Vengeance or justice in case involving Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll's aide?

An attorney for a former aide to Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll defended his client’s credibility Thursday, saying the governor’s office had known since November about some of the explosive allegations — including a so-called “sexual escapade” between Carroll and a female staffer in her office.

“We think she’s credible and she carries herself as someone who doesn’t throw these allegations around,” said Steven Andrews, a Tallahassee attorney representing Carletha Cole. “Everything she’s said to us has been self-corroborated by public records.”

On Thursday, Lane Wright, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, called the claims “outrageous.”

Cole, 49, was arrested and charged in October with disclosing an illegally taped conversation to a Florida Times Union newspaper reporter. The taped conversation involved Cole and Carroll’s chief of staff, John Konkus, talking about interoffice drama.

Cole was charged with releasing the tape, not with actually recording the conversation. If convicted of the third-degree felony of disclosing it, she faces up to five years in prison.

In Florida, it is illegal to record a private conversation without the consent of its participants. Cole denies making the recordings.

The criminal case turned nasty this month when Cole, in court documents, accused Carroll of engaging in sex, lies and illegal audio taping at her office in the state Capitol.

More from Toluse Olorunnipa here.

Judge: Sue Fla. secretary of state over state attorney's race write-in question

Florida’s Secretary of State should be a party to a lawsuit seeking to open the Aug. 14 Miami-Dade state attorney election to Republican and independent voters, a federal judge ruled Friday.

U.S. Judge William Zloch dismissed the lawsuit brought by two voters against Miami-Dade County, but asked that it be re-filed to include the secretary of state, and the state’s election canvassing board.

The suit alleged that a “loophole” in the state’s election law that allows “write-in” candidates to close primary elections is disenfranchising over 700,000 Republican and independent voters.

Incumbent Katherine Fernández Rundle is facing fellow Democrat Rod Vereen on Aug. 14, a race that would have been open to all voters because no Republicans or independents filed to run. But just before the April filing deadline, two write-in candidates, Michele Samaroo and T. Omar Malone, filed to run.

Their presence closed the August primary to just 525,890 Democratic voters, making that date the defacto winner-take-all election. Neither Samaroo or Malone will appear on the November general election ballot, and no write-in candidate has ever come close to winning an election in Florida.

Fernández Rundle has accused Vereen’s campaign of running sham write-in candidates to deprive her of support from across party lines. Vereen denies that, and criticizes the incumbent for urging Republicans and independents to switch parties to vote for her.

More from David Ovalle here.

Herald/Times/Bay News 9 poll: Sen. Bill Nelson slightly ahead of Rep. Connie Mack

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson holds a tight lead over his likely Republican challenger, according to a new Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald/Bay News 9 poll.

Forty-seven percent of likely voters prefer Nelson, a Democrat, while 42 percent say they would choose U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV, a Fort Myers Republican and likely GOP nominee. Eleven percent were undecided.

Only 36 percent of respondents like Nelson and 12 percent did not recognize him, a sign the Capitol Hill fixture could lose his seat if Mack steps up his fight.

"Nelson is vulnerable," said Brad Coker of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, a nonpartisan, Jacksonville-based company that conducted the poll for the Times, Herald, El Nuevo Herald, Bay News 9 and Central Florida News 13. The telephone survey of 800 registered Florida voters — all likely to vote in the November general election — was conducted July 9-11 and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

"Mack has got the name and probably the party behind him, so he could be strong enough to pull it off," Coker said.

Read more here.

Jewish house candidate apologizes for bashing ADL

State house candidate Sheldon Lisbon has apologized for calling the Anti-Defamation League "despicable" in an interview with the Miami Herald editorial board Wednesday. Lisbon was angry at the ADL after it sent him a letter asking him to retract an  email he sent to supporters in June with the subject line "A vote for Shelly Lisbon is a vote for the Jewish community."

The ADL wrote in a letter to Lisbon that "appealing to voters along religious lines is divisive." Lisbon  is challenging state Rep. Joe Gibbons (D-Hallandale Beach) in the Democratic primary Aug. 14. The newly drawn District 100 which spans Surfside to Dania Beach is overwhelmingly white and one of the more Jewish districts in the state -- Lisbon is Jewish while Gibbons is black.

Here is the emailed apology that Lisbon sent the Miami Herald last night:

"I want to share with you my utmost regret and sorrow for a comment I made during a meeting at the Miami Herald. I was explaining my disagreement with the opinion of the Anti Defamation League regarding my solicitation for support from members of my synagogue. In the midst of this heated debate I became frustrated and regrettably used words that were completely inappropriate and out of character for me.
 
I used a term that is far removed from what the ADL represents. What I did was totally inexcusable and as a son of Holocaust survivors who was born in a Displaced Persons camp in Germany, my statement was reprehensible.
 
I know that the ADL's presence in our nation is vital in combating bigotry and discrimination in our society. We are all the richer as Americans for the role ADL has pursued in fighting against any form of discrimination. The fact that my life has been dedicated to quell any type of bigotry compounds my anguish for having made such damaging comments.
 
I am in the midst of a very important battle in District 100 and as a first time campaigner for an office in the State House, I sincerely apologize if I hurt any person or the ADL. I look forward to debating the important issues that impact the residents of South Florida over the next several weeks.
 
Sincerely,
 
Sheldon Lisbon"

Gibbons is hoping to get re-elected for his last term in the house but faces a challenge because redistricting placed him in a district where only 43 percent of the voters live in Broward County while the majority are in Miami-Dade. He has raised about $24,800 through March (the report from the most recent fundraising period hasn't posted yet). Lisbon has received contributions of $9,280 and loaned himself $18,050 through July 6. Gibbons donations came from lawyers, lobbyists and those with gambling interests throughout Florida and some out of state while Lisbon largely received donations from retirees and business executives in Miami-Dade and New York.

Much of the fighting in this race has been behind the scenes -- we have yet to see any mailers so send them our way if you see any.