by Javier Manjarres
Tallahassee- Former U.S. Senator George LeMieux attended the Speaker Designation ceremony of future Speaker of the Florida House Will Weatherford and commented that he thought that Weatherford was a very intelligent and capable Legislator that will do great things in this political career. I caught up with LeMieux at the event and asked Senator LeMieux about his possible candidacy for the U.S. Senate, and he reiterated what we had said several months back that he was interested in running for the Senate in 2012. When I pressed him on when he would be announcing his run, a date that was previously mentioned to me, Senator LeMieux stated that, “your instincts are accurate”. Without divulging any confidential information shared with me, I would say that an announcement is imminent, and could come within a few weeks.
Senator LeMieux’s announcment would set him up against Senate President Mike Haridopolos and former House Leader Adam Hasner. Hasner has also expressed interest in running for the Senate, and had also stated that would be making a formal announcement in the next several weeks as well.
Senate President Haridopolos has come under fire of late over a controversial book deal from a few years back. Haridopolos purportedly received a handsome paycheck for writing a book that until it was sold on Amazon.com, only one copy existed. Eyes are also closely watching what will happen in the Florida Legislature, as Haridopolos’ voting record will be closely scrutinized by those who are weighing the merits of Haridopolos’ U.S. Senate campaign.
