The Other GOP Election Scandal That May Lead To A Special Election-- FL-15

Florida's 15th congressional district-- the heart of Florida-- connects the Tampa Metro to the Orlando Metro, hitting the suburbs of both while being primarily agricultural. The two biggest population centers are Lakeland and Brandon... and neither is all that big.

The district is marginally red-- with an R+6 PVI. Obama lost both times he ran and Trump beat Hillary by 10 points-- 53.1% to 43.1%. It used to be Adm Putnam's district but Dennis Ross won it when Putnam went on to be state Agriculture Commissioner. Ross decided to retire this year and, with help from Marco Rubio, state Rep Ross Spano won a Republican primary against ex-state Rep Neil Combee. Meanwhile, self-described "moderate," Kristen Carlson, an EMILY's List candidate, beat a progressive Navy vet, Andrew Learned. She outraged him by self-funding around $100,000 into her campaign.

In the general, Carlson spent $2,038,400 to Spano's $851,583, a hefty chunk of which was illegally obtained. More on that in a moment. Ryan's SuperPAC spent $1,744,302 attacking Carlson and the DCCC responded with just $694,360, pretty much sealing her fate. The race was rated a toss up leaning towards Spano. 538 gave him a 57.9% chance to win and her a 42.1% chance. Every legitimate poll showed Spano ahead of her, though not prohibitively so. The biggest part of the district is in the Tampa suburbs (Hillsborough Co.) and that was very close with just a small lead for Spano, His lead in Lake County was also small, but Spano lead her by a very wide margin in Polk County. Overall, the results looked like this:

John Romano's column in the Tampa Bay Times yesterday, Welcome to Congress, Rep. Spano. Now please resign, explains what happened next.

He has yet to be sworn in as a congressman, and Ross Spano’s reputation is already hopelessly cheapened.

It started benignly enough with late campaign finance reports, escalated to potential illegal campaign donations and now seems to be entering an inappropriate staffing juncture.

The revelations are coming so routinely that they are threatening to obscure the one thing that voters should care about most:

He cheated.

All of the accusations and details are important-- and need to be investigated by the appropriate authorities-- but the bottom line is Spano broke some pretty important rules to win a congressional seat.

It doesn’t matter if it was unintentional. It doesn’t matter if it fails to rise to a criminal level. It doesn’t matter if he was the favorite anyway.

This Hillsborough County politician won an election unfairly, and that reality cannot be ignored.

Thus, he needs resign. Before he even takes office.

Really, it shouldn’t even be a debate. The evidence is clear enough that Spano himself has acknowledged potential misdeeds, although he claims it is a case of ignorance more than malfeasance.

Setting aside the ramifications of that defense-- the man is an attorney who has served three terms in the state House of Representatives, and he doesn’t understand basic campaign financing laws?-- it still does not change the fact that his victory is irrevocably tainted.

Think about it this way:

What if you accidentally filed false tax returns? Do you think the IRS would accept “oops’’ as a defense? Even if you weren’t charged with a crime, I’m pretty sure the feds would want their money back.

What if you were an athlete who accidentally took performance-enhancing drugs? Do you suppose the International Olympic Committee would be okay with you keeping that gold medal?

Well, those same standards should apply in an election.

In other words, voters should get their ballots back.

In this case, Spano acknowledged he may have (i.e. probably) accepted loans from friends and then used that money in his campaign, which is specifically forbidden because it would be a simple way to get around individual donation limits. When it was first pointed out to Spano, he suggested the money might have been legally donated by his wife. That excuse didn’t hold up very long.

We’re not talking a few hundred, or even a few thousand, dollars. The amount of loans and donations, first discovered by Tampa Bay Times correspondent William March, was in the six figures.

As if Spano were trying to create a template as to why these shady transactions are illegal, he apparently allowed one of the people who loaned him money to later fire his campaign treasurer and be part of the hiring process for his congressional staff, according to a recent Politico report.

So you have a politician who conveniently failed to file campaign reports on time, conveniently suggested his wife gave him this mysterious money, conveniently got rid of his campaign treasurer and, when all else failed, conveniently suggested personal loans might have been used, quite innocently if illegally, for his campaign.

By this point, whether you believe Spano’s many explanations is irrelevant.

The harm has been done and the only solution is Spano’s departure and a special election for his not-even-warm congressional seat.

The first Democrat to represent Polk County in recent times was Alan Grayson. I wonder if there's any way to talk him into running for the seat. He'd be a hell of a lot better than either Spano or Carlson.

House Votes To Officially Deny Climate Change-- Really

This morning we started the day with a look at the irreversible catastrophe Global Warming has in store for Florida-- and how Florida congressmembers from districts that will wind up entirely under the sea-- like Dennis Ross, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Mario Diaz-Balart, Patrick Murphy, Bill Posey and Vern Buchanan-- have consistently voted against policies that would save their own constituents and for an agenda that will utterly destroy the very districts they represent. All of them are Republicans, although Murphy calls himself a Democrat and is one of the up-and-comers in the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.

Last Thursday West Virginia Republican David McKinley, one of King Coal's most abject servants in Congress, proposed and passed an amendment to the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act (H.R.4923)-- "an amendment to prohibit use of funds to design, implement, administer or carry out specified assessments regarding climate change." Every single Florida Republican voted for the amendment-- which could have been called, "The Orlando Beach Front Property Amendment," and every Florida Democrat voted against it. It passed 229-188, the GOP's one moderate, Chris Gibson (R-NY), voting with the Democrats and 5 of the worst Big Energy whores from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party crossing the aisle and voting with the GOP (and against humanity and the Planet Earth):

• John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA)
• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
• Jim Matheson (Blue Dog- UT)
• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
• Nick Rahall (Blue Dog-WV)

Back in West Virginia, yesterday's Gazette-Mail explained McKinley's amendment as one to prohibit the U.S. Department of Energy and the Army Corps of Engineers from carrying out any policies related to climate change and climate science.

Those “specified assessments” include the two most comprehensive reports on climate change, the U.S. government’s National Climate Assessment, five years in the making, and the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The amendment would prohibit the agencies from participating in future versions of those reports and also prohibit them from acting on any of the recommendations contained in those reports.

The amendment was added to a $34 billion appropriations bill that would fund the two agencies, as well as parts of the Department of the Interior and other agencies. It also would apply to $80 million in funding for the Appalachian Regional Commission, which funds projects to improve job opportunities and infrastructure in the region.

“Spending precious resources to pursue a dubious climate change agenda compromises our clean-energy research and America’s infrastructure,” McKinley said on the House floor. “Congress should not be spending money pursuing ideologically driven experiments.”

Speaking against the amendment, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, said it disregards the research of the overwhelming majority of climate scientists.

“The Republicans, in general, don’t seem to trust the scientists,” Kaptur said. “This amendment requires the Department of Energy to assume that carbon pollution isn’t harmful and that climate change won’t cost a thing. That’s nothing but a fantasy.”

Parts of the missions of the Department of Energy and the Corps of Engineers would seem to be inextricable from climate change and climate science. For instance, the bill authorizes $1.7 billion for the Corps of Engineers to spend on river and harbor construction, flood- and storm-damage reduction and shore protection.

Meanwhile, the National Climate Assessment reports that the global sea level has risen by eight inches since 1880 and is projected to rise another one to four feet by 2100. The global sea level rose about twice as fast in the years since 1992 as it did in the previous century, the report said.

The Department of Energy also is heavily involved with efforts to address climate change.

“We develop new technologies and reduce the costs of renewables, new nuclear, environmental protection in natural gas production, carbon capture and sequestration, really across the board,” Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said in a May teleconference, describing his agency’s actions on climate change.

“Addressing the effects of climate change is a top priority of the Energy Department,” the agency’s website says. “As global temperature rise, wildfires, drought and high electricity demand put stress on the nation’s energy infrastructure. And severe weather-- the leading cause of power outages and fuel supply disruption in the United States-- is projected to worsen.”

Rahall was one of only five Democrats to support the amendment.

Asked why the Department of Energy and the Army Corps of Engineers should not be able to consider climate change, Rahall emailed a statement saying that he supported the amendment to help block actions by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Rahall did not respond when asked what the amendment had to do with the EPA.

Perhaps Rahall was talking with Florida teabagger Dennis Ross, an enthusiastic Climate Change denier, almost all of whose Tampa Bay area district will be inundated in the deluge scientists are promising. Blue America has endorsed progressive Democrat Alan Cohn as an ideal replacement for Ross. Yesterday Cohn marveled at Ross' incredibly backward posture towards Climate Change:

"There is a simple explanation," he told us, "why Dennis Ross would vote to prohibit the use of federal funds to assess the impact of climate change in this appropriations bill. It’s because he’s pledged his allegiance to the crazies who deny science and he doesn’t give a damn what the impact is on his constituents, his community, the economy, our state, and our planet. It’s no shock. Ross puts the interests of that small, belligerent group holding Congress hostage ahead of the rest of us when it comes to immigration reform, minimum wage, health care and countless other issues. When it comes to climate change, Ross recently told Think Progress 'I am not accepting all the theories that are out there that say climate change is what it is because of us.' Well, according to a recent study at the University of Florida (Ross’s alma mater) 'With a high degree of certainty, science tells us that human activities are changing the composition of Earth's atmosphere, increasing the levels of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.' The University of Florida says the science, in this case, includes the conclusions from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a Nobel Peace Prize winner for 2006, and included more than 2,000 scientists 'to provide... an objective source of information about climate change' based on 'the latest scientific, technical, and socio-economic literature produced worldwide.' According to the study 'Specifically for Florida, warming climate could raise sea level by one to three feet (or 12 to 36 inches) over the next century.' It goes on to says it will destroy our aquifers (our drinking water) flood our farm land, and destroy tourism, and wreck our economy. Dennis Ross says it’s all-good though. He says taking action on climate change is a matter of personal responsibility that can’t be legislated like gun control. Wow!"

The DCCC isn't going after many of the real villains in the Climate Change wars-- particularly not Steve Israel crony and House Energy Committee chair Fred Upton (MI-06). They are trying to defeat Chris Gibson though, the one Republican who votes with the Democrats on Global Warming. And much of their resources are spent on anti-EPA Climate Change denier incumbents like Nick Rahall and John Barrow. Needless to say, Israel has nixed helping Alan Cohn against Dennis Ross. That's part of reason Blue America is asking our supporters to step in and contribute to Cohn's grassroots campaign.

Every inch of land on this map will be underwater or uninhabitable before the end of the century

Dennis Ross Taunts His Moderate Tampa Bay Constituents That He's "More Conservative Than Allen West"

A few days ago, we pointed out that a Tampa-area district, FL-15, has been off the national electoral radar but has come into play in light of a poll showing that voters are open to replacing right-wing extremist Dennis Ross with Alan Cohn, the progressive Democrat running for the seat. Cohn is the recipient of the 2007 George Foster Peabody Award, one of journalism's highest honors, for uncovering and then reporting on a case that showed defective parts were being installed on Black Hawk helicopters built by Connecticut-based Sikorsky Aircraft.

Unlike O'Reilly, Cohn is an actual recipient of the Peabody Award. And as Chief Investigative Reporter at WFTS-TV in Tampa, he exposed a fake U.S. Marine masquerading as a decorated war hero in Tampa. In a high-profile case, Cohn exposed a politician, then-Hillsborough County Commissioner Jim Norman, who took a half million dollars from a wealthy businessman to buy an undisclosed vacation home in Arkansas.

If Cohn is elected to Congress, he'd be the only Member to have won a Peabody and two Emmy Awards [UPDATE: he won 4 Emmys, not 2], one which he earned in Boston for exposing a convicted killer trying to become a Boston police officer and another for work in Miami that helped win back benefits for a lost and forgotten Vietnam veteran. What a great and natural replacement he'd make for Darrell Issa as head of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform!

Alan and his wife Patricia live in Tampa with their two children Ann, who just graduated from high school, and Aaron, a sophomore and an up and coming baseball player. I asked Alan to introduce himself to DWT readers with a guest post explaining why he was interested in running for Congress. If you like what you hear, please consider contributing to his grassroots campaign. Tampa deserves two congressmembers who care about ordinary working families.

Guest Post
by Alan Cohn

It really is ironic. A new poll has just come out showing I’m in position to beat a two term Tea Party extremist in a traditionally Republican district. The reasons likely voters give as to why they’d prefer that I be in Congress rather than right wing extremist Dennis Ross are the same reasons that make my bid for Congress such an incredible challenge.

I’m a middle class guy, not a millionaire. I’m not a politician flush with special interest money. I’ve actually worked for a living. For over 30-years, I’ve spoken truth to power, exposed political corruption and fraud. I won journalism’s highest honor for revealing defective parts were being installed on Black Hawk helicopters flown by our military.

When likely voters are told about my background and what I stand for I go from 7-points down along party lines to winning this race by 10-points.

My opponent, Dennis Ross, loves to boast he’s "More conservative than his great friend Allen West." Ross is one of the most anti-middle class, anti-woman members of Congress. He’s opposed to equal pay, marriage equity, a living wage, and immigration reform among other things.

I’m running as a middle class member of this community to represent a middle class which been falling farther and father behind as the cost of living continues to go up and incomes don’t keep pace.

I agree with Elizabeth Warren when she said, “Americans are fighters. We're tough, resourceful and creative, and if we have the chance to fight on a level playing field, where everyone pays a fair share and everyone has a real shot, then no one-- no one can stop us.”

These aren’t Democratic values or a Republican values, they’re American values.

In Congress, raising the minimum wage may be a partisan issue but it’s not in the rest of the country. Americans support it. That support is overwhelming in the FL-15 where my opponent recently dismissed the concern of a local fast food worker who simply asked him why in the world should someone who works a 40-hour work week should still qualify for food stamps.

Dennis Ross’s cavalier response made all the networks and earned him the well-deserved title of poster boy in the war on the working class.

The reality is we Americans overwhelmingly believe hard working men and women should earn a livable wage. We believe in marriage equality, immigration reform, a woman’s right to choose.

Ross loves to give lip service about a lot of things but you’d be hard pressed to find anything he has actually done. Take the VA for example.

There is ONE candidate in this race who has actually held the VA accountable. I won 60-thousand dollars in back benefits for a Vietnam Veteran who was eating out of a trashcan. And I chased officials of the VA down the halls of Congress after finding evidence an Iraq War vet WAS wounded in action. Evidence the VA couldn’t find on it own.

This is a new 15th Congressional District. It is almost evenly split between registered Democrats, Republicans and there are 96-thousand independents. By definition this is a moderate Congressional District with wonderful, open minded, moderate voters.

This election is a choice between a candidate who can point to tangible examples of speaking truth to power, uncovering fraud, fighting for our Vets, consumers, and a Congressman who has aligned himself with the most extreme elements of his party. It’s a decision between our vision of creating a society where’s there a level playing field for all Americans and those who would really prefer to to turn back the clock to a time before equal opportunity and equal rights. I relish the comparison and the opportunity to have a voice and a vote in Congress.

Cohn for Comgress from Alan Cohn on Vimeo.

FL-15 In Play

I noticed something strange on a random DCCC website the other day. The page itself is just a front to sucker climate change activists into giving up their e-mail addresses to the DCCC so they can solicit contributions and sell the info to other vendors.-- one of those phony "sign my petition" pages they always use: "Sign the petition now to demand Congress Take Action on Climate before it's too late." No big deal. But the names of the candidates on the page were totally random-- except one. Can you pick out the one that is different from the rest?

Rep. Ami Bera

Rep. Tim Bishop

Rep. Linda Sanchez

Rep. Brad Schneider

Rep. Mark Takano

Rep. Paul Tonko

Erin Bilbray, Candidate for Congress

Alan Cohn, Candidate for Congress

Domenic Recchia, Candidate for Congress

Unless you live in Connecticut, where he won a Peabody Award for TV investigative journalism or in the Tampa area where he was a popular newscaster on WFTS, if you said, "I never heard of Alan Cohn," you'd be correct. But that should change… and fast.

Cohn is running for Congress in the FL-15 seat currently occupied by reactionary multimillionaire Dennis Ross. Cohn's vision for governance is solidly progressive and far more in tune with mainstream American political thought. The DCCC has ignored the race as has the Beltway political media. That gave Cohn and opportunity to spend a year building his campaign without any interference. A poll about to be released by Anzalone Liszt Grobe Research, usually thought of as the Blue Dog polling firm, is about the change the way FL-15 is being looked at and put it on the national radar. This should be out tomorrow:

Congressional challenger Alan Cohn is in position to unseat two-term incumbent Dennis Ross in Florida’s 15th Congressional District. Despite the conservative nature of this district, this seat is very much in play, given Ross’ disconnect from the average voter and Cohn’s profile as an investigate reporter who has stood up to corruption and is not afraid to take on the powerful. If he can acquire sufficient resources to sustain a robust paid communication campaign, Alan Cohn has a chance to defeat Dennis Ross and pick up a Congressional seat for Democrats.

Dennis Ross is a weakly known incumbent

• Our June benchmark survey shows that Ross is unknown to a majority of voters in FL-15 (22% favorable / 19% unfavorable / 60% can’t rate). This is a daunting number for any incumbent and is indicative of the constituent outreach Ross has in this district.

• Dennis Ross is an untested incumbent who won his Congressional seat in the 2010 Republican wave. Redistricting changed the district to include more of Hillsborough County, and Ross was uncontested in 2012. Alan Cohn has the ability to surprise Ross and the NRCC in a race that is not currently on the national political radar.


After balanced positives, Alan Cohn and Dennis Ross are statistically tied

• Cohn trails Dennis Ross in the current vote by -7 points (35% Cohn / 42% Ross / 23% undecided). However, after reading balanced paragraphs on each candidate, Cohn trails by only -2 points and is statistically tied, within the survey’s margin of error (45% Cohn / 47% Ross / 8% undecided).

• In the informed vote, Cohn opens a +10 point lead in Hillsborough County and a +17 point lead among registered NPA and minor party voters. This coalition can help Cohn overcome the slight Republican tilt to the district, if Cohn has the proper resources to target swing voters in paid communications.

• Non-white voters (+33 points) and African-Americans (+47 points) are also strong Cohn supporters. Any help to expand the electorate (particularly in Lakeland) and boost field efforts can make this a more diverse electorate and more favorable terrain for Cohn.


Charlie Crist shows the ability for crossover support, overcoming generic Republican preference

• In a generic ballot for Congress, voters in FL-15 prefer a Republican candidate by +6 points (37% Dem. Candidate / 43% GOP candidate / 12% depends / 4% neither / 4% don’t know).

• However, Charlie Crist and Rick Scott are neck-and-neck in the race for Governor (45% Crist / 46% Scott / 9% undecided). FL-15 is in the Tampa media market, and part of Crist’s home base. Cohn can benefit from Crist’s Democratic coattails at the top of the ticket, if he has the resources to introduce himself as a fresh voice who will look out for the middle class and stand up to Congress.

Adam Smith, the dean of Florida political reporters interviewed Cohn a couple weeks ago and reminded his his readers that even though the district has a Republican tilt, Democratic Senator Bill Nelson won it overwhelmingly in 2012.

"Dennis Ross is part of that small belligerent tea party group that is saying no to anything, who would rather see the ship sink than reach across the aisle and solve problems," said Cohn, arguing that the right candidate with the right message can win the seat regardless of party affiliation.

Alan Grayson, one district over, told me about Cohn and said he's a serious and solid candidate. That was enough to make me call him and listen to what he had to say about why he is running and what he'd like to accomplish in Washington for the people in Polk and Hillsborough counties. He's anything but a mystery meat candidate and he has a clear and cohesive platform on his website that explains exactly where he stands on the issues people in central Florida are concerned with. How's this for a start: "The big banks and Wall Street interests that fund the campaigns of 'friends in Congress' have had their recovery; now it’s time for relief for America’s middle class. I want an economic recovery that includes small business owners and all hard working families whose income has failed to keep up with the cost of living. Reform means ensuring any new laws regarding bank fees, ATM fees, credit cards, mortgage lenders, and insurance companies work for consumers, not just for corporations. Future political action should include laws freeing small businesses from regulations that strangle innovation and ingenuity, while protecting workers rights, and workplace safety."

He backs comprehensive immigration reform, trade with Cuba, increasing the minimum wage, marriage equality, and a strong, well-funded public education system. When it comes to energy policy he believes that decreasing dependence on foreign oil is good for the country and good for the district:

Solar energy and biomass are the only local energy resources for Florida. Investing in these resources provides enormous economic opportunities for entrepreneurs and local businesses to create job opportunities for residents of the 15th Congressional District.

• Solar power provides the biggest economic opportunities because it’s the fastest growing energy industry globally. Solar power grew at an annual growth rate of ~50% globally from 2000 – 2012. Therefore, it presents economic opportunities for investment in manufacturing as well as deployment in Florida.
• Solar power generates seven times the number of jobs that would be based on a conventional power plant.
• Florida was the global leader in manufacturing of solar panels in the 1970s and early 80s. Because of the new global demand and the resulting clean environment we can create opportunities for entrepreneurs in Florida to make the Sunshine State a global leader in solar panels again.
• Producing biofuels from our biomass resources provides economic opportunities for local businesses.

By investing in renewable energy research and developing public policies that open up business opportunities for entrepreneurs in Florida, we will create new jobs while helping families living in the 15th Congressional District lower their energy bills through the use of less expensive, renewable energy.

If you'd like to help make sure Alan has the resources he needs to compete effectively against Ross, you can contribute to his campaign here.