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FL-Sen: Sink Won't Run

by: James L.

Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 9:48 PM EST

Florida CFO Alex Sink won't run against GOP Sen. Mel Martinez:

Florida's chief financial officer, Alex Sink, has decided to run for a second term as CFO and forego a run against Martinez. She made the decision over the Thanksgiving weekend.

This is too bad -- Sink was probably our best bet to torpedo the hopelessly mediocre Martinez. It looks like she has her eye on the Governor's mansion when Crist is term-limited out of office in 2014.

Whoever runs in her place will likely be someone without statewide name recognition (e.g. Ron Klein), which will make this a bit tougher, but still doable with a good campaign. I wonder who Bob Menendez is calling tonight.

James L. :: FL-Sen: Sink Won't Run

Tags: FL-Sen, FL-Gov, alex sink, (All Tags)

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FL-Sen: Sink Won't Run | 27 comments

As long as she is running for governor than

which she must be then.

And I'm glad she let everyone know now. Here's to DWS, Klein, or Castor, let me one of those three be our candidate. Any of those are fine by me, although Klein seems like a more appealing candidate and we should be able to keep his seat from now on right?

by: Andrew @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 20:52:16 PM CST

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Erm, no she's not

In the section I quoted, it makes it clear that she's seeking another term as CFO.

by: James L. @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 20:57:52 PM CST

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meant in 2014. :)

by: Andrew @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 21:12:10 PM CST

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DWS would get crushed

Martinez is weak but not THAT weak.

by: ChadInFL @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 20:58:04 PM CST

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by: you @ soon

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Not so fast

PPP had her a point ahead of Martinez in their trial polls.

by: MichiganLiberal @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 21:17:39 PM CST

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With what? 30+% undecided?

Great, she's locked up the 35% of Florida liberals. Good luck to DWS in getting another 15% of the vote to win.

by: ChadInFL @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 21:27:56 PM CST

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Same for "fire-breathing" Wexler, frankly

by: andgarden @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 21:37:36 PM CST

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Sink polled similarly

Sure, they were crap polls, but it's not clear that DWS did worse than any other candidates mentioned.

That's not to say I'd support a DWS candidacy - quite the reverse as there's nothing I like less than a 'liberal' who always espouses the centrist position when it counts, but she's far from a hopeless candidate.

by: Englishlefty @ Tue Dec 02, 2008 at 11:08:02 AM CST

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Wexler!!

He can have his prostitutes canvass for him!!

by: liberal intellectual @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 21:00:14 PM CST

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It's a fun thing to do.

by: James L. @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 21:02:24 PM CST

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And still do his cocaine?

by: ChadInFL @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 21:02:31 PM CST

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If you combine the two together

it's probably even more fun.

by: Nico @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 22:38:54 PM CST

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I had to check Wikipedia to catch that reference, lol. Colbert interviews.

Love it.

by: JeremiahTheMessiah @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 21:02:44 PM CST

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Here we go!

http://www.colbertnation.com/t...

I couldn't embed the video due to the website not being able to read the code used or something.

by: JeremiahTheMessiah @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 21:11:06 PM CST

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Not sure about Klein

Ron Klein had a closer than expected re-election against a lesser candidate in a district that was somewhat favorable to him. So I'm not so sure about him. I actually think former Congressman and Florida Democratic Party head Karen Thurman could be a good choice.

by: dag @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 21:05:25 PM CST

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Closer than who expected?

He doubled Kerry's 2004 margin. And let's not forget, that district was drawn for a Republican.

I'm bullish on him against Mel. Especially since he can apparently raise the money.

by: andgarden @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 21:26:01 PM CST

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Yeah

I think if we aren't gonna have a candidate with statewide name rec like Sink, then we probably want someone like Klein - someone with a proven ability to hustle, raise tons of cash, and wage the kind of fight you need to defeat an incumbent.

by: DavidNYC @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 21:38:34 PM CST

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Let's be honest, how many people in Florida

have any idea who Alex Sink is? I doubt many more than know Klein. She just showed an ability to hold the line in the north.

Klein's '06 is actually more similar to what will have to be done than hers, just on a larger scale. And honestly, I think Mel is weaker than Clay was.

by: andgarden @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 21:51:03 PM CST

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According to Quinnipiac

40% of Floridians know enough about Sink to have an opinion of her, which is a far, far higher number than the likes of Allen Boyd, Dan Gelber, and Kendrick Meek. (Also consider that under 60% of Florida voters have an opinion on Martinez!) Yeah, she would still have a lot of work to do, but in an expensive state like Florida, she would have had a big leg up over the rest of the field.

by: James L. @ Tue Dec 02, 2008 at 02:46:12 AM CST

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I seem to recall Klein having been uncomfortably close on election day,

because I also remember thinking he hadn't done so well. (I didn't get to climb into the numbers until late on Wed Nov 5th.) But I check again and he's up ten points, which is a perfectly respectable score in a district that was gerrymandered against you. So maybe the above poster just had a similar experience to me with the early returns.

Or maybe we're just both hallucinating, who knows.

by: texas dem @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 23:02:23 PM CST

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Martinez won't seek reelection

Martinez not seeking re-election
U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez will announce at 11 a.m. today that he will not seek re-election, setting off a free-for-all over an open Senate seat in 2010.
Martinez is expected to serve out the rest of his term. Among the heavy-breathing contenders to replace him: former House Speaker Marco Rubio and state Sen. Dan Gelber. Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is expected to announce today that she's not interested.

http://miamiherald.typepad.com...

by: Michael Calderin @ Tue Dec 02, 2008 at 09:37:48 AM CST

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Uh oh

I actually think that makes this somewhat harder.

by: andgarden @ Tue Dec 02, 2008 at 10:16:21 AM CST

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And . . . .

They're off!

Time to watch and see what kind of weight Menendez can pull.

by: trowaman @ Tue Dec 02, 2008 at 10:16:51 AM CST

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It's official

Full statement at http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz...

by: Michael Calderin @ Tue Dec 02, 2008 at 10:32:05 AM CST

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I'm fairly sanguine

Sink had a bit of name recognition and seems to have been slightly more competent at getting herself elected than the rest of the Florida Democratic establishment. Neither of those things really impresses me that much.

If she's not willing to take the risk, I'm glad she won't be the candidate. There are more than enough caution-at-all-costs Democrats in the Senate already.

As to the name-recognition question, I'd suggest that this calls for a stiffly contested primary.

by: Englishlefty @ Tue Dec 02, 2008 at 11:11:01 AM CST

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Could she reconsider?

The Fix and Politico think she might now that Martinze dropped out.

by: RandySF @ Tue Dec 02, 2008 at 11:16:28 AM CST

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Doubt it

Seems more like she wants the Governor's Mansion, and knows she'd be a clear front runner in the dem primary (possibly unopposed). A Senate run now would mean she'd have to start running for Gov half way through her first senate term.

by: trowaman @ Tue Dec 02, 2008 at 11:41:57 AM CST

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FL-Sen: Sink Won't Run | 27 comments