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The Senate District 12 race is up in the air tonight as one of three people could be the Republican nominee. Hillsborough County Commissioner Jim Norman is appealing a circuit court judges order knocking him off the ballot. In addition to wanting back on the ballot, Mike Vasilinda tells us the loser in the primary, Kevin Ambler wants to be on the ballot, and the Republican Party wants a third candidate.

A Tallahassee judge found  Jim Norman failed to disclose his ownership of a  half million dollar house in Arkansas, and kicked him off the ballot. Norman appealed to the first District Court of appeal, where his lawyer faced tough questions from Appellate judge Robert Benton. “Can a perjury prosecution be maintained for intentionally false financial disclosure documents? Asked Benton. Lawyer Barry Richard replied “I don’t know the answer to that your honor.”

Lawyers for Kevin Ambler, who lost to Norman by just under 4 thousand votes were also peppered with questions over why Ambler waited until after the election to go to court. Attorney Gary Early tried to explain. “He did not know there was not  substantial compliance until four days prior”, said Early before being cut off by Judge Benton. “He thought this was from the wife independently” asked Benton, to which early replied  “ He didn’t know”.

The Republican party argued it had already named a candidate to fill the Norman vacancy.  Whatever the court does, it will be plowing new ground because there has never been a case like this one before.

Norman did not attend. Afterwards, lawyer Barry Richard believed he made a case to put the candidate back on the ballot.  “If a person wants to challenge the eligibility of a candidate, If they know the facts that are relevant, they must file the challenge before the election” Richard explained.

But Ambler Attorney Gary early was equally confident. “On June 18, 2010, ,Mr Ambler was the only qualified nominee for the Republican party for Senate District twelve”, says Early.

Come election day, any one of three potential candidates could be the next Republican State Senator from Hillsborough County. The court has three options. It can reinstate Norman to the ballot; It can name Kevin Ambler the nominee; or it can uphold the circuit court and leave the nomination process to the Republican party, which would mean Rob Wallace would be the GOP candidate. In any of the choices, the only name voters will see on the ballot is Jim Norman’s.

The election is a week away, and nearly a third of those who will cast a ballot are expected to do so early or absentee. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, early voting numbers suggest that for the first time, the GOP is turning out more voters than Democrats.

Traffic is steady at this North Florida early voting location. Leon County is heavily Democratic, but that’s not what our random sample of early voters found.

Statewide, Republicans are claiming an enthusiasm gap of 24 thousand more voters in the first days of early voting. Contrast that to 2008, when Democratic early voters nearly doubled the GOP.

Early voting traffic here is steady. On Sunday there were 815 voters.

Anger appeared to be a motivator for some early voters.

“I’ve just been ready to vote for quite sometime, since a couple of years ago, with the debt and all that going on,” Lief Dorn said.

But not a majority.

“No, early voting is a lot easier,” early voter Bob Kelshaw said.

“If anything happened though the next Tuesday, we would have it done,” voter Joy Kelshaw said.

“Get it out of the way,” early voter Bob Land said.

But Democrats need to be fearful of their own, including Rock and Liz Akom.

“I’m tired of higher taxes and I’m tired of the debt going up and up and up,” Rock Akom said.

Official statistics for Leon county show the Republican early voter turnout  is unchanged from the primary; Independents are up by four percent, and Democrats are down by the same amount.

While Democrats usually win early voting, Republicans usually do a much better job of encouraging people to vote by absentee.  However, Democrats have made inroads this year in encouraging absentee voting.

Labor statistics released today show 1.1 million Floridians are looking for work catapulting Florida’s unemployment rate to 11.9 percent. But both major candidates for governor say they can fix the problem. But as Whitney Ray tells us, they’re plans to create jobs are very different.

Victims of the great recession who quit looking are now back on the job hunt. The latest numbers show 1.1 million Floridians fighting for work.

“Florida’s unemployment rate has been higher than the nation since February of 2008,” said Rebecca Rust, the chief economist at AWI.

Despite a Republican bank bailout followed by a Democratic stimulus package, Florida’s unemployment rate continues to climb to nearly 12 percent. Both major candidates fighting to call the Governor’s Mansion home say they have a plan to fix the problem.

Republican Rick Scott says he can create 700-thousand jobs in seven years. Scott wants to reduce state government by 10 percent, cut property taxes by a whopping 19 percent, and phases out the corporate income tax. The Florida Chamber of Commerce and Association Industries of Florida are backing Scott’s claims.

“It’s very possible. It will take a lot of hard work and we are going to have to make a lot of hard choices, but the bottom line is, it’s very possible to do,” said Barney Bishop, AIF president.

Democrat Alex Sink wants to increase access to loans to encourage companies to move to Florida, Provide a tax credit that create Florida jobs and eliminate government waste and middle managers. Democrat Strategist Steve Vancore says it’s about creating opportunity.

“A plan that will actually grow jobs, create local business, incentivize local businesses to hire people. You got to like the meat on the bones of that one. That’s a very good specific plan,” said Vancore.

Two candidates, two plans, and 1 million Floridians holding out hope that the best strategy prevails.

We’ve link the plans to our page.

Sink’s Plan: http://www.alexsink2010.com/issues?id=0001

Scott’s Plan: http://www.rickscottforflorida.com/home/turn-florida-around/

Each county across the state will have dozens of different ballots for individual races, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, all of them will have something in common: a long and confusing ballot.

Over the next week, thousands of early voters will cast their ballots. A study by political scientist Susan McManus  suggests voters will find parts of the ballot confusing. Early voter Linda Morris say she often skips items she doesn’t understand.

“It doesn’t give enough information for you to make a sound judgement on them,” Morris said.

Not only are there six constitutional amendments, but voters must also decide whether to keep a slew of Supreme Court and appellate court judges. Political consultant Screven Watson says voters who often skip judicial races, may not this year.

“Usually it’s hard to keep people around and attentive when they get down to those lower issues like the constitutional amendments and the retentions,” Watson said. “So, if I were the judge candidates, I would be nervous at this point that they just may go through there and say no, no, no, no.”

To make voting easier, you can download a sample ballot from your supervisor of elections, fill it out and then carry it into the polling place with you. The League of Women voters also offers a non partisan explanation of the amendments.

That’s how early voter Ann Peery got prepared.

“You know, you forget what you might have read, pro and con, in the moment, so I think it’s important to bring a sample ballot in,” Peery said.

The bottom line: being prepared on election day or before will make the job of voting smoother.

You can get a sample ballot from the Supervisor of Elections’ website or from the League of Women Voters at www.lwvfla.org.

With all eyes on Florida’s starving job market this election cycle, one amendment is being called a jobs killer by its opponents. Amendment 4 would require voters, not elected officials, to approve changes to city and county comprehensive plans. As Whitney Ray tells us, a nonprofit research group says the amendment would cost Florida 260-thousand jobs.

Zombies, vampires and even Godzilla came out a little early this Halloween season to scare you into voting. Supporters of Amendment four use the characters in a campaign ad saying it’s scary to let elected officials change city and county comprehensive plans. John Hedrick, with the Yes of Four Campaign, says voters should have the final say on development in their communities.

“It allows them to have veto power when the city or county government change their comprehensive plans,” said Hedrick.

Florida TaxWatch, a nonprofit research group, says the amendment would slow down development and lead to thousands of costly special elections statewide. TaxWatch coauthored a report with the Haas Center, claiming the amendment would cost Florida 260-thousand jobs by 2016.

“Developers will then decide that the risk and cost is too high and they will locate elsewhere,” said Harper.

The 76 page report released claims amendment four would cost the state nearly 17 billion dollars in lost salaries, 2 billion in state tax revenue, and more than 220 million dollars in lost property tax by 2016.

Supporters object, and say their opponents haven’t even considered the threat the current system brings to our environment.

Crime fighting runs in the blood of a Florida family welcoming one more into the family business.

Today the Florida Highway Patrol graduated 42 new troopers in its 119th class. Among them; 21 year old Matthew Davis. Davis’s dad is FHP Corporal Dewayne Davis and his uncle is a trooper in Mississippi. Matthew spent 27 weeks in training and says he couldn’t have made it through without help from his family.

“I knew what I was getting into. I heard the stories and everything, though training. They just talked to me at night on the phone and helped me through it,” said Matthew Davis.

“I couldn’t be prouder of my son. He’s worked hard for where he’s got. These guys trained him well and I’m just a proud father right now,” said Dewayne Davis.

Corporal Dewayne Davis is stationed in Crestview. His son Matthew will join troop D in Orlando.

A video of a deposition Republican candidate for Governor Rick Scott gave in 1995 when he headed up a hospital chain is being released by his rival. The Alex Sink campaign has posted the video online and as Whitney Ray shows us, it shows Scott dodging questions, toying with the interviewer and at one point he even has trouble identifying his own signature.

Attorneys trying to dig up facts in a 1995 antitrust lawsuit got little from then-Columbia HCA CEO Rick Scott.

“I don’t recall. I wouldn’t know. What do you mean by occupancy?” Scott asked in a clips of the deposition released by the Alex Sink Campaign.

In a video of the 95 deposition, Scott seems not to know much about his company and repeatedly asks the attorney to define simple words.

“I’m not sure I know what serious is,” said Scott.

Scott is even reluctant to identify his own signature.

Attorney: Is that a Xerox of your signature?
Scott: It looks like my signature… but what’s your question.

His opponent, Democrat Alex Sink is circulating clips of the deposition. The video comes months after calls for Scott to release another deposition he gave just six days before he announced his run for office.

During the primary a Republican Attorney sued to see the deposition. And 10 Republican lawmakers sent this letter to Scott asking the same thing. The Republicans, now united behind their nominee, are no longer seeking the release.

Scott’s campaign spokesman released the following statement about the 95 deposition.

“At best, the video is a dishonest attempt by the Sink campaign to smear Rick Scott when if you watch the full video in context it’s rather boring.”

The campaign also pointed to recent revelations that Sink’s office issued insurance licenses to ex-felons. Sink and Scott face off in a debate in Broward County tonight. Their final debate will be Monday in Tampa.

Florida voters will see six constitutional amendments on this year’s ballot along with a non binding vote on Federal spending, and a host of yes or no decisions on whether to retain judges. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, Amendment one would end an almost two decade program of providing statewide candidates with matching funds.

In the 1990s then-governor Lawton Chiles pushed an expanded campaign finance law to compete against growing corporate donations. To qualify, statewide candidates can receive a dollar for dollar match of any contribution under two hundred and fifty dollars that comes from a Florida resident. Amendment one, if approved, would end the program.

There is no organized effort on either side of Amendment one. The amendment was put on the ballot by the state legislature.

But organizations are taking sides. The Florida Public Interest Research Group wants to keep public financing and is urging a no vote.

“The public campaign finance system is a provision for challengers, for people who want to change the system,” Brad Ashwell with FPIRG said.

On the other side, the James Madison Institute is urging a yes vote.

“Money is in short supply and therefore we wonder whether funding candidates’ campaigns should be using public funds,” Bob Sanchez with the James Madison Institute said.

The most the state has every given out was 10 million in 1994. Ag Commissioner candidate Scott Maddox has received about 3 hundred thousand dollars and is happy to have it.

“You’ve got a choice when you run for office: you can sell out to the special interests and the people you regulate or you can raise your money from everyday Floridians,” Maddox said. “The match allows you to raise your money from everyday Floridians and still be competitive.”

To end matching money for candidates, Amendment one must be approved by sixty percent of those voting.

In five year’s time natural gas could start phasing out diesel in Florida. NoPetro, a Florida based natural gas provider, is promising 12 fueling stations in strategic locations throughout Florida. As Whitney Ray tells us, natural gas is 25 percent cheaper and 30 percent cleaner than gasoline.

This is the sound of filling up your tank with gas (Nat) but in a decade’s time it could sound like this.

Compressed natural gas is being pumped into this Leon County school bus. The district built a natural gas station this summer and bought 14 busses to burn the fuel. The move will save money and the environment.

“Every compressed natural gas bus that we have is expected to save 5-thousand dollar a year per bus,” said Chris Petley, spokesman with Leon County Schools.

Leon County is the first school district to make the switch. Now two entrepreneurs from California hope to take Florida the rest of the way. Tuesday, Nopetro, announced plans to open 12 natural gas stations in strategic locations throughout the state with the first half opening by 2014.

“We will not only service the medium and heavy duty trucks transporting our goods, but we will also provide a supply of natural gas to the local population,” said Jorge Herrera, Nopetro CEO.

Nopetro hopes government vehicles sign up first, but their also negotiating with Florida trucking companies. But with just a dozen stations in the works it may be a while before Florida trucking companies are willing to make the switch to natural gas.

Still environmentalists are praising the experiment. They say natural gas could be the transition fuel Florida needs to move from gas to electric.

“Until we can go to all electric cars, or all electric trucks for a true clean economy, natural gas is a good interim product,” said Eric Draper with Audubon of Florida.

And if natural gas works in busses and diesels, in a decade’s time it could be available to all Florida drivers. Another advantage of moving toward natural gas is the domestic supply. The US has more natural gas reserves than any other country.

Right now natural gas stations are planned for Tallahassee, Pensacola, Gainesville, Daytona, Orlando, Tampa, Fort Pierce, Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale and Miami.

Election Day is still 15 days away, but in order to win, candidates need to peak now and stay hot through Nov 2nd. That’s because of the rising popularity of early voting. As Whitney Ray tell us, with more than half of Florida voters voting early or absentee, campaigns are adopting new strategies.

Defeated candidate for Governor Bill McCollum learned the hard way that early voting is changing Florida politics.

“The campaign has to be run throughout the entire period,” said McCollum.

In the final days leading up to the Primary Election, McCollum peaked in the polls. Some showed him with a six point lead. But it was simply too little too late.

Now the trend in Florida is that more than half of the voters are voting early or absentee. And McCollum’s opponent beat him to those votes. McCollum says he didn’t have the money to stay on TV through the two weeks leading up to Election Day. It’s an obstacle Scott Maddox, Democrat for Commissioner of Agriculture, is hoping to avoid.

“We started our paid communications on the 12th of October, so we have a little bit of time before early voting,” said Maddox.

5-thousand posters showing Governor Charlie Crist embracing President Barack Obama are ready to ship statewide as part of the Republican Party’s voter turn out strategy. The posters advertise Election Day, but the push for early votes began weeks earlier.

“We’ve had to move up our voter turnout operations so it’s not simply the final stretch,” said Conston.

In the past candidates could wait until the weekend before Election Day to empty their war chest. Now candidates have to peak early and stay hot longer, which may make winning office even more expensive.

Florida’s already had the most expensive governor’s race on record and one signal early voting is important in deciding that race: Republican Candidate Rick Scott dumped another million plus of his own money into this week’s TV spots.

Republicans and Democrats are entering their last push to get voters to the polls.

Early voting began today and will continue through the next two weeks. The Florida Democrats held a rally at their headquarters today and afterward marched a group of 30 to the polls in Tallahassee to vote. Democrat for Agriculture Commissioner Scott Maddox says early voting gives everyone a chance to get involved.

“It’s difficult for voters to get to the polls on Election Day. Early voting gives people who work for a living an opportunity to vote over a week period rather than just on one day,” said Maddox.

At the Republican Party headquarters employees and volunteers readied flyers and posters for statewide distribution. Republican spokesman Dan Conston says the excitement among GOPers is building.

“We’ve just seen an incredible amount of enthusiasm across Florida for Republican candidates and you know we feel very good about where we are going to be in November,” said Conston.

Also, the latest voter registration statistics were released today. There are now four million, forty thousand registered Republicans in Florida, trailing the four million 630-thousand registered Democrats in Florida.

Four Florida voters wanting to release an ad against Amendment Four will soon find out if there voices will be heard.

The voters were banned from airing an ad in Sarasota because of state finance laws that require them to register as a Political Action Committee before pooling money and campaigning. The amendment four opponents say they shouldn’t have to form a committee to speak their mind on air. Attorney Paul Sherman filed a motion for a preliminary injection today, seeking a ruling from the judge by October 26th.

“Laws like Florida’s are a nationwide problem. They exist in every state that has ballot issues. If ordinary Americans can’t get together to speak about those ballot issues, that is a tremendous first amendment issue across the country,” said Sherman.

If a ruling isn’t issued soon, the four voters will lose even if a judge rules in their favor later, because their chance to influence this election will have passed.

Neither the judge who lobbied heavily for control of the construction of a new courthouse, nor the agency head who gave into demands of the court for an opulent new structure, are talking today. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, Linda South, the head of the agency that manages construction won’t resign as requested by the incoming Senate leadership.

Pieces of cement trim for the 49 million dollar court house, six miles east of the state Capitol, were still arriving Monday.  Landscapers tossed pine straw around the grounds, preparing for the building’s opening.

Dubbed the Taj Mahal for its opulence, which includes granite counter tops and large flat screen TV’s, the pricey structure cost almost twice as much to build as the new Department of Revenue building across the street. It was an issue CFO Alex Sink raised when discussing an audit of the building last week.

“What stands out to me is the appalling lack of leadership by the responsible parties throughout this entire process,” Sink said. “The fact that no one was standing up to say, ‘what about the taxpayers?’”

When complete, this courthouse will be 112,000 square feet and will house only 120 people.

Staff in the agency responsible for the construction spent the weekend drafting a response to the audit. Agency Director Linda South says she will not resign as requested by the incoming Senate President.

Indeed, South says the blame lies at the feet of legislative leaders, who raided an injured workers trust fund to give the court the money it wanted.”

One of those leaders was then House Speaker Marco Rubio, who, according to an email between judges, was part of a highly successful meeting in 2008 that increased funding for the court.

In addition to opening the nearly 50 million dollar courthouse, the old courthouse will see 12 million in renovations before it is turned over to the law school at Florida State University.

Republican Rick Scott is eluding editorial boards and dodging debates in an attempt to control his message to voters. Scott hasn’t meet with one newspaper editorial board during the general election and, as Whitney Ray tells us, he only met with one board of editors during his primary run.

Since Rick Scott burst onto Florida’s political scene, his strategy has been clear, spend millions of his own dollars telling voters what to think about him. Journalists have had little access to the Republican nominee for governor. A political ad from the Republican primary shows him dodging reporters.

Thursday a debate sponsored by the League of Women voters had to be cancelled because Scott wouldn’t show up.

“Neither PBS nor the League can have open chair debates where one of the candidates doesn’t show up so we had no choice but to cancel,” said Marilynn Wills a league spokeswoman.

And he’s also snubbing the centuries old tradition of meeting with newspaper editorial boards. An offer to sit with the editors of the Tallahassee Democrat and other Florida newspapers still stands, instead Scott is buying up TV time across the state to control his message.

Scott has spent more than 50 million of his own money buying TV. Democrat National Committeeman Jon Ausman says Scott’s strategy keeps voters in the dark.

“It’s a very common strategy for Republican to avoid talking to the press because they don’t want their ideas fully explored because once you do that you start to see the illogic behind them,” said Ausman.

We called Scott’s campaign for a comment on this story, were told to email our questions. Scott’s campaign responded by highlighting his participation in a Univision debate last week and pointing to the more than a hundred reporters who have asked him question over the last four months on the campaign trail as proof he’s not avoiding the media.

Scott’s campaign adds this statement:

“The governor’s race attracts a lot of attention across the state. To date, the campaign has received far more invitations to participate in events, debates and forums than we could possibly ever attend.”

Bettina Inclan,
Press Office
Rick Scott for Governor

The strife among Florida Democrats is reaching a fever pitch, as they decide who to support in the US Senate Race. The clock is ticking because early voting begins Monday. Polls show Independent Charlie Crist losing and Democrat Kendrick Meek losing worse. Democratic National Committeeman Jon Ausman says if one drops out the other can beat heavy favorite Marco Rubio.

“One of them is going to have to be the adult and say I’m going to support the other guy and move on. Otherwise they are both going to lose come November 2nd and we are only like 16, 17 days away,” said Ausman.

Ausman is calling Former Democratic governor and US Senator Bob Graham to broker a deal between the two this weekend. No word if a meeting of the three will happen.