LATEST NEWS


Economy, not Cuba, at heart of 3 congressional races

Posted: Oct 28, 2008
Publication: Miami Herald
BY: LESLEY CLARK AND LUISA YANEZ

Record foreclosures, a rising jobless rate and Miami's ever-changing mosaic of voters have altered the landscape for South Florida's three hotly contested congressional races, unexpectedly pushing Cuba to the fringes of debate.

Daily Kos poll: Martinez within one

Posted: Oct 26, 2008
Publication: Miami Herald blog
BY: Lesley Clark

A Research 2000 poll for Daily Kos shows Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart only 1 point ahead of his Democratic challenger, former Hialeah mayor Raul Martinez, 45 percent to 44 percent.

Ballots picked up, then disappear

Posted: Oct 25, 2008
Publication: Miami Herald
BY: LAURA FIGUEROA AND SCOTT HIAASEN

Three Hialeah voters say they had an unusual visitor at their homes last week: a man who called himself Juan, offering to help them fill out their absentee ballots and deliver them to the elections office.

The voters, all supporters of Democratic congressional candidate Raul Martinez, said they gave their ballots to the man after he told them he worked for Martinez. But the Martinez campaign said he doesn't work for them.

Diaz-Balart secures $2M contract for firm that sold spy gear to Caracas

Posted: Oct 23, 2008
Publication: Miami Herald
BY: DAN CHRISTENSEN

A high-tech Perrine firm that delivered surveillance equipment to Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez's intelligence agency is scheduled to get a $2 million contract from the federal government at the request of Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart.

The Republican congressman made the request for the funds, called an earmark, in late September. The company, Phoenix Worldwide Industries, is expected to use the money to develop mobile platforms outfitted with biological and video sensors for the U.S. Army.

End of the Diaz-Balart Dynasty The Republican brothers are headed for defeat, and Cuban-American politics will change forever.

Posted: Oct 23, 2008
Publication: Miami New Times
BY: Francisco Alvarado

Circus music sounds as a camera cuts to a short clip of a well-known, fuming, bearded comandante. Standing at a podium, he wears a drab military uniform and madly gesticulates with his left hand. Red letters flash: Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

Next comes an equally terse clip of a handsome fortyish man with thinning black hair and a dark suit, his face contorted in anger. He makes exactly the same gestures with the same hand. More red letters: U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart.

Democrats Have Reason to Celebrate: Hill PAC Is Back

Posted: Oct 23, 2008
Publication: Washington Post
BY: Mary Ann Akers And Paul Kane

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has returned to electoral politics with full force. The last step in her reengagement -- after her disappointing second-place finish to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in the presidential nomination sweepstakes -- was jump-starting her political action committee, Hill PAC.

Clinton did that late last month when she issued the first campaign contributions to congressional Democratic candidates since 2006, cutting $75,000 worth of checks to 14 campaigns for the House and Senate and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, according to reports filed Monday with the Federal Election Commission.

Diaz-Balart,Martinez debate differences before Miami Dade College students

Posted: Oct 17, 2008
Publication: Miami Herald
BY: LESLEY CLARK

U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart jabbed at challenger Raul Martinez's corruption scandal during a Miami Dade College debate Thursday night, while Martinez accused Diaz-Balart of changing his message depending on whether his audience speaks English or Spanish.

Though the hour-plus debate was mostly civil -- Martinez even complimented the Republican incumbent for his efforts to prevent a student from being deported -- both sides got in their digs.

Republicans Ignore McCain in Favor of a Democrat (And No, it's Not Obama)

Posted: Oct 16, 2008
Publication: Huffington Post
BY: John Hood

MIAMI-- "Why watch it? McCain's already lost the election."

So spoke a "nominally" Republican woman last night as she was taking a smoke break outside of The Lakes Cafe here in suburban Miami Lakes, the town built by the (Governor Bob) Graham family.

The relatively affluent neighborhood of famed former Dolphins head coach Don Shula and K.C. (of Sunshine Band infamy) skews Democrat, and has a healthy Republican presence on its voter rolls, but it seems inordinately independent.

Now it's a family affair

Posted: Oct 16, 2008
Publication: Miami Herald Blog
BY: Lesley Clark