With state Senator Joe Negron (R) outlasting fellow state Senator Jack Latvala (R) in their highly contentious race to be the next president of the Florida Senate, President-designate Negron will now wield significant power and influence moving into next year’s presidential election.
Senator Negron’s allies within the state Senate, and those special interest groups and their representatives that have business pending in the upcoming 2016 legislative session, as well as his wife Rebecca Negron, could stand to benefit the most from his designation as the next Senate President.Negron’s wife Rebecca currently sits on the Martin Country School Board, and is also running for the U.S. Congress in Florida’s 18th congressional district. During her first Federal Elections Commission reporting cycle, Negron raised a whopping $175,000, the most of any Republican in the crowded field of candidates vying for that congressional seat.
While Negron was able to outraise her congressional opponents right out of the gate, that wasn’t the case the following reporting cycle, where combat veteran Brian Mast was able to raise the most campaign cash than Negron, as well as the rest of the field of candidates.
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Much, if not most of Rebecca Negron’s campaign finance haul has come courtesy of Tallahassee-based  lobbyists who have a existing relationship with her husband Joe, some even having legislative issues that may very well be given stronger consideration once the annual legislative session begins.
Several lobbyist, who asked that their names be kept out of this story, have said that Senator Negron “has been working very hard for his wife,” and has been pressing them to donate to her congressional campaign.
Why wouldn’t Senator Negron help out his wife?Is it fair to say that Rebecca Negron is in some way beholden to those special interests, who at the behest of her husband Joe, have donated to her congressional campaign?Â
Some will argue that it is, most will not.
 During her opening remarks at a recent Republican congressional forum hosted by the Lipstick Republican Club of  St. Lucie County, Rebecca Negron, stated that she was running for congress against those “special interests that our trying to own us.”
Were it not for the  special interest donations her campaign has received, and will continue to receive now that her husband will be the next Senate President, Negron’s congressional campaign probably wouldn’t even exist.
Two of Negron’s primary opponents, Rick Kozell and the aforementioned Brian Mast, have also received what can be perceived as “special interest” campaign contributions. While Mast has received some dollars from individuals linked to groups that have business in Tallahassee, like Negron, Kozell’s finance reports show that the bulk of his campaign donations come from lobbyists and attorneys.The growing sentiment within rank and file voters of this particular congressional district is that Rebecca Negron isn’t really running for congress, rather her husband Joe is.
Some will say that Mrs. Negron is looking to win the congressional seat Rep. Patrick Murphy (D) is vacating to run for the U.S. Senate, simply to keep it warm for her husband until he is term limited out of the Florida Senate.
Read the summary of the forum here.
