EMILY's List
Primary Preview: Florida's GOP
By Hilary Nachem on 08/24/2010 @ 04:51 PM
There are just a few hours left in Florida's primary today, as polls close at 7pm EST. Two of our great candidates, Alex Sink and Cong. Suzanne Kosmas, will learn tonight which of the Republican candidates they face in November. Both women will face highly competitive races this fall in this critical swing state.
The Sink family braved the rain to vote in today's primary.
FL-Gov
The fight for the Republican nomination in this race has been, in one word, ugly. Attorney General Bill McCollum and Rick Scott have gone back and forth on the airwaves, throwing elbows at each other. Scott, who made his millions heading up a health care corporation known as "the Wal-Mart of health care" has poured record-breaking amounts of his own money into TV buys and campaign expenditures. If Scott's money is able to help him across today's finish line, we know this fall will be a long series of his baseless attacks and endless spending.
We can expect the same if McCollum wins the nomination. McCollum is a far-right Republican able to tap into extensive ties to special interests -- which he built over his 20 years in Congress. The GOP has held the governor’s seat for over a decade, and will fight hard and dirty to keep control of this pivotal office -- particularly in the high-stakes year of 2010, with redistricting in the offing (Florida’s governor currently holds veto power over congressional maps). There’s no doubt that Alex will need all the support we can give her through to November.
FL-24
In recent days, we've seen the GOP in this race turn ugly too-- even the Republican leadership is calling out Craig Miller for his antics. Miller, who emerged as the fundraising leader, is one of three Republicans amongst state Rep. Sandy Adams, and city Commissioner Karen Diebel, vying to challenge Cong. Kosmas this fall. All three bring their own brand of Republican rhetoric to this district and will try to put Suzanne on the defensive. Suzanne is a top target for the right-wing, one of the Palin Four, and groups like the NRCC have already committed $22 million to attacking her and other targeted races.
No matter what happens today, Alex and Suzanne will need our support to fight back against their conservative opponents and the national GOP. We'll keep you posted on the results and what you can do to help.
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