With under 80 days to go until the 2012 election, Democrats are turning up the heat — running aggressive campaigns in every corner of the state in races up and down the ballot. Here’s some of last week’s highlights you might have missed:
Democrats seized on Ryan plan to end Medicare as we know it in congressional races across the state:
CD-13 and CD-16: On the eve of Ryan’s arrival in Tampa, Democratic challengers Jessica Ehrlich and Keith Fitzgerald held a conference call “aiming to wrap the Ryan budget plan around the incumbents’ necks.” Ehrlich said that “Bill Young’s vote to end Medicare as we know it is just another indication that he’s out of touch and has become part of the problem in Washington,” while Fitzgerald highlighted that “Ryan and Buchanan’s plan would end Medicare as we know it for the over 170,000 seniors in Manatee and Sarasota Counties who rely on this vital program, raising the cost of healthcare for our seniors by thousands of dollars every year.”
CD-18: Patrick Murphy released a new ad, highlighting Allen West’s two votes to end Medicare as we know it. Make sure you read the facts about West’s false ad.
CD 10: Democrats “pounced” on Dan Webster’s disturbing pattern of absence in the district, raising questions about whether he is afraid to confront his constituents (after his disastrous Town Hall last year) over his vote to support Paul Ryan’s budget. Meanwhile, Demings is out with a new video, check it out here.
CD-6: Fresh out of his primary and saddled with a controversial statement admitting he supports massive changes to entitlement program, Ron DeSantis last week confirmed that he backs Ryan’s plan which ends Medicare as we know it.
SD-8: Frank Bruno is standing up to protect the quality of life in Marion County, hosting a round table on critical water issues this week. By the way, if you haven’t seen his new website make sure to check it out.
HD-113: Democrats made history on primary night, electing the first openly gay legislator, David Richardson.
HD-112: Diaz de la Portilla got smacked with a campaign fiance complaint, stumbling right out of the gate after the primary.
HD-30: Democratic activists tied embattled incumbent Scott Plakon to Rick, “Toxic” Scott — highlighting Plakon’s record of voting in lockstep with the Governor to cut public education funding. The Orlando Sentinel wrote that Plakon “is one of the most vulnerable legislative incumbents in Florida this year.”
HD-68: In a growing sign of his campaign’s momentum, Dwight Dudley securing the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of the Police, the Florida Professional Firefighters and St. Petersburg Association of Firefighters, who had previously supported his opponent Frank Farkas.