Nonsense in the Ninth: Adam Chaprales needs to come clean

In my time up in Massachusetts, I've had the privilege of getting to know Chris Sheldon, who's running for Congress in the Republican primary for District 9.

Sheldon's primary opponent, Adam Chaprales, has made a number of...odd...statements over the past few years, and continued that pattern during this election cycle. 

Tea party movement sets record straight: They #StandWithSandy

The District 7 Republican primary continues to be a roller coaster. The infamous troublemaker Doug Guetzloe sent out a mailer through his "Ax the Tax" organization in support of John Mica, falsely claiming that he had tea party support. Guetzloe made headlines in 2010 for his creation of a third party political party using the name "Florida Tea Party," that was frequently accused of being a plot to divide conservative votes and assist in the reelection of Alan Grayson and other liberal Democrats.

Despite Guetzloe's best efforts, the hard working conservative activists who are actually part of Central Florida's tea party movement know the truth, and aren't going to sit silently while he attempt to peddle this nonsense. Tea Party Express chair Amy Kremer came back to Orlando today to counter this story, emphasize that the Tea Party Express organization did indeed endorse Sandy Adams, and state clearly the conservative principles that inspired their endorsement.

Here is the video from the press conference earlier today:

Sarah Palin robocall urges voters to support "conservative reformer" Sandy Adams

Sarah Palin, who endorsed Sandy Adams in the Republican primary for Florida's Seventh Congressional District, recorded a robocall in support of her campaign:

Democrats trying to help Todd Long?

Is it just me, or do the Congressional primaries in Florida this year seem weirder and wackier than usual?

Shady intimidation tactics by campaign manager for Jeff Ashton's State Attorney campaign

The race for the Ninth Circuit (Orange and Osceola County) State Attorney took an unfortunate turn this week, with the already heated political rhetoric boiling over into actual threats. 

Current State Attorney Lawson Lamar is facing a challenge from Jeff Ashton. Both candidates are registered Democrats, and no one else is on the ballot, so under Florida law, all Orange and Osceola County voters can participate in this election, no matter what their party registration is. 

The unusual open primary has introduced some interesting dynamics to the race. Because the Democrats have very few contested primaries on the ballot, Republican turnout is expected to be higher, and both Lamar and Ashton are seeking Republican votes. 

Lamar, as a military veteran, former Orange County Sheriff, and current State Attorney with a long history of involvement in the Central Florida community, has easily won Republican votes in past elections. 

Ashton seems to be finding trouble attracting similar support from Central Florida Republicans, and some of his campaign's allies are not helping matters. 

Steve Oelrich changes his story again, explanation still lacking

Say what?

Third time apparently isn't the charm for Steve Oelrich. His third attempt to explain his military eligibility has left us with just as many unanswered questions as the first two.

As I wrote last week, the Oelrich campaign issued a press release claiming that an injury he received in the line of duty as a police officer was the reason he was ineligible for the draft, but publicly available documents show that the eligibility-ending injury actually happened years before his law enforcement career began. 

The story got even stranger when the campaign reacted by deleting the press release and replacing it with a new one (back-dated to the date of the original release) as if nothing had ever happened. 

Then, last weekend, the Florida Times-Union ran a story about the controversy, and Oelrich's response raises even more questions:

Ted Cruz: "Stronger than Garlic"

What an incredible, amazing, wonderful night for Ted Cruz!

In less than two years, he managed to go from "Ted Who?" and polling in the low single digits, to winning the Republican primary for the Texas Senate by a decisive margin, earning the support of conservative activists across the country along the way.

During his victory speech last night, Cruz made reference to the fact that he only received 2% of the vote at the first poll that was taken in his race, providing yet another parallel with Marco Rubio's Senate race in Florida. Both Rubio and Cruz are attorneys with Cuban heritage, strong conservatives, and Rubio initially had a weak showing in the first public polls that were taken in his race.

Oelrich campaign reacts to my post...sort of...

I think I smell smoke...

Last week, the Steve Oelrich for Congress campaign sent out a press release expressing outrage at a mailer sent by one of his primary opponents, Cliff Stearns, in which he claimed that the reason he was ineligible for military service was because of injuries he received during his law enforcement career.

However, as I noted in a post last week, publicly available documents show that the injury that made Oelrich ineligible for military service happened in a hunting accident when he was a teenager, before he was a police officer.

I'm hoping Steve Oelrich can explain this

Are Steve Oelrich's pants on fire?

An alert reader forwarded me some intriguing information about a dispute between two of the candidates in the Republican Congressional primary in Florida's Third District, and I'm posting it here, hoping that State Senator Steve Oelrich has a good explanation for what seems, at first glance, to be a blatant and cynical distortion of the truth, if not a flat out lie.

Here's the background:

BREAKING: Allen West endorses Sandy Adams

"I fully endorse Sandy Adams...she represents a new generation of Republican
Conservatives who have come to the Halls of Congress to find solutions..."

Sandy Adams locked in another powerful endorsement for her reelection campaign today from one of her fellow freshmen members of Congress, Allen West.

FL-7 Update: Soul Mates, Fact Checks, and Art Museums

If you're not following the Republican primary for Florida's Seventh Congressional District, you're missing one of the most interesting races in recent political history. This is my home district in Orlando, and I have a personal interest in this race, so I've been writing a lot about it (see here, here, here, here, here, here, and here for starters).

Here are some of the latest updates from the campaign:

Being a Congressman has its perks - ask John Mica!

Congress is awesome! Why do
 you think I stayed for 20 years?

Getting elected to Congress brings a lot of really cool perks. Besides having people address you as Representative and getting to shape the future of our country, there's the salary, excellent health insurance, multi-million dollar international vacations...

Wait, what? Multi-million dollar international vacations?

Sandy Adams: Winner of the Week in Florida Politics

In case you missed it, the Tampa Bay Times posted their regular blog feature, "Winner and Loser of the Week in Florida Politics," yesterday afternoon, and they named Congresswoman Sandy Adams as the Winner for last week:

Now Mica is calling for tax increases. Please, just go away.

"There's no way in hell I would support banning earmarks" ~ John Mica

Well, I guess we now know how John Mica plans on paying for those earmarks and pet projects he loves so much: tax increases! 

Despite the fact that the 20-year incumbent has been desperately trying to re-brand himself as a fiscal conservative in his primary battle with Sandy Adams, Mica was in Atlanta on Friday and did his best to talk the locals into voting for a tax increase. Yes, really. 

Sandy Adams on Greta: "Washington as Usual Has Got to Stop."

Freshman Congresswoman Sandy Adams was on Fox News Channel's "On The Record" with Greta Van Susteren last night regarding her calls for a Congressional investigation into a multi-million dollar conference held by the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Manufacturing Extension Partnership at a resort near Walt Disney World in Orlando:

BREAKING: Sarah Palin endorses Sandy Adams for Congress!

BREAKING NEWS: Sarah Palin has endorsed Sandy Adams in the Republican primary for Florida's Seventh Congressional District.

Palin's endorsement follows a series of conservative endorsements for Adams such as National Right to Life, Concerned Women for America, Maggie's List, the SBA List, the Central Florida Tea Party Council, David Barton, Sheriff Joe Arapaio, RedState's Erick Erickson (and yours truly!).

Here is the press release from Sandy Adams' campaign:

John Mica Won't Sign Letter Calling for Earmark Ban

Here we go again. Following his refusal a few weeks ago to sign a letter calling for the Department of Justice to investigate attempts to intimidate conservative bloggers, twenty-year incumbent Congressman John Mica has once again failed to sign a letter that should be a no-brainer for a Republican.

FreedomWorks endorses Mack, calls LeMieux a RINO

Try as he might, he just can't get
 the Oompa Loompa off his back.

Throughout his campaign to be Florida's next Senator, George LeMieux has claimed that he had a "conservative" voting record during the sixteen months he served in the United States Senate after former-Governor-and-former-Republican Charlie Crist appointed him.

I thought that was nonsense, and a little quick research gave me several good examples why in a post I wrote back in September:

Sunshine State Sarah | Reality Check on LeMieux's "conservative" voting record

Sandy Adams defends bloggers, leads effort to ask DOJ to investigate SWATting

We should be clapping for her.

I am just so darn proud of the Republican freshmen that Florida sent to Congress in 2010. They are a tough, feisty bunch who are dedicated to making the tough choices to get our government back on track.

Congresswoman Sandy Adams fits in well with this group, making a name for herself for her perfect attendance record and for taking a lead role in legislation like the Violence Against Women Act.

This past Monday, Adams again took a lead role on an important issue, sending a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, encouraging the Department of Justice to investigate recent SWAT-tings of conservative bloggers. "SWAT-ting" is when someone calls 911 (often using VOIP or other technology to spoof the name and number that is calling), claiming that a violent crime has been committed at their target's address, with the goal of sending law enforcement to the location and inciting a dangerous confrontation. Fortunately, the bloggers who have been targeted recently, including RedState's Erick Erickson and Patterico, were not harmed, but the potential is definitely there.

What's behind the shady false attacks on Cliff Stearns?

Cliff Stearns never struck me as controversial. Quiet and unassuming, he's managed to forge a solidly conservative path during his time in Congress, but largely avoided the spotlight until this past year, when he earned accolades for his work leading the Solyndra investigation. So I was, quite frankly, shocked that this election year brought not only a slew of primary challengers against Stearns, but also at the level of vitriol of their attacks on him.