FL-26: Gloria Romero Roses, Another DCCC Anti-Union, Romney-Like Rich Democrat, Falters

The Miami Herald broke the big political news in South Florida Monday morning. "In the summer of 2011, the arrest of U.S. Rep. David Rivera seemed all but certain... The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office drafted a 52-count complaint against Congressman David Rivera, before their case unraveled amid tension between the two agencies." Short version: Rivera's been embezzling money from his campaign funds and using them for his flamboyant lifestyle. The 52 counts against him included charges of theft, money laundering and racketeering. Florida is so riven with partisan corruption that any kind of conclusive investigation was impossible with Rick Scott as governor. The FBI and IRS are still working on the case.

Meanwhile a not unrelated story was breaking, not a criminal story but also one related to the election in the new 26th congressional district which encompasses much of Rivera's old district and where he's running in November. The August 14th primary will determine which of 4 Democratic candidates will face him in November, though former Miami-Dade County Democratic Party chairman Joe Garcia is heavily favored to win. In the redistricting process the new boundaries are slightly more favorable to Democrats than the old lines. Obama, who narrowly lost to McCain in 2008 in the district would have tied McCain under the new lines. Sabotaged by Debbie Wasserman Schultz in 2008-- who was out to protect fellow Fanjul sugar empire client Mario Diaz-Balart-- Garcia still scored an impressive 47%, prompting Diaz-Balart to move to a safer district two years later.

Fast-forward to 2012 and Wasserman Schultz is ruining the DNC rather than the DCCC, though the DCCC has managed to find another inept leader, "ex"-Blue Dog Steve Israel, to make it easier for Republicans to dominate Congress. As we've been pointing out, Israel's gross incompetence was allowing Rivera to slip off the hook again. Israel and Wasserman Schultz-- in their determined search for corrupt, conservative candidates like themselves-- have recruited a couple real doozies for FL-26 to run against Rivera, but they've proven so inept and unqualified that the DCCC has been forced to "unrecruit" each one! First came the Luis Garcia catastrophe and that was followed by the equally lame Gloria Romero Roses from another part of Florida-- a typical unions-suck/taxes-are-too-high, entitled rich asshole from Broward County. They managed to infuriate every Democratic official in Miami-Dade-- and every labor union by not even consulting them and shoving her right onto their "Emerging Races" list. And they did this, completely aware that the immensely popular (and populist) Joe Garcia is jumping into the race.

This week, in the span of 24 hours, Romero Roses released a dismal fundraising report, insulted President Obama's judgement, lied about her opponent and lied about being named to the DCCC's Red To Blue program. The Fort Lauderdale-based candidate running in the Miami/Florida Keys seat claims her business acumen is her primary qualification for being a congresswoman, but just like Mitt Romney, Roses' business dealings are largely anti-worker and disgusting.

The Miami Herald has detailed some of Roses' union-busting past and the utter contempt SEIU and other labor unions have for her. 

Roses and her husband made millions running Continental Management, which prospered by paying custodial workers minimum wage and then firing them if they asked for a raise or assistance with healthcare benefits. The National Labor Relations Board declared that four of the firings were illegal and retaliatory. Roses feigns innocence as a simple employee of the company but the truth is very different, she was the Human Resources Director and her husband was the CEO. 

Now, like Mitt Romney, Gloria Romero Roses is trying to retroactively change her anti-worker rights business record. And of course she has millions in personal wealth to spend on her misleading campaign.

Fortunately for progressives we have an excellent candidate running against Roses in former Obama Administration appointee Joe Garcia.

Roses is now spending some of her blood money on attacking Joe, claiming-- rather absurdly for Miami-Dade Democrats-- that he is unfit and unqualified to serve. Roses thinks she knows better than President Obama who appointed Joe, the FBI who vetted and cleared his appointment and the U.S. Senate who confirmed his appointment to the Department of Energy. And, of course, Miami Democrats elected Joe Garcia as their chairmen... so they must be fools too.

When Romero Roses announced her candidacy the DCCC, who encouraged her minus any due diligence, immediately placed her on their Red to Blue-Emerging Candidates list and lauded her entry. First, SEIU made the anti-worker record public and now her awful fundraising numbers have been released.

Roses raised $99,000 in a full quarter compared to $250,000 for Joe Garcia in just seven weeks.  Roses itemized contributions show that less than 25 voters in the district actually contributed to her campaign. This may have more to do with her living an hour from the district and less to do with her shady business record.

So the DCCC has officially dropped her. Her name has been removed and scrubbed from their Red To Blue website and they are now "endorsing" the district as a Red-to-Blue target, not her sorry campaign.

While that was the right thing to do both politically and strategically now that Garcia is in the race, it highlights what a pack of screwballs are running the DCCC and their recruiting. Earlier in the cycle they recruited State Rep. Luis Garcia who they also placed on Red To Blue before he imploded and was run from the race and the Democratic Party. And even Luis Garcia raised more than Roses and he didn't have half her baggage! Only the DCCC could possibly screw up again and let a crook like Rivera skate again-- although that's exactly what the Fanjuls expect Israel and Wasserman Schultz to deliver for them.