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Blair calls harsh mailer a dirty last-minute tactic

In print: Wednesday, October 29, 2008

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TAMPA — Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair is the target of one of the harshest mail attacks so far this campaign season.

A group that calls itself Liberty and Justice for All has sent out a mailer excerpting portions of a more than 20-year-old domestic violence complaint filed against Blair by an ex-girlfriend.

Blair, a Republican who is married with two children, is seeking a second term on the County Commission against Democratic challenger Kevin Beckner.

Liberty and Justice for All is an independent electioneering communications organization with an address in Tallahassee and is not affiliated with Beckner. It was not immediately clear what its interest is in the race. Nevertheless, Blair blasted it as a nasty, last-ditch effort by his opponent.

"This is desperate, dirty last-minute tactics by my desperate opponent who can only resort to lies and distortion," Blair said.

Beckner could not be reached. His campaign manager, Mitch Kates, said he hasn't seen the mailer, and Beckner's campaign had nothing to do with it.

The mailer comes with the headline, "The Brian Blair Truth: A History of Domestic Violence." It includes excerpts from a 1984 battery complaint to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office that was detailed in a story by the St. Petersburg Times when Blair first ran for office in 2002.

Blair reiterated what he said then: That the complaint was fabricated, and that he was never questioned, arrested or charged. Official records from that time do not make clear why.

The mailer goes on to say Blair also "voted against victims of domestic abuse while voting himself a pay raise."

The domestic abuse claim involves a commission vote against a last-minute request by the nonprofit Family Justice Center for funding in 2006. The board typically turns down nonprofits that ask for money without following an established process.

The pay raise claim is based on Blair objecting to a proposal from a fellow commissioner that they slash their $600 car allowance.

State Division of Elections records list Mark Herron, a well- known elections lawyer, as the chairman and treasurer of the group behind the mailer. Herron was involved in the 2000 presidential election legal fight for Democrats. He did not return a call for comment.

Frank S. Starkey, a real estate investor from Odessa, and retiree Charles R. Brink of Tampa gave $10,000 and $15,000 respectively to the group on the same day earlier this month.