News

State GOP: Democrats' Complaint Has No Merit

TALLAHASSEE The Republican Party of Florida is demanding the Florida Democratic Party drop an elections complaint.

A GOP lawyer wrote to the Democrats today saying a complaint filed last week has no merit.

The Democrats say that all contributions and expenses the party makes have to be reported to the state, but there are contributions and expenses filed with the Federal Elections Commission that aren't on the state report. The Republicans responded that federal expenses don't have to be filed on the state report.

Lawyer Jason Gonzalez pointed out that state law requires plaintiffs to pay legal fees for defendants when filing frivolous complaints. He said the GOP wouldn't seek those fees if the complaint was dropped by Thursday.

The Democrats didn't immediately respond.

RPOF Launches Television Advertisement

TallahasseeChairman John Thrasher today announced the launch of a television advertisement sponsored by the Republican Party of Florida. The RPOF will re-release the television advertisement Fired, originally sponsored by the Republican Governors Association (RGA), which highlights Chief Financial Officer and Democrat gubernatorial candidate Alex Sinks time as president of NationsBanks Florida operations.

Floridians deserve to know the truth about Alex Sinks disturbing record of accepting more than $8 million in salary and bonuses, while at the same time being responsible for the loss of thousands of Florida jobs, said Chairman Thrasher. We are grateful to our friends at the RGA for their investment in the Florida governors race, and looking forward to demonstrating our commitment to victory by sponsoring this important advertisement.

The RPOF independently purchased the television advertisement Fired that was run by the Republican Governors Association. The Party will begin sponsoring and airing the advertisement this morning in select broadcast and cable markets throughout Florida.

This ad buy is well into the six figures, and demonstrates the RPOFs firm commitment to electing our states next Republican governor, said RPOF Executive Director Ronnie Whitaker. Alex Sink might claim that her background in business has prepared her for a career in public service, but at the end of the day shes a corporate banker who lined her pockets while eliminating thousands of Florida jobs.

Bill McCollum: Standing up for our Second Amendment

Standing up for our Second Amendment

TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT

By Bill McCollum

March 2, 2010

For gun owners and Second Amendment advocates, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v. Heller was a landmark case overturning an unconstitutional ban on firearm ownership. The court held that the federal right to keep and bear arms is an individual right, as meaningful today as in the founding of our country.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the case McDonald v. Chicago to decide whether gun rights apply to state and local governments just as with the federal government. I have joined several other attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in support of our fundamental right to keep and bear arms.

The city of Chicago prohibits possession of unregistered firearms. The city also refuses to issue registration certificates for handguns. Failure to have one of these registration certificates subjects handgun owners in Chicago to having their guns confiscated. The petitioners seeking relief in this case are ordinary people who want to own handguns in their homes for personal protection. The local regulation in Chicago effectively takes away their Second Amendment rights.

The key issue before the U.S. Supreme Court is whether the Second Amendment's federal constitutional right should be incorporated under the 14th Amendment to apply to all states and cities, just as do other federal rights such as free speech or no unreasonable searches and seizures. If Chicago's unconstitutional and unfair law is allowed to stand, nearly 3 million residents, and possibly millions more in other cities, will essentially be denied their right to keep and bear arms under the U.S. Constitution.

The right to keep and bear arms has been a fundamental right since our nation's founding. As early as 1765 in England, William Blackstone published commentaries explaining that the right to bear arms was a fundamental right that arose from the natural right of self-preservation. The American colonists considered the right to arms as a primary right of Englishmen. The Federalist Papers contain numerous references to the importance of the right to bear arms, and how essential it was to preserve this right along with other fundamental freedoms.

Florida's Constitution provides: The right of the people to keep and bear arms in defense of themselves and of the lawful authority of the state shall not be infringed, except that the manner of bearing arms may be regulated by law (Article 1, Section 8). Florida has a state constitutional right that is close to the Second Amendment as determined by the U.S. Supreme Court in Heller.

Florida's Consumer Advocates: Alex Sink and ACORN

TallahasseeThe Republican Party of Florida today commented on Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink enlisting her left-wing Democrat allies, including ACORN, to help provide consumer oversight in the insurance industry.

Year after year, ACORN has tried to take away the voices of Floridians across our state, but now Alex Sink thinks the organization is fit to help ensure that Floridians have a voice in the legislative process, said Ronnie Whitaker, RPOF Executive Director. Its not enough that Alex Sink bankrolls Washington liberals like Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Al Gore, Barbara Boxer and Bill Clinton, but now shes utilizing her official office to pander to their ultra-liberal special interest groups. Is this what we have in store if shes elected Governor?

To say that an organization like ACORN will help provide consumers with the peace of mind is as outrageous as the ACORN tax expert who helped a young woman posing as a prostitute by teaching her how to set up a prostitution ring and evade the IRS, continued Whitaker. If ACORN wants to provide Floridians with peace of mind, a good starting point might be not duplicating voter registration forms and registering Mickey Mouse to vote, rather than advising CFO Sink on insurance matters.

Chairman Thrasher Names Executive Director

TallahasseeRepublican Party of Florida Chairman John Thrasher today named the first member of his senior management team, selecting Ronnie Whitaker to serve as Executive Director of the Republican Party of Florida.

Ronnie recently returned to Florida after having gained political experience over the last 12 years on Capitol Hill and assisting Republican campaigns in 27 states, said Chairman Thrasher. For the past several months, he has been working closely with Speaker Allan Bense on the Victory 2010 effort within the Republican Party of Florida, and I am confident his experience in that position will help make the current transition as seamless as possible.

The 2010 elections are just around the corner, and it is important that we work to build the strongest team possible to lead this party to victory in November, continued Chairman Thrasher. Ronnies diverse experience in managing general strategy, message development and voter targeting as well as his knowledge of how to develop and implement finance and budget plans will certainly provide a great benefit to the RPOF and to our candidates and campaigns.

Ronnie Whitaker, a fourth generation Floridian, most recently served as a Regional Political Field Director for the Republican State Leadership Committee where he was responsible for assisting Republican Lieutenant Governors, Attorneys General, Secretaries of State and State House and State Senate caucuses in a diverse 25 state region with the development of overall campaign strategy. His previous service to the Republican cause also includes works as a Field Representative for the National Republican Congressional Committee where he assisted Republican congressional campaigns in a 14 state region.