By Jason Garcia, Orlando Sentinel
6:14 p.m. EST, September 7, 2012
A Republican-linked group operating under a liberal-sounding name is targeting Democratic candidates in competitive state Senate races across Florida.
The group, known only as "Progressives," has paid for mail pieces that attack at least three Democratic Senate candidates ? two in Central Florida and one in South Florida. In each case, the mailers are designed to undermine the candidates' popularity with Democratic voters.
One piece slammed state Rep. Darren Soto, D-Orlando, for voting in 2008 for a National Rifle Association-backed bill allowing employees to keep guns in their cars when they park at work. Soto is running against Republican personal-injury lawyer Will McBride in a Central Florida district that includes parts of Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties.
Another mailer criticized Volusia County Chairman Frank Bruno for voting to raise the county's gas tax more than 20 years ago. Bruno faces Rep. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, in a district that takes in parts of Volusia, Lake and Marion counties.
A third accused Sen. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, of supporting former Republican President
The three races are viewed by strategists in both political parties as the most competitive Senate elections in Florida this fall.
Records show Progressives was formed late last month. It is an "electioneering communications organization," which means it can raise unlimited amounts of money to influence campaigns.
The group lists the same mailing address as a law firm and lobbying shop run by Tallahassee lawyer Richard Coates. Coates is also the general counsel for the Republican Party of Florida.
Because the group was organized so recently, it has not yet had to identify any of its donors. Coates currently represents about a dozen clients before the Florida Legislature, including FCCI Insurance Group, Full Sail University and Western Union.
Coates did not respond to a request for comment; nor did a spokeswoman for the Republican Party of Florida.
Democrats accuse the group and its Republican allies of trying to dupe voters. The mailer attacking Sachs for contributing to President Bush condemned her as a "self-serving politician who puts her ambitions ahead of our progressive principles."
The piece targeting Soto accused him of "looking out for the right-wing agenda" in supporting the controversial "guns at work" legislation. That bill was sponsored by Republican lawmakers and pushed through the Legislature by GOP leaders, including then-House Speaker and current U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.
"You mail a piece to Democrats and you put a return address with a Democratic-sounding name. It's misleading at best and fraudulent at worst," Sachs said.
The early attacks, which arrived in mailboxes more than two months before voters go to the polls, underscore the stakes in Florida's Senate elections this year.
Many significant policy issues have been decided by only a handful of votes in the Senate in the past few years, even though Republicans hold a sizable majority. Among them: proposals to expand charter schools, impose further restrictions on abortions, privatize prisons, and make it harder for public employee unions to collect dues.
"Republicans are trying to buy these elections," Soto said.
One of the Republican candidates in the races said she had nothing to do with the attacks. "I haven't heard of it, haven't seen it," Hukill said of the mail piece attacking Bruno.
jrgarcia@tribune.com or 407-420-5414
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