Powerboss
09-11-2002, 03:43 AM
:confused: :confused:
Reno Behind in Fla. Gov. Primary
By Ken Thomas
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, September 11, 2002; 2:49 AM
MIAMI –– Former Attorney General Janet Reno trailed political newcomer Bill McBride in the Democratic race for Florida governor early Wednesday after a day marred by elections system glitches that sent hundreds of people home from the polls without voting.
Thousands of votes were still being counted in three large Florida counties – Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach – where Reno hoped to catch up. But her campaign was already talking about possibly challenging the results.
"When that many people are turned away from the polls, it raises enough concerns that we're going to have to take a good, hard look at the legitimacy of the election," Reno campaign manager Mo Elleithee said.
"We need to wait-and-see what the numbers look like and what the full impact of today's voting irregularities are," he said.
With 90 percent of precincts reporting, McBride had 566,756 votes, or 46 percent, while Reno had 524,661 votes, or 42 percent. State Sen. Daryl Jones had 12 percent.
Citing election troubles in several counties, Secretary of State Jim Smith said results would likely not be fully tallied until 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. Wednesday.
The Democratic nominee will face Republican Gov. Jeb Bush this fall.
Florida's first big test of its new voting system since the 2000 presidential election debacle turned sour as soon as polls opened Tuesday. Ballots were chewed up in the new touchscreen voting system, some polling stations opened late and hundreds of would-be voters were turned away.
Voting machines were not properly shut down at seven precincts in Miami-Dade County, said Giselas Salas, assistant supervisor of elections. Police were called to pick up voting cartridges so county elections officials coult tally the uncounted votes.
Problems were reported in at least 14 counties, including six of the seven that were sued after the 2000 vote. In Union County, officials counted every ballot by hand after the optical-scan system showed that every vote cast was for a Republican candidate.
As problems mounted, Bush ordered polls statewide to stay open an additional two hours. Reno and McBride both said they supported the move.
Two months ago, Reno led McBride by 25 percentage points. But she lost the support of prominent Democrats who consider the Tampa lawyer a better candidate to deny Bush a second term.
Reno angered many in Florida's Cuban community with her role in the federal raid in 2000 that took Elian Gonzalez from his Miami relatives. The boy was sent back to Cuba with his father.
Some Democrats also worried Reno is perceived as too liberal to beat Bush, who was unopposed in his bid for a second term. Florida is about equally divided between Democrats and Republicans.
Reno took a folksy approach in her campaign, emphasizing her Miami roots in TV ads and traveling the state in a red pickup truck. She held her own party at a South Beach club to poke fun at a "Saturday Night Live" skit on NBC that parodied her days as attorney general.
But her grass-roots campaign drew criticism from Democratic officials and political experts, who said Reno needed to get on television earlier to reach millions daily instead of just hundreds.
Meanwhile, McBride raised much more money than Reno – $4.2 million to $2.6 million, according to their latest filings.
He filled the airwaves with commercials, and he picked up endorsements from some of the state's Democratic heavyweights, including Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas and Reps. Robert Wexler and Corrine Brown, as well as the state teachers union and the state AFL-CIO.
He also benefited from ads launched against him by the state GOP accusing him of mismanaging his law firm and avoiding details about how he would pay for his proposed programs. He responded to the ads with some of his own, saying the attack showed Bush fears him more than Reno and challenging the governor to a debate. It was then that his poll numbers began to rise.
Reno Behind in Fla. Gov. Primary
By Ken Thomas
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, September 11, 2002; 2:49 AM
MIAMI –– Former Attorney General Janet Reno trailed political newcomer Bill McBride in the Democratic race for Florida governor early Wednesday after a day marred by elections system glitches that sent hundreds of people home from the polls without voting.
Thousands of votes were still being counted in three large Florida counties – Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach – where Reno hoped to catch up. But her campaign was already talking about possibly challenging the results.
"When that many people are turned away from the polls, it raises enough concerns that we're going to have to take a good, hard look at the legitimacy of the election," Reno campaign manager Mo Elleithee said.
"We need to wait-and-see what the numbers look like and what the full impact of today's voting irregularities are," he said.
With 90 percent of precincts reporting, McBride had 566,756 votes, or 46 percent, while Reno had 524,661 votes, or 42 percent. State Sen. Daryl Jones had 12 percent.
Citing election troubles in several counties, Secretary of State Jim Smith said results would likely not be fully tallied until 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. Wednesday.
The Democratic nominee will face Republican Gov. Jeb Bush this fall.
Florida's first big test of its new voting system since the 2000 presidential election debacle turned sour as soon as polls opened Tuesday. Ballots were chewed up in the new touchscreen voting system, some polling stations opened late and hundreds of would-be voters were turned away.
Voting machines were not properly shut down at seven precincts in Miami-Dade County, said Giselas Salas, assistant supervisor of elections. Police were called to pick up voting cartridges so county elections officials coult tally the uncounted votes.
Problems were reported in at least 14 counties, including six of the seven that were sued after the 2000 vote. In Union County, officials counted every ballot by hand after the optical-scan system showed that every vote cast was for a Republican candidate.
As problems mounted, Bush ordered polls statewide to stay open an additional two hours. Reno and McBride both said they supported the move.
Two months ago, Reno led McBride by 25 percentage points. But she lost the support of prominent Democrats who consider the Tampa lawyer a better candidate to deny Bush a second term.
Reno angered many in Florida's Cuban community with her role in the federal raid in 2000 that took Elian Gonzalez from his Miami relatives. The boy was sent back to Cuba with his father.
Some Democrats also worried Reno is perceived as too liberal to beat Bush, who was unopposed in his bid for a second term. Florida is about equally divided between Democrats and Republicans.
Reno took a folksy approach in her campaign, emphasizing her Miami roots in TV ads and traveling the state in a red pickup truck. She held her own party at a South Beach club to poke fun at a "Saturday Night Live" skit on NBC that parodied her days as attorney general.
But her grass-roots campaign drew criticism from Democratic officials and political experts, who said Reno needed to get on television earlier to reach millions daily instead of just hundreds.
Meanwhile, McBride raised much more money than Reno – $4.2 million to $2.6 million, according to their latest filings.
He filled the airwaves with commercials, and he picked up endorsements from some of the state's Democratic heavyweights, including Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas and Reps. Robert Wexler and Corrine Brown, as well as the state teachers union and the state AFL-CIO.
He also benefited from ads launched against him by the state GOP accusing him of mismanaging his law firm and avoiding details about how he would pay for his proposed programs. He responded to the ads with some of his own, saying the attack showed Bush fears him more than Reno and challenging the governor to a debate. It was then that his poll numbers began to rise.