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Lawton “Bud” Chiles, the son of the late governor and senator, announced Thursday he is running for governor of Florida with no party affiliation.
Chiles said as an independent, he’ll take no money from political parties, political action committees or “big corporations.”
Florida is now the only state in the nation with two very active and credible statewide independent campaigns. The other, of course, being current Governor Charlie Crist who is running for U.S. Senate as an independent.
Chiles has hinted at a statewide run for almost a year, first as a CFO candidate and then as governor. He briefly ran for governor in 2006 but withdrew because he did not meet the state’s residency requirements to qualify for office.
Until recently, he served as president of the Lawton Chiles Foundation, a children’s advocacy group, and has been involved in a number of business deals throughout the state, including the renovation of the Governor’s Inn, a Tallahassee hotel.
A run as an independent could spell the most trouble for likely Democratic nominee Alex Sink, because they would likely be competing for many of the same votes in a general election contest.
A divided Democratic electorate could clear the way for a Republican nominee to seize the state’s top elected office.
Chiles has launched a website at WalkwithBud.com.
Curious that relatives of politicians think they deserve votes simply because of the way they spell their names. There’s nothing in lil’ Chiles’ background that sets him apart from any number of political and business leaders in Florida. He grew up in a partisan family, but I’m not sure that makes him the best person to sit in the governor’s chair.
Pingback: A Pair of Three-Way Races in Florida | Independent Political Report
You failed to mention Alexander Snitker, the Libertarian Party candidate for the US Senate. In a recent statewide poll he had 2.5% support and of those who recognized his name, he had 12.5%. See: http://snitker2010.com
I’ll probably write something about Snitker in the next few weeks, but honestly he’s a total non-factor at the moment.
He wasn’t even outside the margin of error within his own poll.
And the 12.5% is HUGELY misleading.
Not knocking the guy for putting himself out there. In fact, that he’s actually being an active candidate is really very encouraging for the Florida Libertarians. But it will take more than 2.5% in a self-conducted survey to get anyone to think this is a “four-way” race.
Note also that Snitker’s poll excluded the Constitution Party nominee and a number of NPA candidates. I would guess in reality he’s running neck-and-neck with Bernie DeCastro for about 1% of the vote.
Austin’s right. Snitker, who naively told the press in announcing his candidacy that his goal is to raise $2 million, has absolutely no name recognition and had only raised $626 as of his last FEC quarterly filing. He’s not a factor at all in the Senate race.
I know Snitker has raised more than $626. I personally donated more than that and at the time he qualified for the ballot he had raised at least $10,000.
I don’t think Snitker has “absolutely no name recognition.” Alexa web tracking shows the following rankings of candidate websites in Florida based on traffic to their sites from the USA. The lower the ranking the more people have gone to the websites:
Snitker2010.com 90,906
Marcorubio.com 100,195
Kendrickmeek.com 172,519
charliecrist.com 211,944
For more info see: http://www.alexa.com
Thanks for the comments, George. I’m sure that’s true. The last quarterly FEC report, covering the reporting period ending on March 31, was filed on 4/15 — prior the April 30 filing deadline — so obviously he has spent more since then than the $626 reflected in that report. But his claim that he intends to raise $2 million makes him look a little naive, if not silly, as does his recent call for Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio to drop out of the race.
Alexander Snitker is pretty much guaranteed to garner 1% of the vote simply because his name is on the ballot as an alternative candidate – most third party/independents can score about 1%. The name “Libertarian” carries the promise of a secure base vote so perhaps he’ll bring in a bit over 1%. Every vote after that number has to be earned the hard way and so far – with just a few months to go – the media has not picked-up any vibrations. Nor have political animals like those on this website and on other sites as well.
Darcy is so right: one should not act with bravado like a first tier candidate if he is not one – claiming he’ll raise $2 million is plain old goofy … if Alexander Snitker had $500,000 banked already, that might be possible, but even then good candidates keep their powder dry on such sensitive issues. The FEC reports bear warts and all … set expectations too high, on money or vote totals, and anything less is considered a failure.
A new online poll being conducted by the Sun-Sentinel is showing Alex Snitker with a commanding lead among all of the lesser-known candidates in Florida’s U.S. Senate Race. As of this posting, Alex enjoyed a 2-to-1 lead over his next closest opponent. This poll confirms earlier polls that show Alex solidly in 4th place in the U.S. Senate race, and gaining on the Democrat candidate by the day.
To vote in this poll or view the results, please visit http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/04/name_that_would_be_senator.html
In fairness, Snitker sent this to his mailing list — as did Bernie DeCastro.
The poll also includes names like Jeff Greene – who is doing a massive ad buy and is polling around 30% in the Democratic primary. So it’s safe to assume that the vast majority of voters are either Snitker or DeCastro supporters.
I wish him well, but he’s not yet a factor in this race. If being ahead 0.9% to 0.7% is “solidly in fourth place” then perhaps he is.
Snitker Crashes Press Event, Demands To Be Heard
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SARASOTA, FLA – When the Florida Press Association invited U.S. Senate candidates to speak to the media at the Ritz-Carlton on Thursday, there was one name absent from the list. Charlie Crist, Republican Marco Rubio, and Democrat Kendrick Meek all made the list. Even long-shot Democrat billionaire Jeff Greene was included.
However, Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate Alex Snitker was not invited.
But that didn’t stop him from crashing the event to ask the FPA why he was excluded. After Marco Rubio finished his 15-minutes at the podium, Snitker stepped to the microphone in the aisle and said, “I’d like to make a statement. I think denying a person who served eight years in the United States Marine Corps defending your right to have this today…is an atrocity.”
Snitker admonished the assembled press, saying, “You keep saying that career politicians are the problem, and you’re only going to allow career politicians and a billionaire on stage. You want to talk about the tea party candidate? It’s not Marco Rubio – it’s Alexander Snitker.”
FPA President Dean Ridings told Snitker that he would not be granted the opportunity to speak and called for security. Shortly thereafter, Snitker was politely escorted from the event by security, with a flock of reporters in tow.
Snitker is the first Libertarian ever to appear on the ballot for U.S. Senate in Florida. The Libertarian Party is fully recognized by the State of Florida, and is the third largest political party in the state.
According to Florida Division of Elections procedures, Snitker’s name will appear above Charlie Crist on the ballot, because Crist is running with no party affiliation. In a May poll, Snitker received 12% support in among likely voters familiar with him, Rubio, Crist, Meek.
“The mainstream media has intentionally ignored Alex, despite the groundswell of grassroots support, and despite all our efforts to reach out to them,” said Snitker campaign manager Kelly Lobean. “We’ve made the decision that we can no longer play by the status quo rules of politics.”
The decision appears to have paid off. Within minutes of Snitker’s impromptu speech, tweets were flying among media insiders. Several newspapers and 6-o’clock news programs were running the story, and even the Associated Press had weighed in.
“We’re just looking for a level playing field, that’s all,” said Adrian Wyllie, campaign media director. “We have called press conferences, sent out dozens of press releases, and spoken with countless TV news producers. If they won’t report the news, then we are forced to make the news.”
You Tube Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5sFkMXYlFE&feature=player_embedded
George,
How much money has Snitker raised thus far?
Hi Austin, I don’t know how much Alex Snitker, the Libertarian candidate for US Senate, has raised as I am not his campaign treasurer. Here is the contact information for his Campaign Manager,
Kelley Lobean: kelley@snitker2010.com
On the most recent online poll I have seen, Alex is receiving 48% of the votes. Here is the results page: http://www.naplesnews.com/polls/2010/jun/who-do-you-plan-to-vote-for-florida-senate/results
I am puzzled why you provided coverage of Brian Moore, another Florida underdog and not Alex Snitker. I am confident that Alex has at least as much support as Moore does.
So far, the Snitker campaign has raised approximately $25,000, and contributions have been increasing rapidly as his media exposure widens. While $2-million may be a lofty goal, if contributions keep increasing at the exponential rate they have been recently, it may come to fruition.
Regarding the Naples Daily News poll, we absolutley and proudly promoted it to our supporters. Marco Rubio is also promoting the poll via his Facebook page. While the poll was never scientific to begin with, it does prove that Snitker has a sizable and dedicated following.
( http://www.naplesnews.com/polls/2010/jun/who-do-you-plan-to-vote-for-florida-senate/results/ ).
I imagine it’s hard for you to consider a Libertarian or other third-party candidate as viable in this race, which has been historically true. However, these are different times. Never before have we had the tea party movement. It’s only recently that have we had such creative ways to reach voters, i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc. A video of Alex speaking out at the FPA candidate forum got over 2,400 views in three days. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5sFkMXYlFE )
According to Alexa, the Internet traffic monitoring company, the number of visitors to Snitker2010.com has now surpassed visitors to MarcoRubio.com, CharlieCrist.com, KendrickMeek.com, and JeffGreene.com. His web site is the most popular out of all the Senate candidates.
This is a whole new ball game, and you are trying to analyze it using 20th century benchmarks.
Sincerely,
Adrian Wyllie
Media Director
Snitker for Senate.
His website is absolutely not the most popular of all those candidates. Alexa data is notoriously wrong and extremely easy to manipulate.
A reputable analytics firm, like Compete.com, shows Snitker’s website drawing something like 5% of the traffic going to either the Rubio or Crist websites. Please be realistic here.
http://siteanalytics.compete.com/snitker2010.com+charliecrist.com+marcorubio.com/
I admire what he’s trying to do, but he’s got to actually accomplish something before people will take him seriously. If he starts to pop up at 3-4% in a poll not paid for by his campaign, then people may start to take notice.
If he’s raised $25,000… then he’s spent at least $10,000 of that getting on the ballot. $15k for outreach in a state the size of Florida isn’t very much. If he can’t effectively reach voters, he’s not going to become much of a factor.
That’s just the cold, hard truth of it.
Bernie DeCastro, the Constitution Party nominee has set a fundraising goal of $250,000 and is reporting that he’s at about the $44,000 mark so far.
If I had to bet right now, I’d bet that DeCastro and Snitker wind up with about the same vote total – some fairly significant fraction of one percent.
I grant you that Alexa is not always accurate. None of the traffic monitoring sites are perfect. Snitker2010.com is not a subscriber to Compete.com. As a SEO professional since 1997, I can tell you that Compete.com tends to rank sites that are not paid clients much lower than thier client sites. They usually classify them as a “low sample site” and use estimates instead of real metrics, which makes it suspect. Also, they are slow to update traffic data. The have no data yet for June, where we’ve seen a major spike in traffic.
But you identified the problem in your post — the media won’t include Snitker in the polls.
Until they do, all we have is the media choosing which candidates will be anointed and promoted, which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If they continue to refuse him access to venues, and refuse to include him in polls, then his best chance is a few percentage points.
We are just asking the media to give the people a chance to decide for themselves.
Alex Snitker will be participating in two campaing events coming up soon in Florida:
Alex will be speaking at the Central Ridge Candidates Forum 2010. This great event that is sponsored by The Concerned Women for Citrus County, The Beverly Hills Civic Association, and the Citrus Springs Civic Association. Stop by and meet Florida’s Liberty Candidate!
When: Tuesday, June 22 From: 6:30-8:30pm
Where: Citrus Springs Community Center – 1570 W Citrus Springs Blvd – Citrus Springs, FL 34434
On Saturday, June 26th, Alex Snitker, the Libertarian candidate for the Florida U.S. Senate seat will be at the St. Pete Pride Fest in downtown St. Petersburg from 10am until 11am. Alex looks forward to meeting attendees in person and answering any of your questions about your concerns on the issues. Look for him a the Libertarian Party of Pinellas booth in the street festival section of the event.
Alex Snitker has a no nonsense, direct, and honest approach to issues important to all Americans. This is a great opportunity for a meet-and-greet while enjoying the festivities of St. Pete’s eighth annual pride celebration.
“The Libertarian Party of Pinellas is excited about it’s first outreach event of the summer at the St. Pete Pride festival, and to have Alex Snitker as its Senate candidate. There is no other candidate that embodies freedom, individuality, and limited government as Alex.”- Joe Haynes, Chairman, LPPC
There was a good article on Alex Snitker published in the Sundey, 27 June edition of the St. Petersburg Times written by Howard Troxler: “The usual suspects and Alex Snitker, Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate” Here is the Link URL: http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/the-usual-suspects-and-alex-snitker-libertarian-candidate-for-us-senate/1105303
Snitker is movin’ on up in Florida U.S. Senate race!
In what is shaping up to be the common man vs. the political elite in Florida this election season, underdog Alex Snitker crossed another threshold in his bid for the U.S. Senate seat.
In a poll released Tuesday by Public Policy Polling (PPP), Snitker, the Libertarian nominee, grabbed 4% of the vote in a four-way race between him, Charlie Crist, Marco Rubio, and Kendrick Meek. Even more surprising is that he enjoyed 8% support among coveted independent voters.
Snitker, whose political contributions are estimated in the tens of thousands of dollars, is up against political heavyweights Crist, Rubio and Meek, who all have at least seven figures in their bank accounts. Throw in self-financed billionaire Jeff Greene, and it’s easy to count Snitker out on the balance sheets.
But what the working-class Libertarian lacks in funding, he makes up for in passionate, grassroots support. “We’ve got a core campaign staff of about 20 people, all unpaid, another 250 or so boots on the ground volunteers, and thousands of supporters and social media fans,” said Kelly Lobean, Snitker’s campaign manager. “And from what we’ve seen, our supporters are far more motivated than those of Crist, Rubio or the Democrats – and our ranks are growing everyday.”
Though Snitker’s 4% showing in the first poll to include him could be easily dismissed as inconsequential, it does come as a bit of a surprise considering he has not run one TV, radio or print advertisement. Plus, his big name rivals enjoy roughly a 200-to-1 advantage in state and national media coverage.
Snitker claims that his Constitutional approach to government, and his strong defense of individual liberty, will draw voters from both the left, right and center. He says that his conservative positions on reducing the size and power of the federal government, along with his non-interventionist foreign policy and defense of personal freedoms, make him the real “big tent” candidate.
The latest poll may bear him out. Though Snitker is a darling of the tea party movement, he also enjoys a 27% favorable rating among Obama voters, compared to Rubio’s 7% favorable rating with the same group.
Campaign media director, Adrian Wyllie points out that Rubio supporters are starting to migrate to Snitker because of Rubio’s weak stance on states rights issues and illegal immigration. He also says that since the Democrats have turned hawkish on Iraq, Afghanistan and possibly even Iran, Snitker is the only one who will return to “our Founders’ vision of free trade with all, and entangling alliances with none,” said Wyllie.
Ever the optimist, Snitker says that he’s the only candidate in this race that can beat Crist. “Many Crist supporters are behind him for no other reason than he’s not a Republican or Democrat. He’s a political weather vane that changes direction with the political winds. He’s the default option, but not someone who inspires excitement or confidence,” said Snitker. “I truly believe that I give Floridians something to vote for, and that is Constitutionally-limited government and individual liberty.”
Snitker suggests that there are many people across the political spectrum that believe in limited government and sound fiscal policy, but they no longer trust the Republicans or Democrats to deliver. He says that Rubio is a good example of a politician that says the right things during campaigns season, but there is an underlying distrust, even among his base.
“Alex is the real deal,” said John Conrad, the campaign events director. “He’s the antithesis of the career politician. What you see is what you get with him – there’s no window dressing and no political doublespeak.” Snitker, a former U.S. Marine, has never run for political office.
Snitker’s supporters also say that his “regular guy” persona is a big asset. Even though he attends as many as a dozen campaign stops across the state per week, sprinkled with TV and radio interviews, he still manages to hold down a regular job as a office equipment salesman.
“I’m putting everything on the line for this campaign, and I’m doing it because because I want my son to grow up in a free and prosperous America,” said Snitker.
What started out as a whisper campaign has seemingly grown into a low, grassroots murmur. And with a bit of funding, the Snitker campaign could become a loud, anti-establishment roar in November.
Snitker Beats Rubio In Straw Poll
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ORLANDO – In a shocking upset, grassroots U.S. Senate candidate Alexander Snitker defeated GOP frontrunner Marco Rubio in a straw poll held at the Florida Liberty Summit hosted by Campaign for Liberty at the Rosen Centre in Orlando, Florida this weekend.
The Libertarian Senate hopeful not only won the straw poll, but defeated Rubio by a landslide. The final results were:
Alex Snitker (L) 53%
Marco Rubio (R) 30%
Bernie DeCastro (C) 13%
Charlie Crist (NPA) 3%
Kendrick Meek (D) <1%
Jeff Greene (D) <1%
Snitker said of his surprise win, “I think this shows that Americans are starting to shy away from the two-party political class, and are instead looking for candidates that will uphold the Constitution and defend their personal and economic freedoms.”
Campaign for Liberty is a non-partisan group that was founded by supporters of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) after his 2008 Presidential primary bid. Rep. Paul was the keynote speaker at the three-day event, attended by an estimated crowd of 1,200 people.
Political insiders note that many tea party and 912 groups have been gently distancing themselves from Rubio in recent weeks. Rubio’s move toward the center in anticipation of a post-primary battle with Charlie Crist, coupled with the dark cloud of Florida GOP scandals, has caused some conservative groups to look at Snitker as an alternative.
Snitker’s individual liberty platform is also picking up some Democrat support along the way. According to Public Policy Polling, Snitker would get 5% of the Democrat vote should Jeff Greene win the nomination.
Snitker, a former U.S. Marine and office equipment salesman, has never held political office. At a time when career politicians are shouldering the blame for America’s woes, being a political outsider is seen as a plus by many voters. And Snitker may be as outside the beltway as they come.