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Senft backing Perry

Posted Oct 3, 2011 by William March

Updated Oct 3, 2011 at 04:31 PM

Influential state Republican Party official Paul Senft of Haines City is backing Rick Perry the presidential race.

Senft, a former Polk County commissoner, is Florida’s Republican national committeeman, meaning he’s one of three delegates from Florida to the Republican National Committee, the governing body of the national party.

Senft was also one of the most outspoken opponents of moving the Florida presidential primary to Jan. 31, which means Perry backers were leaders on both sides of that argument.

That raises questions about the accusation made by a few people last week that the goal of the date move was to benefit particular candidates. Rick Santorum, for example, contended in an interview late last week that the primary moveup was designed to benefit Perry and Mitt Romney, whom he called the two leading candidates.

“Somebody in Florida is shilling for Mitt Romney and probably Rick Perry,” Santorum said. “They want to shorten the playing field now that these guys are ahead … I’m sure they’d rather have the election tomorrow. By moving up the calendar, you help the favorites.”

Asked who was doing that, Santorum gave a somewhat garbled reply: “The chairman of the person who’s organizing this is a Perry supporter, so you can just sort of take it from there.”

That could refer to state House Speaker Dean Cannon, a Perry backer and strong advocate of moving up the primary.