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Mike Haridopolos Quits U.S. Senate Race

By: William E. Lewis Jr. (Diary)  |  July 18th, 2011 at 11:48 AM  | 

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State Senate President Mike Haridopolos’ campaign for the U.S. Senate has unexpectedly ended.   This is just days after two top staffers announced their resignations.

The departure of campaign manager Tim Baker and campaign advisor Pat Bainter were the last in a series of stumbles and missteps that plagued Haridopolos, who has had trouble serving in his role as Senate president while campaigning for the United States Senate.

“It became increasingly clear to me, and those around me, that the responsibilities I was managing on both fronts are in conflict. I truly believed I could handle both jobs, but I was wrong. Now I am determined to make it right,” said Haridopolos.

“Today, I am announcing that I will no longer be a candidate for the United States Senate, nor will I seek any other office this year or next. Instead, I am re-dedicating myself to finishing the job you sent me to do here in Florida,” he said.

The Senate field has now been narrowed to Florida’s 34th Senator – George LeMieux, former House Majority leader Adam Hasner, retired Army Colonel Mike McCalister and former Ruth’s Chris CEO Craig Miller. The Republicans are vying to take on incumbent Democratic Senator Bill Nelson.

“I wish Mike, Stephanie, and his family all the best and thank them for their commitment to public service,” said former U.S. Senator George Lemieux. 

“Mike Haridopolos is a leader who has worked for years to push a bold vision in the Florida legislature. Mike and I agree that to create good jobs for Floridians we need to reduce our debt and create an environment that nurtures America’s entrepreneurial spirit.  I hope Mike’s supporters will consider joining me in my fight to retire Bill Nelson and end Harry Reid’s reign as Majority Leader,” concluded LeMieux.

Mike McCalister and Craig Miller have not returned calls or text messages for comment.

“Mike Haridopolos has always been a friend.  He made a difficult decision today and I respect him for making it.  Jillian and I wish Mike, Stephanie and the entire Haridopolos family the very best,” said Adam Hasner in a written statement.

“Our campaign remains focused on the important issues facing our country, and the principled, limited-government leadership we need in Washington,” concluded Hasner.

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COMMENTS

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  • gawken

    Let’s be honest. There is only ONE endorsement that matters in the GOP primary..and that’s Marco Rubio’s.

    A while back, Rubio stated that he was going to refrain from making an endorsement for a while…give everyoene a chance to get into the race and define themselves. That’s a prudent path..he doesn’t want to appear as a kingmaker.

    Haridopoulous has had severl major stumbles, and I suspect that Rubio has quietly told him that he won’t endorse him. No way anyone can win the GOP primary without Marco’s impramateur.

    Just imagine the ad..”I need YOU to send ****** to the Senate to help me fix Washingtons and save the country..” Nuff said…

    Marco and Mike were longtime collleagues in Tallahassee..so Marco did him a solid..told him not to bother..gave him time to back out now, gracefully.

    Well played,..Senator Rubio

  • acat

    Not in Florida, not familiar with the remaining names… other than LeMieux, who I recall is a friend of Orange Charlie.

    Is McCalister a chip off the same block as Alan West, for example?

    Mew

  • electionwatch

    McCalister is a tea partier who ran for Governor in the Republican primary last year (against Rick Scott and then-Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum), and received a surprising 10% of the primary vote. He is a tea party guy and is very conservative, especially on foreign policy and war issues.

    LeMieux is a close of of Charlie Crist, and is pretty moderate, and not somebody we are looking for as a Senator. His interim status as Senator are the only years in the Senate he will ever be serving.

    Former State House Speaker Adam Hasner is the tea party darling. He is backed by the majority of tea partiers for his conservative credentials as State House Spealer, and is very conservative.

    This matchup of these two (LeMiuex/Hasner) is like the Crist-Rubio match in the Republican Senate primary last year, but, now you have to add McCalister and former Ruth Chris Steak House CEO Craig Miller, and a bunch of other unknown candidates (check Politics1 and TheGreenPapers pages for Florida for these candidates), and you have a very competitive primary.

    IMO, Haridopoulos dropped out because of a lack of support, his current job and its conflicts, and the lack of fundraising in Q2 compared to his eye-opening Q1 fundraising totals. He also may have dropped out to get out of the way for a Crist/Rubio like primary with LeMiuex and Hasner. Haridopoulos is right between the two in terms of their conservative views. I think it’s good he dropped out. I don’t hate him, but, I don’t support him.

  • gawken

    and like you, was very surprised at how well he did, considering that he had NO $$..ran an all but invisible campaign. I suspect that 99% of his votes were, like myself, from tose who wouldn’t vote for McCollum, but weren’t that enamoured of Scott.

    As I wrote, Adam, with Rubio’s endorsement, should win the GOP primary.

    I wish that McCalister coudl find a congressional district to run in. He’d be awesome, and would have no trouble raising $$$. He’s another Col. West, IMHO.

  • electionwatch

    could try to primary freshman Dennis Ross (R) in District 12, since he lives in Plant City, which is within FL-12, but, that’s unlikely. Redistricting may help him, though.

    Also, you are right that most of his votes were probably from voters disgruntled with Scott and McCollum, and voted for McCalister as a none of the above choice. McCalister may also be able to get some of Haridopoulos’ supporters-that’s if they discover who he is.

  • mikeymike143

    i will give my opinion of the florida senate race. first off, haridopolos is a full blown RINO who had absolutely no chance of winning. now to the remaining candidates.

    adam hasner is a true conservative who has both tea party and republican support. i have heard him speak more than once and his qualifications are impeccable. and from a practical standpoint, hasner has the organization in place that is necessary to win a senate race in a state like florida. pairing him with marco rubio in the senate would be a ”dream combination” for florida

    col, mike mccalister would also make a superb senator. several of my friends who know him personally have compared him to allen west. and in my circles that is a pretty darn strong compliment. i think he would be similar to jim demint in the senate in that you know he would not sell out for politcal gain. i have also heard mike speak more than once and i really think he that when it comes to foreign policy he ”gets it” as much as if not more than anyone in congress now.

    to be honest, i am not even considering anybody else so i am not going to talk about any of other candidates. and i am undecided as to which of these two candidates i will support.

    and i am going to use a football analogy to compare the two candidates. choosing between adam and mike is like getting to choose between having tom brady or peyton manning as the quarterback on your favorite NFL team. both are great choices and you could really make a strong case for either one.

  • GregInFla

    As someone aid above. He’s welcome to move to Brevard and run for Haridopolos’s Florida Senate seat. He’s got my vote here and he’d win hands-down. Hasner should get the nod to run against Nelson, but as a Florida republican on many candidate’s donor lists (Webster, West, Adams, Rubio, etc) and the RNC’s list, I have not received any emails from the Hasner campaign. Nelson is a favorite with the seniors, so it won’t be as easy to win as Rubio did in the general.