CLEARWATER -- Sen. Mike Fasano wants people to know he doesn't have the influence that some Democrats give him credit for.

The New Port Richey Republican recoiled today after receiving several critical e-mails prompted by a Pinellas County Democratic Party missive sent Sunday on the heels of an account about the Ray Sansom scandal in the Times.

The Democrats urged people to "email the head of the Pinellas Republican delegation, Sen. Mike Fasano, and tell him what you think of the Republican budget process and his vote to fund these projects, fasano.mike.web@flsenate.gov – I for one am outraged."

That resulted in, among other messages, a Sunday night email from St. Pete Beach resident telling him, "Y'all are disgusting, protecting corruption at every turn."

But Fasano isn't head of any Pinellas delegation, and he notes there's no such GOP group organized in the county.

"Then, I guess I gave him a promotion -- if being in charge of the Republican delegation right now can be considered a promotion," county Democratic Party chairman Ramsay McLauchlan said in an email to the Bay Buzz.

David DeCamp, Times staff writer