The Ethical Lapses of Andrew Gillum

The following is excerpted from the Sunshine State News:

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Now that Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum is the Democratic Party nominee for governor, the press and voters need to take a much closer look into his service as our ceremonial mayor.

Gillum has been consistently involved in issues that the FBI is investigating as part of their work into corruption at City Hall and the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA).

While Gillum alleges he was told by the FBI that he’s not a subject of their investigation, no one has ever corroborated that statement.

First and foremost is the ethical concerns around the New York City trip that Gillum took for his former employer. We now know, after persistent questioning by the Tallahassee Democrat, that Gillum stayed on after that meeting, relocating to a plush NYC hotel, the Millennium Hilton, attending the “Hamilton” Broadway play where tickets cost hundreds of dollars, and even going on a boat ride around Manhattan and the Statute of Liberty with Adam Corey and Mike Miller, where pictures were taken.

Gillum has recently told The Washington Post that sometimes his brother Marcus Gillum pays some of his expenses, and he has said that his brother paid his expenses in NYC.

2018 Political Jamboree

Every two years, during the summer of an election year, the county GOP hosts a “Jamboree” – an old fashioned political picnic for candidates on the upcoming ballot to introduce themselves to the party activists. With a barbecue lunch under the pavilion roof, surrounded by covered booths hosted by candidates and political clubs, it is gathering place for the GOP faithful and those who seek to represent them at all levels of government.

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After remarks by county chairman (and RPOF vice-chair) Michael Barnett, and state committee reps Cindy Tindell and Joe Budd, master of Ceremonies Sid Dinerstein introduced the candidates.

The only state-wide candidates present were Attorney General candidate Ashley Moody who listed her impressive resume and endorsements which include current AG Pam Bondi, and John Mercadante – a long-shot candidate for Governor with lots of enthusiasm.

In CD18, incumbent Brian Mast has drawn a couple of primary challengers, mostly as a result of his controversial stance on gun control which is perceived as a vulnerability. Dave Cummings spoke and presented himself as a conservative in support of the Trump agenda. The winner of this primary will face one of two well-funded Democrats in a race that has drawn national interest.

CD22 was represented by candidate Javier Manjarres who is facing Nicholas Kimaz (who was at the event but left before speaking), and Eddison Walters. The winner will face entrenched Democrat Ted Deutch (who has a long shot primary challenger in Jeff Fandl) in this D+14 district.

For state legislative offices, Belinda Keiser spoke. She is competing with current House member Gayle Harrell for the Senate 25 seat vacated by Joe Negron. The winner will face Democrat Robert Levy in the fall.

For House district 89, vacated by term limited Bill Hager, competitors Matt Spritz and Joe Caruso spoke. The winner of that race will face one of two Democrats in November.

At the city level, we had Boca acting mayor Scott Singer and his opponent BocaWatch founder Al Zucaro. Municipal elections are usually in March, but the departure of indicted former Mayor Susan Haynie prompted a special election to be held coincident with the August primary.

This year, the number of candidates was fewer than past years (9 versus 19 in 2016 and 14 in 2014), partly due to a lack of challengers overall, and partly from the absence of Republican candidates that are running. CD18 incumbent Brian Mast and challenger Mark Freeman were absent, for example. This year there are NO Republicans running for open seats on the school board, Port Commission, or County Commission districts 2 or 6.

DeSantis Rocks Trump National

On Saturday, Republican candidate for Governor Ron DeSantis appeared at Trump National in Jupiter with “The Great One” Mark Levin, Fox pundit Dan Bongino, and CD1 Congressman Matt Gaetz. The large crowd was welcoming and enthusiastic, and possibly indicative of a surge in popularity for his candidacy. With some polls showing that the double digit lead held by Adam Putnam has waned, Ron appears to be making the most of his endorsement by President Trump, and has begun to define his value proposition as governor.

Ron has had support among the tea party grassroots since before his election to the sixth congressional district seat (Coastal from south Jacksonville to New Symrna Beach including Daytona Beach) in 2012. A tea party conservative, he is a key player in the House Freedom Caucus. I have long been a fan of his work in Congress, repealing Obamacare, opposing the Iran deal, and pushing for oversight of the corruption at the top levels of the Justice Department and FBI. His candidacy for Governor though, had seemed to be weak.

For the most part, Ron had seemed to be touting his Congressional bona-fides, and his campaign literature and fund raising appeals seemed more a call for Congressional re-election than a bid for the top executive job in the third largest state. A line of attack from the Putnam camp is that he is running his campaign on Fox News (Ron is a regular), has never held an executive job, and knows little about the Florida issues outside of Washington.

It was a different message we heard on Saturday. First, his surrogates described his work in DC as just as much “Florida Issues” as national ones. Health care, Immigration, tax cuts and de-regulation to boost the economy – these are all things that concern us within the state’s borders.

When Ron took the podium, he brought the focus back locally. Water issues and toxic algae, sanctuary cities and immigration, these are state issues, as is opposing common core and introducing civics back into the K-12 curriculum. He drew a sharp contrast to Adam Putnam on Sugar money (he doesn’t take it), ethanol mandates (Putnam opposed a measure to stop the measures that were harming the marine industry), and Congressional term limits (Putnam opposed).

Although his website is still short on specifics, he seems to be holding his own on the issues with Putnam and referred the audience to the Fox News debate between them last month, which he feels he won.

On the Democrat side, Jeff Greene seems to be developing a lead. With the money he plans to put in the race, a unified GOP will be needed to hold on to the Governor seat. DeSantis and Putnam are both credible candidates, but a tightening race may see the race turn negative. Let’s hope not.

At the end of the day, the Trump factor may make the difference. The President has endorsed DeSantis, and praised his work with the Freedom Caucus. There is evidence that Putnam has never really been a Trump fan. We will see how much weight that carries in Florida.

PBG Candidate Forum Video

RCNPB Co-hosts Palm Beach Gardens Candidate Forum 2/28

RCNPB Demonstrates at Biden Event

Vice President Joe Biden held a rally at Palm Beach State on Wednesday. Members of the RCNPB Trump team were there to greet him.

Meet and Greet Brian Mast and Ron Berman

Support Ron Berman in Senate 30

Show your support for Ron by attending this upcoming Meet & Greet. RSVP to Tom Plante, 561-236-8891.

GOP at the Crossroads

Many of the so-called “establishment” are seriously plotting ways to thwart the results of the primaries at the Republican convention. They apparently feel that “their” party has been taken over by the barbarians from flyover country. They think that a convention draft of someone who has entered no primaries, taken part in no debates, spent no time campaigning, would be preferable to either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. Even a Hillary Clinton presidency (the likely outcome of such a draft) would be preferable to submitting to the rabble.

My first reaction was that they had seriously lost touch with the rank and file of the Republican party, but that is an oversimplification.

The party is defined by its voters – not those that consider themselves the “leaders”. Who are they leading? People like Mitt Romney, John McCain, Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham have much more in common with Hillary Clinton than they do with the “real” Republicans who provide the heart and soul of the GOP. Maintaining the status quo in Washington, with a heavily Progressive bureaucracy controlling more and more of our daily lives and a Congress that sees being the majority as simply a means to a bigger office and more access to lobbyist dollars, is the goal of both parties. The so-called “GOP leadership”, including our new Speaker who has given the Obama juggernaut everything it wants in their spending bills, have betrayed those that gave them the House in 2010 and the Senate in 2014.

I have been a Republican for my entire voting life and have worked for candidates at all levels since the 2004 re-election of George W. Bush. I held my nose and supported McCain, and supported (although with minimal enthusiasm) Romney as he threw away what should have been an easy win by running one of the worst campaigns in modern history. I will no longer support those who have such contempt for the voters as to tell us we are morons.

The McConnells and Boehners and Ryans tell us they can’t govern from the Congress – even though they told us if we elected them in 2010 and 2014 they would change the dynamic. Now they claim they need the Presidency.

In my view, we need an insurgent – a real change agent, to alter the relationship between our government and its citizens. Currently what we have is condescension and scorn, with a dose of fraud and deceit for good measure. We are at an inflection point in our history – the country is circling the drain and everyone out there in flyover country knows it but people of the “GOP leadership” just can’t (or won’t) acknowledge it.

Without drastic change, starting immediately, the country is lost. Donald Trump may not be a movement conservative, but he is a change agent. Stopping illegal immigration, negotiating better trade deals, changing our tax and regulatory structure to bring whole industries back to the US, repudiating the “America Last” policies of Obama and Clinton – that is his agenda. Ted Cruz would proceed with a similar set of goals, but I think that Trump has a better chance of actually becoming President. He has already put a dent into the Clinton’s machine by reminding us all that Bill is an un-indicted sex offender, and that she has committed felonies – whether the Justice department prosecutes them or not. He has already altered the party registration picture, generated unprecedented turnout and voter loyalty, and has a good chance to bring some blue states to the Republican fold.

It is not that Trump will “change the Republican Party” or if it can “survive”. The party has already changed – Trump is just the best candidate suited to lead what it has become. Any attempt to ignore the will of the voters with shenanigans at the convention will not just disrupt this year’s race – it will end the GOP.

RCNPB Co-Hosts Palm Beach Gardens Candidate Forum on 2/25

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