In his first television ad for the House District 52 race, Republican candidate Jeff Brandes stands in a lumber yard discussing how his family’s lumber business created hundreds of jobs over the years. But because of high taxes and government regulation, he complains, those types of businesses are now under siege. “If Tallahassee gets in the way, we’re taking them to the woodshed,” he says, looking sternly into the camera.
“Who is it he wants to take to the woodshed?" asks his opponent, Democratic incumbent Bill Heller, during an interview last week in St. Pete campaign headquarters. "It’s his party that’s been in control.”
The ad demonstrates what other Democrats running for re-election statewide say they’re encountering: In a year when Floridians are disgusted with seemingly all their elected officials, the party in power is trying to camouflage who’s been in control of state government.
This article appears in Sep 16-22, 2010.