Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle to step aside from Hialeah absentee-ballot investigation

Hours after her office arrested Deisy Cabrera, a suspected Hialeah absentee-ballot broker Thursday morning, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle announced she will recuse herself from any further involvement in the case.

Fernández Rundle, who is seeking reelection, said she wants to avoid a potential conflict of interest because an unnamed person may be connected to her campaign and to Cabrera.

With the state attorney stepping aside, it will fall to Gov. Rick Scott to appoint a special prosecutor to handle the case going forward. Scott spokesman Brian Burgess said the governor will review Fernández Rundle's request on Friday and make a decision.

Fernández Rundle had come under pressure from her Democratic primary opponent, defense attorney Rod Vereen, for remaining on the case because her longtime campaign consultant, Al Lorenzo, also works on Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez's reelection bid. Gimenez has denied any connection to Cabrera, the ballot broker, but she is said to support him.

Read Fernández Rundle's statement after the jump.

Obama campaign books mammoth $77m ad buy, $13.4m in Florida

CNN:

Washington (CNN) – The Obama campaign has taken the extraordinary step of booking $77 million in additional ad time starting Friday and running through Election Day, a Republican ad buying source told CNN. The new buy is for thirty second broadcast TV spots that will run in eight battleground states.
 
Through Thursday Team Obama will have spent at least $106 million in general election ads – more than twice what the Mitt Romney campaign has bought. This buy will bring his total media purchase so far this cycle to almost $190 million.
 
However, GOP groups, such as American Crossroads and its affiliate Crossroads GPS and Restore Our Future, the super PAC backing Mitt Romney have helped to give Republicans an overall spending advantage in recent weeks for ad spending compared to the Obama re-election campaign and its supporters.
 
Here is the breakdown of the new Obama buy:
 
Colorado: $7,025,120
Florida: $13,355,226
Iowa: $7,315,224
Nevada: $4,939,620
New Hampshire: $4,939,620
North Carolina: $7,647,844
Ohio: $19,533,433
Virginia: $11,582,494

RPOF counters Greer: party did not offer hush money

The Republican Party of Florida has not attempted to settle a civil suit filed against them by former GOP chairman Jim Greer, according to a lawyer for the party.

"The Republican Party of Florida has never made an offer to pay Jim Greer any money to settle his lawsuit, not one dollar not one red cent,'' said Stephen Dobson, the Tallahassee lawyer who represents the party.

Dobson made the statement Thursday after Greer and his lawyer, Damon Chase, claimed that the party was pushing for a secret settlement that would pay Greer "hush money.''

Party officials did have a meeting with Greer and Chase in September 2011 and agreed to keep the details discussed at the meeting confidential. That written agreement became public this week after Orlando Circuit Judge Marc Lubet agreed to allow Chase to use it as evidence when Greer goes on trial for money laundering and fraud in November.

Chase and Greer contacted reporters with copies of a newly released "confidentiality agreement'' signed by Andy Palmer, former executive director of the party and initialed by Chase, Dobson and Steve Andrews, another lawyer who represented the party at the time.

Chase said the document is proof that the party was trying keep Greer quiet.

Lucy Morgan, Times Senior Correspondent

Bill Nelson launches Connie Mack-attack ads

With a neck-and-neck race and an array of third-party groups against him, there was no way Sen. Bill Nelson could let his opening ad buy not tear into Rep. Connie Mack. Get ready for months of scrapping, folks, as the battle to control the U.S. Senate is waged in the nation's most influential swing state.

 

Medicaid bill for counties cut in half but objections remain

The amount of money the state says counties owe for unpaid Medicaid bills has been cut nearly in half.

New calculations from the Agency for Health Care Administration say Florida's 67 counties now owe $168 million to help cover Medicaid costs. That's down from $325.5 million.

Counties will be asked to settle their debts over five years starting in October. They could also chose to file an appeal in administrative court.

The news is better for some counties than others. As part of the revised estimates, 10 counties — including Palm Beach — went from owing money to being owed money.

Instead of having to pay the state $9.4 million as initially estimated, Palm Beach now has a credit of $322,972. Miami-Dade County's share of the costs dropped from $63.9 million to $49.9 million, and Broward County now owes $18.6 million, down from an initial $34.7 million.

"It was hard work going county-by-county throughout the whole state, but Governor Scott is happy with the efforts ACHA made to ensure we can continue moving Florida in the right direction," spokesman Lane Wright said via email.

Read more here.

Download Final Medicaid backlog amounts by County

Obama is greeted in Orlando with birthday song, asks for state's electoral votes

Campaigning today in swing state Florida, President Obama was greeted with a surprise chorus of "Happy Birthday" -- to mark his 51st on Saturday.

"If I'd known you guys were going to sing, we would've had a cake," he said. "I would've blown out the candles, I would've made a wish that probably would have to do with electoral votes.

"Winning Florida wouldn't be a bad birthday present," he added. Obama won the state in 2008 and Democrats suggest Republicans can't win the White House without taking Florida. A Quinnipiac University poll out this week showed Obama with a lead over Mitt Romney, 51 percent to 45 percent.

-- Lesley Clark

Dem poll: Jose Javier Rodriguez has a shot; DLP beating Barreiro; Romney over Obama

As the Republican candidates eviscerate each other, political newcomer Jose Javier Rodriguez has a decent shot in the general election against either candidate, according to a new Florida Democratic poll conducted by Schroth Eldon & Associates.

Though District 112 is Republican leaning, Rodriguez is almost tied with either former Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla or former Rep. Gus Barreiro, who face off in the Aug. 14 primary. Diaz de la Portilla is up 15 percentage points, 45-30, over Barreiro, the poll says. The poll didn't matchup Rodriguez with Democratic opponent Alex Dominiguez, which is either a sign of confidence (likely) or hubris that could cost Rodriguez in the primary (possible).

In a general-election matchup, Diaz de la Portilla leads Rodriguez 39-34 and Barreiro is ahead Rodriguez 38-34. That’s well within the 4.5 percent error margin of the 300 voters.

However, Rodriguez’s numbers jump past the Republicans’ after pollsters message-tested by reading positive and negative statements about the candidates: Barreiro’s dismissal from the Department of Juvenile Justice after pornography was found on his computer (he says he was set up), and Diaz de la Portilla’s career as a professional politician.

After the messaging, Rodriguez leads Diaz de la Portilla 44-40 and is ahead of Barreiro 44-38.

Low profile? Rick Scott to headline $500k Fort Lauderdale fundraiser for Mitt Romney

Sure, Gov. Rick Scott's keeping a low profile on the campaign trail these days as Mitt Romney runs for president. But it looks like Scott is lending something that's more important than campaign appearances: fundraising help.

The governor is scheduled tonight to hold a Morton's Steak House fundraiser in Fort Lauderdal for at least 20 donors. The event starts at 6:30 p.m. Maximum donation is $50,000 a person, but organizers say they expect about half of that.

In defense country, Scott warns of automatic budget cuts and writes Congress

Gov. Rick Scott is weighing in early on the congressional debate over deficit reduction, urging lawmakers to find a way to shield the state from deep cuts in defense spending if they fail to find an alternative to the across-the-board reductions set to take effect on Jan. 2, known as "sequestration."

In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Scott says the cuts to the defense budget could lead to 39,000 lost jobs and "may jeopardize the safety of Floridains." He quotes United States Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, a Democrat, cites Center for Regional Analysis study, and urges the Congressional leaders to find non-defense related budget cuts -- such as repealing Obamacare -- rather than go forward with defense reductions. 

"I appreciate the difficulty of these decisions,'' Scott wrote. "I respectfully request your careful consideration of the impacts of the estimated $500 billion in anticipated defense cuts." Download 08.02.2012_Defense_Letter

Conservative Jewish group announces FL ad-buy bashing Obama over Israel's capital

The conservative Emergency Committee for Israel says it's launching a TV ad targeting Florida Jewish voters by highlighting the Obama administration for failing to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel. Romney did just that while visiting Israel last weekend. While Israeli leaders consider it their capital, it's a contentious issue because so many Palestinians live there.

The ad will air in the Miami, Palm Beach, and Orlando markets.

If the polls, studies, prior elections and interviews with Florida Jewish voters are any indication, this probably won't have much of an affect. But this is what campaigns are for: Changing minds.

-- with Adam C. Smith