is not required to disclose donors to the IRS.

``The Washington special interests know about Marco Rubio's hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded giveaways here in Florida, and are hoping there's more money where that came from should he win,'' said Crist spokesman Danny Kanner.

MORE TO COME

A spokesman for American Crossroads said the group is prepared to spend more money in Florida if Rubio's lead slips. A CNN-Time Opinion Research poll released Wednesday found Rubio with 42 percent of the vote, Crist with 31 percent and Meek with 23 percent.

The pro-Rubio mailing features pictures of the Democratic establishment in Washington -- President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Reid -- and assails them for running up the federal deficit.

``Marco Rubio will get our economy moving forward again and rein in out-of-control spending in Washington, D.C.,'' it says.

Miami Herald staff writer Lesley Clark contributed to this report.

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Gov. Charlie Crist nominates 2 for utilities board

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Charlie Crist completed his forced remake of the Public Service Commission on Tuesday appointing two bureaucrats -- a woman and a Hispanic man -- to the board that regulates utilities.

The appointees, Eduardo Balbis, the West Palm Beach assistant city manager, and Julie I. Brown, a former Tampa assistant city attorney, would replace the governor's previous appointees Nancy Argenziano and Nathan Skop, who were rejected for reappointment by the legislatively controlled nominating council.

Crist chose from a list of six candidates sent to him, rejecting the former executive director of the PSC Mary Bane, Republican state Sen. Lee Constantine, former Progress Energy engineer James S. Baumstark and former Missouri Public Service Commissioner Connie Murray. Balbis and Brown must now be confirmed by the Florida Senate.

The governor told the Herald/Times that he chose the two candidates that ``really have compassion, the appropriate intellect, and an understanding that with the economy we're in this is not the time to be raising rates on people.''

``I'm hopeful they will want to do what's right for promoting alternative energy, solar and wind power and try and protect our state and our state's environment,'' he said.

The decision comes on the last day Crist was allowed by law to announce his picks. If he had failed to act, the nominating council would have been allowed to select the candidates. Several people urged Crist to not make the selection and file a lawsuit challenging the nominating council's ability to make the pick.

Instead, Crist, who is running for U.S. Senate as an independent, chose two Republicans who haven't worked with utility companies but bring regional and political diversity.

Brown, 35, in-house counsel for First American Corp., a title insurance underwriter, said she is eager to restore confidence in the PSC and be an advocate for Florida residents.

``The commission has to balance a lot of interests,'' she said. ``But most important is to look out for consumers and make sure they're getting fair and reliable services.''

Brown formerly worked as a Tampa assistant city attorney. She helped negotiate the city's franchise agreement with Tampa Electric Co. She now serves on the city's Architectural Review Commission.

This is the third time Brown has applied to the PSC; first time as a finalist. She is a graduate of the University of Florida, where she earned a bachelor's degree in public relations and a law degree.

Balbis, 38, is chairman of East Central Regional Water Reclamation Facility Board and a Crist appointee to the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council. He earned a graduate degree in environmental engineering from the University of Florida. He previously worked as an associate with Boyle Engineering from 2000 to 2006 and president of Circle Engineering from 1999 to 2000.

The nominating council rejected Argenziano and Skop in June when they refused to invite them for interviews for reappointment to their term, which expires in January. They, along with the rest of the five-member PSC, unanimously rejected a $1.3 billion rate increase for Florida Power & Light and a $500 million rate increase for Progress Energy.

Also voting against the rate increase were Benjamin ``Steve'' Stevens and David Klement, whom the governor appointed to the commission last fall after saying it was time to ``clean house'' amid revelations that some PSC staff were too close to the utilities they regulate.

After the vote, the Senate refused to confirm the appointment of Stevens and Klement, forcing Crist to choose from a new slate. He chose former state Rep. Ron Brisé and former Jacksonville Councilman Art Graham.

``That was a great disappointment to me and to the consumers of Florida,'' Crist said. ``It pains me they got caught up on the political gamesmanship of our state.''

St. Petersburg Times staff writer Janet Zink contributed to this report. Mary Ellen Klas can be reached at meklas@MiamiHerald.com

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Poll: Marco Rubio maintains big lead in U.S. Senate race

Republican Marco Rubio holds a solid 13-point lead over Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running as an independent in the race for Florida's U.S. Senate seat, with Democrat U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek a distant third at 18 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday.

With a 46-33 edge over Crist, Rubio, a former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives and a favorite of the tea party movement, is benefiting from strong voter anger at the federal government, likely voters tell the independent Quinnipiac University survey, conducted by live interviewers.

``It is no coincidence that Rubio is getting 46 percent of the vote and 48 percent of the electorate is angry at Washington,'' said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Added Brown: ``Almost half of Florida's likely voters are angry at the federal government, and Rubio gets 68 percent of these angry voters. Moreover, with only 3 percent of voters undecided, Rubio just needs to hold onto what he's got, while Crist and Meek, especially, have their work cut out for them if they want to pass the leader.''

The poll surveyed 1,151 likely Florida voters, from Sept. 23-28. The margin of error: 2.9 percentage points.

At the start of the three-way Senate race, Democratic elections strategist Steve Schale suggested that Crist could not win enough Democrats and Republicans to win the race.

But Schale based his analysis then on Crist winning more than the 45 percent of independent voters Quinnipiac showed supporting him Thursday.

`BASIC MATH'

``The basic math to win for Crist: win roughly 1/3 of the partisan vote and 50 percent of the NPA,'' Schale wrote in a widely circulated blog in August. ``Quite frankly, if he doesn't get 50 percent [of independent voters], the whole conversation is purely academic.''

SCHALE'S VIEW

However, Schale wrote that Meek would eventually garner a larger majority of the Democrat vote than the 43 percent Quinnipiac showed him winning.

On Wednesday, Schale told the News Service of Florida that the Quinnipiac numbers bolstered his argument that the numbers did not add up for Crist.

``I'm not going to deny that Rubio is in the driver's seat, but what I try to tell Democrats is as long as they continue to believe that Crist can win, which the Quinnipiac poll shows he can't, a vote for Crist is a vote for Rubio,'' he said. ``It's time to realize that getting behind Meek -- I know it's not an easy case to make -- is still more viable than thinking Crist can win.''

Schale, who ran President Barack Obama's campaign in Florida, added that Meek drawing 18 percent in the poll a month from Election Day doesn't mean he can't make up ground in the race.

``Where was Barack Obama in Iowa six weeks out?'' he said.

``The reality for Kendrick is if he gets 80-85 percent of the Democratic vote, it's a very different race.''

Quinnipiac showed Meek garnering 43 percent of Democrats, basically splitting them with Crist.

Two other polls within the past week show Rubio with an equally large lead over Crist and Meek.

LARGE LEAD

According to the CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Wednesday, 42 percent of likely voters in Florida support Rubio, while just 31 percent backed Crist. Meek had 23 percent; just 3 percent were undecided.

Said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland in a statement: ``Crist had a lead among independents at the start of the month, but Rubio now appears to have the edge among this key group.

``And with Meek holding a majority of the vote among Democrats, that narrows Crist's options heading into the final turn.''

POLL FINDINGS

Last Saturday, a Mason-Dixon Research & Associates poll of 625 likely voters showed 40 percent supported Rubio, while Crist had just 28 percent. Meek's tally: 23 percent.

Said Mason-Dixon pollster Brad Coker: ``Crist is bleeding Democrats to Meek and independents to both Meek and Rubio.''

News Service of Florida reporter Keith Laing contributed to this report.

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