Prior to State Senator Lizbeth Benaquisto formally announcing that she will run for Congress to replace Trey Radel, who resigned after being caught buying cocaine, Benacquisto was up in Washington, D.C. trying to align support for her upcoming campaign, even though she had not yet to announced her interest in the seat.
This is problematic since it is perceived that she started spending the war chest she has collected for her state senate seat to build name ID for the Congressional race. Federal Campaign finance laws prohibit special interest-corporate contributions as all contributions MUST come from individuals.However, state campaign law differs from federal campaign law in that she is permitted to collect checks from lobbyists, corporations, & special interest for her state senate race. Even more problematic to some is the belief that she can now twist the arm of every business, person, or special interest that has issues before the legislature for campaign contributions for the congressional seat.
It will be interesting to see if she abandons her duties in the state senate to campaign for Congress as the special election will pit her desire to campaign against her duties during the legislative session.
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Before Benecquisto jumped in the congressional race, the Republican Party of Florida had already spend party money to defend Benecquisto from attack ads originating from a super PAC that is supporting her Republican primary opponent, Paige Kreegel. RPOF attorneys had sent letters to local TV stations asking them to remove the super PAC’s ads calling out Benacquisto for spending special interest dollars to build name ID for Congressional race.
About a week or so ago, Benecquisto inexplicably began spending her State Senate campaign dollars in an effort to promote herself, a full eight months before she faces re-election. She dropped $40,000 in an ad buy prior to the Radel resignation.
Benacquisto’s ads, meanwhile, added fuel to the fire — which was quickly dampened when a new GOP Senate opponent emerged. Thomas LePine, retired after a career in mental health and education, is a political newcomer. But his presence also provided cover for the Benaquisto ads, which talk about Benacquisto’s conservative values and support for seniors and veterans. The announcer’s voice in Benacquisto’s ads doesn’t mention any particular office, but a closing shot cites the Florida Senate.
Benacquisto, one of the Senate’s top fund raisers, has about $492,000 in her Senate account, but it can’t be used for a congressional race. Before LePine entered the race, some wondered why an unopposed senator would spend ad money, unless it was to develop name ID for a different race.
The latest turn in this back-and-forth between Benacquisto and the super PAC, was that the RPOF had sponsored advertising on behalf of Benacquisto. Benacquisto allegedly had the RPOF spending money intended for state senate candidates to take on democrats and diverted it to use on her own primary race–which some speculate is actually a front for congressional campaign.
A question residents in southwest Florida are asking is, If her State Senate race was not just a pretense for her Congressional run, then why spend RPOF money on a campaign Lizbeth Benacquisto–a candidate with nearly half a million dollars–to run against another Republican who hasn’t raised any money or shown any indication he will actually run against Benacquisto.
Better question: if she was looking to run for Congress at the time, why did the RPOF get involved in a Federal Congressional race against other Republicans at all?
LePine is politically unknown , has raised NO money, and little has been heard from his campaign as it is heavily speculated by insiders in SWFL that he is an ally of Benacquisto and entered the race to give her justification for running the ads and spending the state senate campaign funds to build name ID.Benacquisto is in, and so are Kreegel and “outsider” Curt Clawson.