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GOP Hispanic outreach official switches parties

Posted May 14, 2013 by William March

Updated May 14, 2013 at 03:31 PM

Republicans got another indication of the depth of their problems with Hispanic voters this week when Pablo Pantoja of Orlando, formerly Florida Hispanic outreach director for the national Republican Party, announced he’s switching parties and becoming a Democrat.

Pantoja announced the switch on The Florida Nation, a Democratic-leaning news web site, here.

He said his switch was motivated at least in part by a recent study by the Heritage Foundation which was critical of the comprehensive immigration reform bill sponsored by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

The study projected that legalized immigrants would cost the nation trillions in welfare and other government assistance. It was sharply criticized by Rubio and others; meanwhile, news reports indicated that one of its authors, Jason Richwine, had writtena Ph.D. thesis at Harvard arguing that Hispanic immigrants have lower IQ’s than white natives and genetic ancestry affects IQ.

Writing about his party switch, Pantoja said, “It doesn’t take much to see the culture of intolerance surrounding the Republican Party today. ... The complete disregard of those who are in disadvantage is also palpable. We are not looking at an isolated incident of rhetoric or research.”

Pantoja, who’s Puerto Rican and a Florida State University graduate, served in Iraq and Kuwait and in hurricane-related deployments in the Army National Guard, then worked in the state Division of Emergency Management during the administration of former Gov. Charlie Crist, according to information supplied by the GOP. He’s also been active in various conservative and GOP causes and campaigns.

He was central Florida director for the Romney campaign, and has worked for the state and national Republican parties, he said in an interview.

A state GOP spokesman had no comment on the party change.


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Castor, Crist, local Dems raise $$ for Graham’s daughter

Posted May 13, 2013 by William March

Updated May 13, 2013 at 06:00 PM

Former Gov. Charlie Crist, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor and former Gov. Bob Graham will hold a fundraiser at the home of Stacy Frank in Tampa for Graham’s daughter Gwen Graham, who’s running for the Panhandle U.S. House seat held by Republican Rep. Steve Southerland.

The host committee is a who’s-who of local Democrats, and some former Republicans including Crist—Sam Bell and Betty Castor, Mayor Bob Buckhorn,

DNC member Alan Clendenin, City Council member Harry Cohen, former U.S. Rep. Jim Davis Clerk of Court Pat Frank former Mayor Sandy Freedman, Public Defender Julianne Holt and others.

The $250-per-person event is May 22 at Stacy Frank’s home in Palma Ceia.

Southerland, of Panama City, a favorite of tea party-style Republicans, unseated former Democratic Rep. Allen Boyd in 2010.


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Joyner designated Senate Democratic leader

Posted May 3, 2013 by William March

Updated May 3, 2013 at 05:02 PM

State Sen. Arthenia Joyner of Tampa has been designated incoming leader of the Democrats in the state Senate, the first black woman to hold that position.

Joyner, a Tampa lawyer elected to the Senate in 2006, will conclude her second term as a state senator in the next two years. She previously served three terms in the state House, 2000-2006.

The designation means Joyner can expect to be elected Senate Democratic leader in November and head the party’s caucus during the 2014 and 2015 legislative sessions. If Democrats won a majority in the Senate—which isn’t likely—she would be the leading candidate for Senate president. Between now and November, she’ll be in charge of the Democratic Party’s effort to elect Democrats to the state Senate.

Joyner was leader pro tem under the only previous female Democratic Senate leader, Nan Rich.


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Castor to Obama: Reform “outdated” Cuba embargo, travel ban

Posted Apr 23, 2013 by William March

Updated Apr 23, 2013 at 04:57 PM

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa, fresh back from a trip to Cuba, has told President Barack Obama in a letter that the U.S. travel ban and trade embargo against Cuba are outdated, unproductive and harmful and should be reformed.

In the four-page letter, Castor never quite says “lift the embargo” or “end the travel ban,” but she comes very close.

“America’s policy of isolation toward Cuba, i.e. the travel ban and embargo of the last 50 years, has resulted in little change,” she writes. “It is time to refresh America’s relationship with Cuba and develop a more humane and smarter approach than the outdated Cold War policies of the past.”

Castor also quotes the Human Rights Watch organization saying the embargo “continues to impose indiscriminate hardship on the Cuban people and has done nothing to improve human rights in Cuba.”

She asks Obama to “heed the words of many of the Cuban dissidents I have spoken to who urge America to give greater attention to its island neighbor, lift the embargo and promote modernization of civil society in Cuba.”

As she has before, Castor argues in the letter that Cuba has made “significant changes” in allowing free enterprise for its citizens; that the travel restrictions violate the rights of Americans; that Cuba is not a “state sponsor of terrorism”; and that a policy of engagement would improve America’s diplomatic standing in the region.

She also notes Cuba’s quick return of the two Hakken children abducted by their father in Tampa recently, and her own constituents’ frequent need for help in making visits and contacts with family members in Cuba in instances of family emergencies.

See the letter here.


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U.S. House Dems send Weatherford letter re Medicaid

Posted Apr 19, 2013 by William March

Updated Apr 19, 2013 at 06:39 PM

The eight Democratic members of Florida’s U.S. House delegation have sent a letter to state House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, urging him to accept federal Medicaid expansion.

The letter repeats the arguments made by Democrats against plans by Republicans in the Legislature, who say they believe the federal government won’t actually pay for the expansion as the Affordable Care Act provides, and the state will have to fund it. The state Senate appears headed toward approving a modified Medicaid expansion plan, using the federal money to help poor people buy private health insurance, but Weatherford stands against accepting any federal money for expansion.

The letter says the expansion of Medicaid would create jobs and save Florida taxpayers money, in addition to providing health coverage for working poor families just above the poverty line.

“We must express our strong opposition to any plan that leaves $55 billion federal dollars on the table at the expense of our neediest working families,” the letter says, referring to a plan on its way to passage in the House that would provide coverage for only 130,000 Floridians, rather than 1 million under Medicaid expansion.

The difference in the two plans, it said, would affect those with incomes above the federal poverty line but less than 138 percent of that limit—$23,550 to $32,499 for a family of four.

The signers are Tampa’s Kathy Castor; Corrine Brown of Jacksonville, Ted Deutch of Boca Raton, Lois Frankel of West Palm Beach, Joe Garcia of Miami, Alcee Hastings of Miramar, Alan Grayson of Orlando, Patrick Murphy of Jupiter, Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston and Frederica of Miami.



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