Wednesday, October 04, 2006
A Tough Road for Joe
With all of the talk about who knew what and when they knew it in the whole Mark Foley thing, one thing seems to be mostly overlooked by the national media: the election in Foley's district.
Since this is really a local story around here, here's a quick rundown:
Since this is really a local story around here, here's a quick rundown:
- Foley's opponent was Tim Mahoney, a conservative Democrat who had been given little chance to win. He was trailing Foley by double digits in the polls, and the district had been represented by Republicans for 25 years, which goes back to the days when most of Florida was solidly Democratic.
- The state GOP has chosen Joe Negron, a member of the state House of Representatives, to be their nominee for the seat.
- Negron had started a campaign for state attorney general, but dropped out. As a result, he has $1.5 million in campaign funds readily available. That sounds small for a congressional campaign, but Negron's campaign will be shorter than most.
- The real problem for Negron is not money, but the ballot. Because Foley dropped out so close the the election, his name can't be removed from the ballot. So in order to vote for Negron, a voter will have to pull the lever (or X the box, or touch the name, or whatever applies in a particular precinct) for Mark Foley. A lot of people may not understand this, and before you ask, I think a portion of this district (albeit a very small portion) is in the area where people mistakenly voted for Pat Buchanan in 2000. And some may just refuse to go through the motion of voting for Foley.
- What I haven't heard yet is who, if anyone, Jeb will appoint to finish out Foley's current term. Since Congress isn't scheduled to be in session until after the election, I suppose it may remain vacant.
- However, Foley's office is still operating, and constituents can still seek help from the staff, which is good for both the people who live in the district and the people who aren't losing their jobs. But it does make you wonder if we really need Congressmen for anything except casting votes.
- The other thing I haven't heard about: Has anyone in looked into whether or not Foley committed similar actions while he was serving in the Florida legislature? Supposedly pages were warned about Foley when he first arrived in Washington. If this is true, did he earn a reputation in Tallahassee?
