Florida’s Election 2010 Underway

October 18, 2010

After months of campaigning and free-swinging television advertising, Election 2010 began in earnest Monday as early voting startedin Florida’s 67 counties.

In some counties, polls open as early as 7 a.m. And in a year when the term “enthusiasm gap,” has elbowed its way into the political lexicon, both parties are pushing hard to drive opening-day turnout to claim symbolic points and show their candidates can emerge victorious when polls close Nov. 2.

Florida Democrats had planned more than 100 weekend events, including neighborhood walks, phone banks and grassroots gatherings, while the state GOP also had 1,500 volunteers last week making calls to urge voters to get out early.

While voters go to the polls, House and Senate Republican leaders also are scheduled to gather Monday at the state party headquarters in Tallahassee for a fundraiser to help legislative candidates.

“We’re seeing incredible enthusiasm,” Florida Republican spokesman Dan Conston said of party activists across the state. “We plan to keep that big push going Monday.”

Early voting has changed campaign strategy for candidates and the parties. Along with traditional get-out-the-vote efforts, this week also will likely see the switch flipped on some of the campaign’s hardest-hitting TV spots as Florida’s governor’s race, a three-way U.S. Senate contest and all three Cabinet contests join local races heading into the homestretch.

Already, there has been some angling. Senate Republicans have canceled $4 million in TV ads planned earlier for the front-running Marco Rubio, with party leaders seeming to sense victory and redirecting cash toward capturing Democratic-held seats in Illinois, Pennsylvania and California.

“We had no control over it to begin with,” Rubio spokesman Alex Burgos said. “All we can do is keep focused on our race, and this week, as voters begin to go to the polls, this is what we’ve been building for.”

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen, meanwhile, defended his party’s decision to cancel the $650,000 TV ad buy it planned to air for U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach, in the campaign’s final week – a move widely seen as the party surrendering the first-term lawmaker’s contest to challenger, state Rep. Sandy Adams, R-Orlando.

“The DCCC constantly makes adjustments based on the level of Republican activity in a district,” Hollen said. “We are fully invested in the critical voter contact efforts in Suzanne Kosmas’s campaign. We will continue to keep our options open.”

A DCCC spokesman also dismissed claims by U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner last week, during a brief stop in Tallahassee, that Republicans were poised to reclaim four congressional seats now held by Florida Democrats, including Kosmas, and U.S. Reps. Alan Grayson, Ron Klein and Allen Boyd.

“John Boehner’s dreaming if he thinks Floridians are going to embrace their agenda that helped create the worst recession our country has seen in decades,” said Shripal Shah of the DCCC. “Democrats are running strong campaigns across the state.”

By John Kennedy, The News Service Florida

Comments

One Response to “Florida’s Election 2010 Underway”

  1. anydaynow on October 18th, 2010 10:54 am

    I will be glad when Americans do as the Australians did a decade ago and make sure that our elections are honest, and that the process is transparent.
    Then, I could vote with pride instead of apprehension.
    http://www.blackboxvoting.org/

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News