One of the first promises that the Republican Party of Florida’s new leadership made upon replacing disgraced and indicted former Chairman Jim Greer was that it would right all of the wrongs that were done under Greer’s reign. One of those very big mistakes was the RPOF’s meddling in Republican primaries. Unfortunately, the practice continues under John Thrasher, where the RPOF has made a financial contribution to Attorney General Bill McCollum in his race against Rick Scott in the Republican Gubernatorial primary.
But the financial primary support that McCollum has received from the RPOF pales in comparison to what they’ve contributed in a race that would otherwise be just another sleepy race for State House. The RPOF recently donated $32,000++ to Representative John Tobia, who is in heated primary race with Lori Halbert in Florida House District 31. I spoke to RPOF Spokeswoman Katie Betta regarding this not-so insignificant contribution, and she stated the following:
“The Party’s support of John Tobia is consistent with a long standing policy of defending Republican incumbents.”
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I followed up by asking if Lori Halbert would be receiving matching funds from the Party, and Mrs. Betta responded that “As the Republican incumbent, John Tobia is the only candidate receiving financial support from the Party.”
As we have previously reported, an ethics complaint was filed against Representative Tobia in the Florida Commission on Ethics. Tobia, who is also a professor at Valencia Community College, informed his Poli-Sci class that they could “opt out” of taking the final exam by volunteering to make calls on behalf of his campaign for the Florida House.
Through some additional digging, we have discovered that the RPOF has also been making contributions to candidates across the state that are in contests for open house seats as well as for seats that have an incumbent running for office. When will the RPOF learn to stay out of all contested primaries- especially in an instance where the incumbent is being challenged in a primary because he is viewed as a vulnerable incumbent?
We have also discovered that the RPOF has donated funds to Attorney General Bill McCollum (Florida State-Elections) last year, and most recently in this past quarterly report (Florida State-Elections)
2010 F2 07/26/2010 12.81 REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA 420 EAST JEFFERSON STREET TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302 PARTY COMMITTEE INK A-PRINTING2010 F2 07/26/2010 16.66 REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA 420 EAST JEFFERSON STREET TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302 PARTY COMMITTEE INK A-PRINTING
2010 F2 07/26/2010 15.00 REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA 420 EAST JEFFERSON STREET TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302 PARTY COMMITTEE INK A-PRINTING
2010 F2 07/26/2010 8,104.00 REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA 420 EAST JEFFERSON STREET TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302 PARTY COMMITTEE INK N-PROF. CONSULTING SVC
2010 F2 07/26/2010 8,000.00 REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA 420 EAST JEFFERSON STREET TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302 PARTY COMMITTEE INK N-PROF. CONSULTING SVC
2010 F2 07/26/2010 5,000.00 REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA 420 EAST JEFFERSON STREET TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302 PARTY COMMITTEE INK N-PROF. CONSULTING SVC2010 F2 07/26/2010 9,656.30 REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA 420 EAST JEFFERSON STREET TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302 PARTY COMMITTEE INK N-COST OF CAMP. STAFF
2010 F2 07/26/2010 461.84 REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA 420 EAST JEFFERSON STREET TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302 PARTY COMMITTEE INK N-COST OF CAMP. STAFF
2010 F2 07/26/2010 37,080.00 REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA 420 EAST JEFFERSON STREET TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302 PARTY COMMITTEE INK N-TELEPHONE CALLS
2010 F2 07/26/2010 79.00 REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA 420 EAST JEFFERSON STREET TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302 PARTY COMMITTEE INK N-COST OF CAMP. STAFF
2010 F2 07/26/2010 249.20 REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA 420 EAST JEFFERSON STREET TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302 PARTY COMMITTEE INK N-COST OF CAMP. STAFF2010 F2 07/26/2010 150.97 REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA 420 EAST JEFFERSON STREET TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302 PARTY COMMITTEE INK N-COST OF CAMP. STAFF
2010 F2 07/26/2010 257.04 REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA 420 EAST JEFFERSON STREET TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302 PARTY COMMITTEE INK N-COST OF CAMP. STAFF
2010 F2 07/26/2010 181.82 REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA 420 EAST JEFFERSON STREET TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302 PARTY COMMITTEE INK N-COST OF CAMP. STAFF
2010 F2 07/26/2010 481.17 REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA 420 EAST JEFFERSON STREET TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302 PARTY COMMITTEE INK N-COST OF CAMP. STAFF
2010 F2 07/26/2010 98.19 REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA 420 EAST JEFFERSON STREET TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302 PARTY COMMITTEE INK N-COST OF CAMP. STAFF2010 F2 07/26/2010 262.63 REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA 420 EAST JEFFERSON STREET TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302 PARTY COMMITTEE INK N-COST OF CAMP. STAFF
2010 F2 07/26/2010 432.87 REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA 420 EAST JEFFERSON STREET TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302 PARTY COMMITTEE INK N-COST OF CAMP. STAFF
2010 F2 07/26/2010 222.44 REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA 420 EAST JEFFERSON STREET TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302 PARTY COMMITTEE INK N-COST OF CAMP. STAFF
I won’t be holding my breath for the RPOF to correct this favoritism by offering any Republican either matching funds or support who happens to be running against the establishment’s preferred candidates. It’s clear that the RPOF isn’t even attempting to live up to its lofty rhetoric in the wake of Greer’s carnage, and it is choosing to remain an organization where cronyism still has too much influence within Republican primaries.
