Backroom Briefing: Soto the kinder, gentler candidate?

By JIM TURNER AND MARGIE MENZEL
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, July 16, 2015.......... If state Sen. Darren Soto gets elected to replace U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson next year, expect a different tone in Central Florida's Congressional District 9.

But taking a "polite" approach doesn't mean a person isn't progressive, according to Soto, a Democrat who on Thursday joined the contest to replace Grayson, a candidate for U.S. Senate.

Grayson is an often-polarizing figure, while Soto is much milder by comparison. The incumbent congressman announced last week that he would be part of what is a growing field to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who is not seeking re-election as he runs for president.

An attorney from Orlando whose state Senate term doesn't expire until 2018, Soto declared his run for the Congressional District 9 seat outside the Orange County Courthouse.

"I just am polite to people, and we need more of that in Washington," Soto said an in interview with The News Service of Florida.

As a sign of his progressive credentials, Soto noted that during the past legislative session, he helped kill a proposal many believe would have expanded the natural-gas drilling technique known as "fracking." Also, he said his floor arguments are being used in a legal effort to block a new law that would require a 24-hour waiting period before women can have abortions.

But for people pushing for progressive Democrats, Soto is more of a blue dog.

Kartik Krishnaiyer, founder and editor-in-chief of The Florida Squeeze, lambasted Soto on Thursday in a piece that declared "Soto is about as bad a Democrat for liberals and progressives as anyone in the state."

"Free from the constraints of tough primaries and quickly emerging as a favorite of business and school 'choice' lobbyists in Tallahassee, Soto became the poster child for conservative Democrats who seek higher office by running in safe Democratic seats backed by Republican money and the support of large elements of a bipartisan political establishment," wrote Krishnaiyer.

Krishnaiyer didn't hold back, pointing out in his opening that Soto is one of his least-favorite Democratic lawmakers.

Soto joined a Democratic field that already includes Grayson's district director, Susannah Randolph, former state Rep. Ricardo Rangel of Kissimmee and adjunct professor Valleri Crabtree, a former chair of the Osceola County Democratic Executive Committee.

The district, which has a large Hispanic population, covers Osceola and parts of Orange and Polk counties. The district leans Democratic, but state lawmakers have been ordered to redraw lines for eight other congressional districts, which will no doubt affect surrounding districts.

GAETZ: FLAG A SYMBOL OF RESISTANCE TO CIVIL RIGHTS

Floridians this week continued to weigh the question of flying the Confederate flag at public buildings --- and continued to reach different conclusions.

In Tampa, for instance, the Hillsborough County Commission on Wednesday voted 7-0 to remove the flag from the Frederick B. Karl County Center.

In Walton County, where the flag flies at the courthouse in DeFuniak Springs, commissioners on Tuesday delayed a vote on whether to remove it.

And on Sunday, a crowd of 2,000 rallied to support the Marion County Commission, which had voted to restore the flag to its place outside a government complex. The Marion County flag was taken down briefly after the slaughter of nine parishioners in a historically black church in Charleston, S.C. last month.

Many Floridians reject the idea that the Confederate flag had anything to do with the murders, which have led to charges against 21-year-old white supremacist named Dylann Roof. Supporters of the flag frequently say it is about heritage.

But state Sen. Don Gaetz, a Niceville Republican who hails from North Dakota, said the Confederate battle flag has been "a symbol of resistance to civil rights."

"And I think it's accurate to say that's in large part why the battle flag was raised over some public buildings in the South in the 1960's," Gaetz said. "You know, the Civil War ended in 1865 and the Confederate battle flag wasn't popularized until the 1960's. And it had more to do, in my study of history, with resistance to civil rights."

In Walton County, which Gaetz represents, the flag was added in 1964 to a Confederate war memorial. The County Commission is expected to vote July 28 about whether to take down the flag.

"This is just the beginning of political correctness," Danny Glidewell warned Walton commissioners this week. "The next thing will be the memorial, and the next thing will be the Ten Commandments, and the next thing will be the nativity scene. … If we don't stop it, then that's what we'll get."

TWEET OF THE WEEK:"@Windex won't fix Greece's $$ problems." --- Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater (@JeffAtwater) announcing an open letter in which he boasted of Florida's financial health in comparison to the "economic peril" now confronting Greece for "failing to exercise fiscal responsibility."