Politics: Outgoing Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Holly Benson Announces Candidacy for Attorney General
On October 29, 2009, former Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) Secretary Holly Benson, as expected, announced her entry into the 2010 Republican primary race for Florida attorney general.
Ms. Benson, who announced her resignation from AHCA on October 15, 2009, served as secretary of the agency beginning in February 2008. She also served as secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) during the first year of Governor Charlie Crist's administration. From 2000 until her appointment as DBPR secretary, she was a Republican state representative from Pensacola.
The leading Republican candidate for attorney general is current Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp. Two state Senators, Sens. Dan Gelber (D-Miami Beach) and Dave Aronberg (D-Greenacres) are running against each other in the Democratic primary for attorney general.
Gov. Crist announced his choice to replace Ms. Benson as AHCA secretary on October 28, appointing the agency's chief of staff, Thomas W. Arnold. Mr. Arnold previously served as AHCA's state Medicaid director and in various positions with the state Department of Health.
Utility Regulation: Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC) Delays Action on Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL) and Progress Energy Florida, Inc (PEF) Rate Cases; FPL Hires Former Attorney General Bob Butterworth to Support Its Rate Case
On October 27, 2009, the FPSC voted to delay action until January 2010 on a $1.25-billion rate increase proposed by FPL and a $500-million rate increase proposed by PEF.
The FPSC meeting included new Commissioner David Klement, who replaced Commissioner Katrina McMurrian. Ms. McMurrian resigned from the commission after failing to be reappointed by Gov. Crist. The other new Commissioner, Benjamin "Steve" Stevens, will take office when the term of current PSC Chair Matthew Carter expires on January 1, 2010.
FPL acknowledged that it may have mishandled the rate case on October 29, 2009 when it announced that it had retained Mr. Butterworth to work on the case. Mr. Butterworth, a leading Democrat with a strong pro-consumer reputation, served as state attorney general for 16 years and more recently as Gov. Crist's secretary of the Department of Children and Families.
Mr. Butterworth said the company's handling of the rate case had been "a total disservice" to Floridians. An FPL spokesperson said, "there are some things we would like to have changed about the way in which we approached this case."
Politics: Gov. Crist's Approval Rating Drops to 42 Percent in New Poll
A new media-sponsored poll indicates that Gov. Crist's approval rating, which remained high through most of his term in office, has now dropped to 42 percent. In a St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald/Bay News 9 poll released on October 31, 2009, 42 percent of likely voters described the governor's job performance as "excellent" or "good," 39 percent described his job performance as "fair," and 16 percent described his job performance as "poor."
Gov. Crist's results among Republican respondents was not significantly better than his performance in the survey as a whole. Among Republicans, 51 percent rated his job performance as "fair" or "poor."
In spite of weakening approval ratings, the poll shows Gov. Crist maintaining a strong lead over former state House Speaker Marco Rubio (R-Miami) in the 2010 Republican primary for U.S. Senate. Fifty percent of Republican respondents would vote for Gov. Crist, 28 percent would vote for Mr. Rubio, and 22 percent are undecided.
The media poll also showed a virtual tie in the 2010 governor's race, with the likely Democratic candidate, state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, receiving 38 percent, and the likely Republican candidate, Attorney General Bill McCollum, receiving 37 percent. Twenty-five percent of respondents, including 50 percent of independents, were undecided.
The poll was conducted by two polling companies, Schroth, Eldon & Associates, which usually polls for Democrats and The Polling Company, which usually polls for Republicans. The pollsters contacted 600 registered voters by telephone between October 25 and October 28, 2009. The margin of error was four percentage points for the general questions and six percentage points for the Republican-only and Democrat-only questions.
Politics: U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler to Leave the U.S. Congress in January 2010
U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler (D-19th Congressional District) has announced that his resignation from the U.S. Congress will take effect on January 3, 2010. On October 14, 2009, Rep. Wexler had announced his intent to resign from Congress to become president of the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation, but at that time, he was not specific about a resignation date.
The announcement of a resignation date paves the way for a special election to choose Rep. Wexler's successor, which will probably occur in March 2010. Announced candidates include state Sen. Ted Deutch (D-Delray Beach) and former Broward County Commissioner and state legislator Ben Graber (D-Delray Beach).
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