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Outspoken Sam Rashid withdraws from post, acknowledging he wasn't fit for it

 
Published May 28, 2015

Sam Rashid, east Hillsborough businessman and conservative political activist, saved face this week by doing something not many people would do. He withdrew from a prestigious political post to which he had been appointed by Florida's two senators, acknowledging that he wasn't fit for it.

Rashid is opinionated and outspoken — and that's how his friends would describe it. But he doesn't mind admitting it.

Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio jointly named Rashid to a committee that advises them on federal judgeship appointments, over which senators have strong influence. Spots on the committee are a plum for donors, and Rashid is a Rubio supporter.

But Rashid's immediate reaction was to post his nomination on Facebook along with gloating comments that some local judges were "dumb," and now had no hope of a federal appointment. The comments could have been embarrassing to Rubio.

The next day, realizing he'd made a dumb move of his own, Rashid sent a letter to Rubio's general counsel withdrawing from the committee, acknowledging that his comments meant he "won't be an impartial entity on this council."

He posted the letter on Facebook too, but then took the whole thing down.

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Look for an announcement in the next couple of weeks by former Hillsborough County commissioner and Tampa City Council member Tom Scott that he'll enter the race for the countywide commission seat being vacated by Kevin Beckner.

Scott says he's leaning toward it and will make a decision in June; insiders say he's almost certain to get in sometime soon.

If he does, he'll face Pat Kemp and Bryan Willis in the Democratic primary. Scott said his well-known name is what Democrats need in the open-seat race.

Recently appointed by Gov. Rick Scott to the Florida Elections Commission, Scott has a long political history but has had trouble winning countywide.

In 2012, he lost to Craig Latimer for the Democratic nomination for the Hillsborough elections supervisor; in 2006 he lost to Mark Sharpe for a countywide County Commission seat, after having served in a district seat.

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Republican Rep. Shawn Harrison's District 63 state House seat in New Tampa and the University of South Florida area is considered one of the Democratic Party's two best chances to flip GOP-held seats in the 2016 election.

In presidential years, when USF students inflate Democratic turnout numbers, it's a Democratic-leaning district, but in off-years it can swing. Harrison won it in 2010, Mark Danish unseated him in 2012, but then Harrison unseated Danish in 2014.

It looks as if local party leaders have settled on a candidate — Mike Reedy of Tampa Palms, a gay rights organizer who also works in the family's real estate business.

Reedy boasts endorsements from Danish plus a number of other prominent local elected Democrats.

A Reedy fundraiser this week at the home of Alan Clendenin, state party vice-chairman, drew numerous officials including Hillsborough court clerk Pat Frank and her primary challenger, Beckner, two leaders of the local party's opposing factions. (That was awkward. The two mostly stayed on opposite sides of the none-too-large living room.)

In an interview, Reedy noted that if he doesn't win, it's possible the state House could be left without an openly gay member. The only current gay member, Rep. David Richardson, D-Miami Beach, is leaving his seat to run for the state Senate.

But Reedy's path to the nomination may not be entirely smooth. There's talk among local Democrats of a prominent Tampa businessman getting into the race. No one would name him, but several said others are looking at the race.

Facing what could be a tough fight to hold onto that District 63 seat, Harrison has been taking some moderate stances, distancing himself from the GOP leadership that shut down the legislative session early in a fight with the Senate over health care.

He has made critical comments about the shutdown, and says he's open to the Senate's idea of using federal dollars to expand health care availability in Florida for those just above the poverty line – a plan senators insist isn't "Medicaid expansion."

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And speaking of Mark Danish, he's retired from his public school teaching job, but doesn't want to retire from politics. He's already talking about a campaign for the Tampa City Council in 2019 when Lisa Montelione terms out.

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State Sen. Tom Lee of Brandon has made a string of strong public comments bashing House Republicans over the shutdown and their refusal to accept a health care expansion plan, and kept it going at last week's Tampa Tiger Bay Club meeting.

Asked whether the legislative shutdown will hurt the GOP at the polls, Lee said House Republicans' refusal to embrace health care expansion is worse, then blasted what he called the "hyperpartisanship" of some House members.

"They'd be great on talk radio, they'd be great shock jocks, but I question whether they belong in public service," he said.

Lee declined to name names.

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Tax Collector Doug Belden is announcing for re-election to what he says will be his final term in office after 18 years, intending to file next week.

As in the past, Belden is likely to avoid a significant Democratic challenge, in part because he marshals substantial support from unions and some prominent Democratic fundraisers.

Belden listed endorsements from the city and county firefighters unions and Police Benevolent Association, the two local IBEW chapters, the local Teamsters chapter, the Ironworkers Local 397 and the West Central Florida Federation of Labor.

His finance committee includes an array of prominent GOP names, but also at least four prominent Democrats — Jim Davis, Frank Sanchez, Richard Salem and Alex Sink.