In response to this post, came this press release: RESPONSE TO E-MAIL CONCERNING GOVERNOR’S ATTENDANCE AT ESCAMBIA GOP DINNER

 Pensacola—Statement from Escambia County Republican Party Chairman Susan Moore concerning private e-mail:

“Today, I was notified that a private e-mail that I sent to five members of the Escambia County Republican Party was forwarded to the media.  The five people that received the e-mail were supporters of Marco Rubio, who is running against Governor Crist for Senate.  In an attempt to unify the local party and encourage these five Republican Party members to attend our Lincoln Day Dinner, which financially benefits only the local Republican Party, I sent an e-mail asking them to support the Lincoln Day Dinner even if they did not support the Governor in his campaign for Senate.  Unfortunately, someone felt the need to forward that e-mail to the media and it has now been misconstrued to sound as if I was apologizing for having the Governor as our featured speaker.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  As a long-time volunteer on many of Charlie Crist’s campaigns, I personally asked Governor Crist, as well as members of his staff, if he would do Escambia’s Republican Party the honor of speaking at our Lincoln Day Dinner.  The Governor graciously accepted and we are thrilled to host him as our Lincoln Day Dinner featured speaker.  I make no apologies for asking the Governor to be our speaker and I am overwhelmed by the support within the community as people consistently call or e-mail me to say they would like tickets to the event, even though we have not had any local media coverage announcing the event to this point.  It is unfortunate that one or more of the five people that the e-mail was sent to felt the need to forward my comments to the media when I was simply trying to let these five people know that no matter who they support in the race for Senate prior to the primary, our sitting Governor is honoring us by speaking at our dinner event.  I hope that this statement will put to rest any idea that either I or Escambia County’s Republican Party is anything but overjoyed at hosting Governor Charlie Crist in Pensacola in early December at our Lincoln Day Dinner.”