July 12, 2006
Katherine Harris's Campaign Staff To Resign
The high command of Rep. Katherine Harris's FL Senate bid plans to resign by the end of the week, two people familiar with the campaign tell the Hotline.
The departing staff includes Glen Hodas, Harris's campaign manager, her spokesperson, Chris Ingram, and Pat Thomas, her field director. The status of Harris's chief fundraiser, Erin Delullo, is not clear.
The resignations will take effect by Friday, according to the sources. TooConservative, a Virginia-based blog, first reported this afternoon that several staffers would quit.
One person involved in the campaign said there was no single precipitating factor. "She's just very difficult to work with. It's all the same stuff. The more than we put her out there, the more she shot herself in the foot," this person said.
This slate of staff lasted just three and a half months; in April, Harris lost her campaign manager, Jamie Miller, and strategist Ed Rollins. Both have since become outspoken critics of Harris's.
Harris, one of several Republicans running for the GOP nomination, trails incumbent Bill Nelson by more than 20 points in the latest polls. She is mired in the federal investigation into defense contractor MZM, has claimed that several House Democrats in Florida want her to win, has called attention to an alleged illegal contribution to Nelson that also implicated her staff and has had what one staffer called "tantrums."
She began a two-week campaign swing through the state last week.
Harris will have surgery later this month to remove an ovarian mass. [MARC AMBINDER]
Update: Harris's office just sent out this e-mail:
(Tampa, Fla.) -- Katherine Harris announced today she has accepted the resignation of her communications director Chris Ingram from her U.S. Senate campaign. My campaign appreciates the effort and energy Chris brought to the job. He served in an important role in my campaign and he did a great job, and I wish him well,” said Harris. “I wish Katherine and the campaign well, and look forward to returning to managing my company, 411 Communications,” Ingram said. Contrary to earlier reports, Harris has only accepted the resignation of Chris Ingram. On Monday, Katherine Harris undergoes surgery for a previously described medical condition. “I look forward to returning to the campaign trail swiftly following my medical procedure,” said Harris.
Posted at 06:29 PM
Comments
While Harris may be in deep trouble, that should not excuse the players who helped to put her there. There has existed a concerted effort to torpedo Harris prior to the primary so the “proper” candidate could have been anointed by the party’s elite. The White House (Rove Bush et al), Senatorial Campaign Committee, RNC, and lastly and most unfortunately brother Jeb, have done all they could to bring about this event.
This gang makes the Clinton elitists look like pikers. One can only fathom the contempt they must have for the average peon voter, as they are hell bent to do whatever it takes to keep them out of the primary process.
Brother Jeb, one would think, would have learned his lesson during the election cycle of 2000. It was just such a primary manipulation by Jeb and his minions that ensured the poor voters in Fla. had no primary choice. The Republican voters were saddled with the dead fish McCollum; it was his turn you know. He couldn’t have beaten the hapless Bill Nelson on the best day of his life. Thanks Jeb!
Harris may be a disaster as a candidate. I always saw her negatives as way to high in Florida, but she does have a right to take her shot. The voters do have a right to vote for their choice from the field of candidates. They also have the right, it would seem, to have electrons that are not rigged in some back room deal. I would hope they also would be graced with a party who would not “poison” the atmosphere to a point where other potentials opt out. To Harris’s credit, she did not fold when pressure was applied from the highest level to “step aside”.
This elitist process of bypassing the voter and “choosing” for them sheds light on just who makes up the RNC/GOP today. Any wonder the core of the party, Conservatives, has just about had their fill of the lot of ‘em?
Boss Tweed lives.
Polk Reformer | 07.14.06 01:00 PM
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Good the hear that Harris will finally have the alien parasite that is controlling her removed from her body.
Now if we can just get GWB to do the same.
Disputo | 07.14.06 01:38 PM
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What will they do when Harris finally snaps at the GOP and turns State evidence for the stolen election in 2000?
jabberwonk | 07.15.06 09:38 PM
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Kathy is a diligent leader and a sensitive Floridian who has proved her metal time and again while she was representing Florida.
Finlay Kemp | 09.11.06 07:49 AM
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