Peter Schorsch
State Senator Joe Negron this morning upped the ante in the poker game to be President of the Florida Senate in 2016-18 by releasing the names of his colleagues who have pledged their support to him. Unfortunately for Negron, this latest ploy will likely fall flat.
Claiming that he has the support of “Senators who represent (a) majority,” Negron has taken the extraordinary step of listing his pledges as “Senator Don Gaetz (District 1), Senator Aaron Bean (District 4), Senator Travis Hutson (District 6), Senator Rob Bradley (District 7), Senator Dorothy Hukill (District 8), Senator Kelli Stargel (District 15), Senator Thad Altman (District 16), Senator Wilton Simpson (District 18), Senator Jeff Brandes (District 22), Senator Garrett Richter (District 25), Senator Bill Galvano (District 26), Senator Lizbeth Benacquisto (District 30), Senator Joe Negron (District 32) and Senator Anitere Flores (District 37).”
Of these 14 state Senators, three are term-limited. They may very well be replaced by Negron supporters after the next election, but they’re still term-limited.
AND (and this is something I’d hate to see) Brandes may be drawn out of his seat and into Latvala’s seat. It’s not clear who would win, but it’s another issue that clouds the debate.
This is the third time (this year) Negron has declared victory in fight against Jack Latvala for the Senate Presidency.
In January, Negron told Matt Dixon of the Naples Daily News in January that “… I have a majority of support.“
In May, this website reported — and Latvala conceded — that Negron had 14 pledges from current members of the Florida Senate.
The only thing that’s changed between then and now is, well, everything.
Start with the fact that the Legislature will meet in October to redraw the map of the state Senate districts. Seeing as how the House and Senate could not agree on how to redraw the map of the state’s Congressional districts, why on Earth would anyone think the two chambers will agree on how to redraw the Senate districts.
Which means the Florida Supreme Court will likely have the final say on the state Senate districts map.
Which means some of the people Negron listed above may not even be in the state Senate after November 2016. Heck, Negron’s district is one of those which will likely have to be dramatically redrawn.
Negron may very well one day be Senate President. But there’s absolutely nothing that has happened today to suggest that is more likely to occur than when he first declared victory months ago.
Actually, what Negron’s release looks like a hurried attempt to claim victory of a game for which the rules are soon to be dramatically changed.
