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February 02, 2006

Air GOP Fails to Make Its On-Time Connection

The Republican Party of Florida failed to gather enough signatures to place an anti-marriage amendment on a statewide ballot in November. Despite their failure, the Sunshine State GOP should get an "A" for effort.

Thanks to Republican funds, Florida4Marriage (the group that attempted to place the measure on the ballot) yesterday scrambled three jets around Florida to deliver petitions to couriers, who then drove the signed petitions to various counties to be counted. The organization was able to fund their efforts with a $150,000 donation from the Florida Republican Party - which accounts for nearly 80% of all money raised by the group.

State records at 5 p.m., the deadline for turning in the signatures, showed that the group had turned in about 446,000 signatures, well short of the 611,009 needed, but the totals were unofficial. The petition drive failed to, ahem, get off the ground. This was partly due to public opposition by officials like Congressman Jim Davis (D-Tampa) and State Senator Rod Smith (D-Gainesville), both Democratic Candidates for Governor. Local LGBT Democrats worked with these campaigns, and others, to ensure a strong Democratic response to the Republican scheme.

Read More: Gay Marriage Ban Lacks Signatures
Learn More: Florida LGBT Democratic Caucus

Posted by TrailMix at February 2, 2006 09:44 AM