Florida Public Broadcasting Service attorneys on August 24 tried to persuade any judge in the 4th district Court of Appeal to schedule an emergency hearing, in their debates lawsuit appeal. However, as of 1:30 pm east coast time, no judge in that court appears to be willing to set such an emergency hearing. The debate is tonight at 8 pm.
Political Wire of October 24 reports on two new gubernatorial polls, both of which show significant gains for Green Party gubernatorial nominees. In Illinois, a SurveyUSA poll shows Democratic 44%, Republican 34%, Green 14%, other and undecided 8%.
In Maine, a poll (the pollster is not identified) shows Democratic 42%, Republican 34%, Green 9%, independent legislator Barbara Merrill 12%, other and undecided 3%.
In both states, “party” is defined as a group that polls 5% for Governor. Greens already have that status in Maine, and they appear likely to gain it for the first time in Illinois.
On October 23, a Florida lower state court ruled that since Public TV is sponsoring the October 24 gubernatorial debate, and since the Reform Party is a ballot-qualified party, therefore the debate cannot be held unless Reform Party gubernatorial candidate Max Linn is included. Linn is the only candidate to benefit from this ruling, since the judge excluded independent candidates. The Reform Party is the only minor party that ran any candidates for any statewide office in Florida this year, under the party label (a Libertarian is also running but he is officially an independent candidate since the Florida Libertarian Party refused to nominate anyone for Governor this year).
The case is Linn v Florida Public Broadcasting Service, cace 06-016781, Broward Co. Circuit Court. It is being appealed.
Max Linn, Reform Party candidate for Governor of Florida, filed a lawsuit in state court on October 23, over his exclusion from a debate being sponsored in part by Public Television. Linn has a real campaign, has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars already on TV advertising, has a staff and a campaign headquarters. The US Supreme Court ruled in 1998 that candidate debates sponsored by Public TV cannot exclude candidates with a substantial campaign. The case is Linn v Florida Public Broadcasting Service, filed in lower state court in Broward County.
Ironically, many other minor party and independent candidates for Governor and U.S. Senator this year have been invited into debates with their major party opponents. Such inclusive debates have been held this year in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Washington, and Wyoming.
Brian Moore, an independent candidate for U.S. Senate from Florida, and the only candidate in the race opposed to U.S. foreign policy concerning Cuba, made a surprise visit to Cuba today. He has already been interviewed by the Associated Press in Havana. His visit will last 4 days.
