Orlando Tea Party Straw Poll

Local politicians from Orange and Seminole County gathered last Saturday (2-13-10) for three minutes of speaking time and a table for a reported $200 each. The event had a couple of surprises but mostly politicians meeting and greeting the hard core political activist peasants. This is one of those times the average guy doesn’t have to shell out $75 to $250 to meet their local leaders.

The biggest surprise was Sandy Adams upset of Karen Diebel in the Florida Congressional District 24 race. Diebel has out raised Adams in contributions 2 to 1. The last report on Open Secrets had Diebel with $213,000 and Adams with $114,000. Both well below Democratic incumbent Susanne Kosmas $1.1 million. Diebel reported her contributions were up to $300,000. Still Sandy won with 31% to Diebel’s 28%.

Florida Congressional D24 Republican Candidate Sandy Adams

One thing I have notice talking to the two of them is Adams comes across as genuine. Diebel comes across as a Winter Park aristocrat. Like she really thinks she is smarter than us peons, maybe most but not all Mrs. Diebel. She is a politician and is vague on hard issues like Social Security reform and Medicare. District 8 candidate Todd Long wrote a book on his positions. Karen gives out one paragraph blurbs on her web site like “The Democrats in Congress continue to punish innovators and entrepreneurs. As a businesswoman, Karen Diebel has created hundreds of jobs for Floridians. She knows first hand what it takes to create growth and improve small businesses. Karen Diebel will protect those who create jobs by fighting burdensome government regulations and overbearing taxes. As your Congresswoman, Karen Diebel will support those who create jobs – not punish them.” Well hell Karen what exactly does that mean? Fair Tax? Cutting corporate taxes? Privatizing Social Security? Cutting capital gains taxes? Who knows? The aristocrat from Winter Park is the only one who knows. I sure don’t.

D24 candidate Karen Diebel enjoying political talk

I don’t like Sandy Adams politics especially her support of Sun Rail but she comes across as genuine and with no hidden agenda. She is not as flashy or as well heeled as Diebel but seems to say what she means and means what she says. She puts people at ease and is plain spoken. Her web site is a little more specific but not much “The marriage penalty should be eliminated entirely and we need to stop penalizing small businesses that want to keep their business in the family by removing the death tax. We need a simpler tax code that every American can understand.” Hey it’s a start. I would rather deal with a politician that maybe I am not 100% with but know where she stands on issues and doesn’t cater to an elite clientèle. Apparently more than a few peasants at the straw poll agreed with me. Personally I hope Jim Foster (11%) can give the two ladies a run for their money but as of now he has not filed a financial report.

Another shocker in Congressional District 8 was Patricia Sullivan’s surprising second place finish. Local favorite and strong grass roots organizer Todd Long squeaked out a 30% to 29% victory. After listening to Sullivan speak I figured it out. This lady may look average but she has charisma pouring out of her in abundance. She was easily one of the top three speakers of the day. This took me off guard and I had to do a double take to see if this was the same lady I was talking to maybe 30 minutes ago. I was impressed. Her campaign contributions to date are $13,000 well behind Republican challenger Gutierrez $300,000 and Democrat incumbent Grayson’s $2.3 million. Sullivan probably will not make it out of the Republican Primary but she is definitely an up and comer.

The Surprising D8 Candidate Patricia Sullivan

Todd Long won the straw poll as expected. He is the favorite candidate in District 8. The peasants, Tea Party activist and Libertarians love him because he is a federalist. He believes social engineering (that would include Social Security and Medicare) should be done at the state level. His grass roots organizational skills are phenomenal. Surprisingly he has not filled out a campaign contribution report at this time according to Open Secrets. In his 2008 Republican Primary he spent $250,000 of his own money in his race against Ric Keller. Something tells me his better half told him to lay off the personal funds and do more organizing. Just a guess. He is the type of candidate that can go head on with Grayson and win. “Kick Grayson ass” would be the campaign slogan I would choose but somehow I don’t think that will happen.

Florida House District 33 Candidate Franklin Perez

The best Libertarian showing was Franklin Perez’s surprising second place finish in Florida House District 33 race with 25% to Jay Brodeur’s 31%. Alex Snitker also finished second in the US Senate race with 22% to Marco Rubio’s 67%.

Franklin was a last minute entry into the event when another candidate dropped out. Franklin took advantage of his opportunity and made the most of it. The surprising results resulted in this celebratory e-mail “PRESS RELEASE: Libertarian Candidate for Florida State House (District 33) Franklin Perez Gets SECOND Place Finish in 2/13/2010 Orlando City Hall Tea Party Event Straw Poll! Gives Thanks to Those Who Voted for Him! Celebrates at Rachel’s Adult Entertainment Establishment in Casselberry! After the event, James Coakley and I decided to celebrate by going to Rachel’s Adult Entertainment Establishment in Casselberry and see beautiful ladies dance semi-nude! Again, thanks SO MUCH for those that have supported me! Sincerely, Franklin Perez (Libertarian) Florida State House Candidate (District 33) – Year 2010. Libertarian and Independent! Not Beholden to Party Politics! http://www.fperez1776.com.”

When was the last time a politician went to a strip bar to celebrate and then e-mailed the press to brag about it? Usually it’s the press busting the politician for going to strip clubs but not with Franklin. He is one politician that you can be 100% sure says what he means and means what he says. Rachel’s should give Franklin some comps next time he is there.

And the 2010 election season progresses. The only regret I have at these events is that more people don’t take the time to meet the politicians they gripe about all the time. When you meet these people in person they really do surprise and telegraph what they are about. The As a Mom website is planning to feature an outline on how the Tea Party members can organize into voting blocks for the primaries to get constitutional candidates into the general election. Probably something very similar if not the same rules I wrote about on this web site. Let’s all get organized for the primaries where we can make a difference.

The official results are as follow:

GOVERNOR
REP Paula Dockery 179 45.4%
REP Bill McCollum 139 35.3%
LIB John Wayne Smith 56 14.2%
REP Tim Devine 4 1.0%
DEM Anthony Knox Sr. 3 0.8%
IDP Peter Allen 2 0.5%
NPA Herman Giger 2 0.5%
REP Ed Heeney 2 0.5%
NPA C.C. Reed 2 0.5%
DEM Alex Sink 2 0.5%
REP James Van Driessche 2 0.5%
NPA Lesther Trujillo 1 0.3%
394

U.S. SENATE
REP Marco Rubio 277 66.6%
LIB Alex Snitker 90 21.6%
REP Charlie Crist 17 4.1%
REP Bernie DeCastro 9 2.2%
NPA Bobbie Bean 4 1.0%
REP Gwyn McClellan 3 0.7%
TEA Jorge Lovenguth 2 0.5%
DEM Chuch Lynch 2 0.5%
REP Robert smith 2 0.5%
NPA Lewis Armstrong 1 0.2%
DEM Tryone Brown Sr. 1 0.2%
DEM Kevin Burns 1 0.2%
REP Bob Coggins 1 0.2%
DEM Raphael Herman 1 0.2%
REP Thomas Mangum 1 0.2%
DEM Kendrick Meek 1 0.2%
DEM Belinda Noah 1 0.2%
DEM Lawrence Penpek 1 0.2%
REP Shawn Teeters 1 0.2%
416

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE – DISTRICT 24
REP Sandy Adams 112 30.8%
REP Karen Diebel 103 28.3%
REP Jim Foster 39 10.7%
REP Deon Long 31 8.5%
REP Edward Dedelow 24 6.6%
REP Tom Garcia 20 5.5%
REP James Heinzelman, Sr. 16 4.4%
NPA Larry Sinclair 15 4.1%
REP Jason Davis 2 0.5%
GRE Nicholas Ruiz III 2 0.5%
364

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE – DISTRICT 8
REP Todd Long 119 29.9%
REP Patricia Sullivan 114 28.6%
REP Dan Fanelli 57 14.3%
REP Ken Miller 49 12.3%
REP Kurt Kelly 35 8.8%
REP Peg Dunmire 12 3.0%
NPA Thomas Gregory 5 1.3%
DEM Alan Grayson 3 0.8%
REP Armando Gutierrez 2 0.5%
REP William Collins IV 1 0.3%
DEM Jim Holcomb 1 0.3%
398

ATTORNEY GENERAL
REP Pam Bondi 230 70.8%
REP Jim Lewis 46 14.2%
REP Jeff Kottkamp 30 9.2%
REP Holly Benson 15 4.6%
DEM Dave Aronberg 2 0.6%
DEM Dan Gelber 2 0.6%
325

COUNTY MAYOR
Matthew Falconer 242 73.3%
Mildred Fernandez 27 8.2%
Teresa Jacobs 24 7.3%
Bill Segal 18 5.5%
Linda Stewart 11 3.3%
Tim Adams 7 2.1%
Vienna Avaleres 1 0.3%
330

COMMISSION OF AGRICULTURE
REP Adam Putnam 141 46.8%
REP Carey Baker 131 43.5%
REP James Harlin Carter 12 4.0%
DEM Scott Maddox 8 2.7%
DEM Randy Hatch 4 1.3%
DEM Thaddeus Hamilton 3 1.0%
DEM Rick Minton, Jr. 2 0.7%
301

FL STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 33
REP Jason Brodeur 86 31.3%
LIB Franklin Perez 69 25.1%
REP Scott Bland 45 16.4%
REP Alice Sterling 45 16.4%
REP James DeCocq 23 8.4%
DEM Leo Cruz 7 2.5%
275

FL STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 34
REP Chris Dorworth 116 87.9%
DEM Steven Barnes 16 12.1%
132

FL STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 35
REP Dean Cannon 124 87.9%
DEM Amy Mercado 17 12.1%
141

FL STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 36
REP Craig McCarthy 118 93.7%
DEM Scott Randolph 8 6.3%
126

STATE REP 40
REP Eric Eisnaugle 126 90.0%
DEM Todd Christian 8 5.7%
DEM Rhonda Doyle 6 4.3%
140

STATE REP 41
REP Stephen Precourt 218 74.4%
REP Kevin Butler 63 21.5%
DEM Lee Douglas 12 4.1%
293

COUNTY COMMISSION DISTRICT 4
Jennifer Thompson 39 39.8%
Peter Clarke 21 21.4%
Lydia Pisano 14 14.3%
H. James Herborn III 11 11.2%
Kenneth Zook 8 8.2%
Mayra Uribe 5 5.1%