South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Stoneman Douglas families divided over Senate race
Some of the most publicly recognizable, outspoken parents of children killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre are divided over Florida’s close and contentious race for U.S. Senate.
On Friday, Fred Guttenberg endorsed U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, DFla. — and strongly criticized Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who is challenging Nelson.
“As I’ve gotten to know both Sen. Nelson and Gov. Scott, I took my time with this decision, but ultimately decided that I did not have a choice, and that the decision was clear,” he said.
Guttenberg praised the Democrat’s support for legislation that would curb access to weapons such as the AR-15, the weapon that was used to kill his daughter, Jaime, and criticized the Republican’s long record of supporting the National Rifle Association’ s agenda.
“Unfortunately, Rick Scott’s relationship with the NRA is as strong as ever,” Guttenberg said. “This relationship makes him not suitable to serve in the Senate. Let’s face it: There are already enough senators there who are in the hip pocket of the NRA.”
His daughter, Jaime, was one of 17 people killed in the Feb. 14 massacre at Stoneman Douglas.
He appeared Friday at the Fort Lauderdale Marriott Coral Springs Hotel with Nelson and U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, a Democrat whose district includes the Park- land high school. Friday marked seven months since the killings.
On Saturday, Guttenberg was scheduled to appear with Nelson in Orlando for an event honoring the 49 people killed in the June 2016 massacre at Pulse nightclub.
Also endorsing Nelson on Friday was Mitchell Dworet, whose son, Nicholas, also was killed at Stoneman Douglas.
Dworet said when he asked Scott, shortly after the massacre in which his son was killed, “how can we have these weapons on the streets, he said, ‘We have a Second Amendment. We have to protect the Second Amendment.’”
Nelson said he’d prefer not to be receiving the parents’ support.
“I am exceptionally grateful,”
Nelson said. “But this is an endorsement I wish I never had to have, because this endorsement is born out of tragedy.”
Supporting Republicans
Andrew Pollack, whose daughter, Meadow, was killed at Stoneman Douglas, is a strong supporter of Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who is seeking to oust Nelson. He has frequently appeared with Scott at official government events and at political gatherings.
When Scott formally announced his Senate candidacy in Orlando in April, Pollack was there, standing immediately behind Scott.
At the Broward County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day dinner in May, Pollack said his two political priorities for 2018 were the August School Board elections “and getting my friend Rick Scott elected to the Senate.”
When Nelson criticized Scott on Twitter over gun restrictions and said the governor is “incapable of protecting the people of Florida,” Pollack tweeted his own criticism of the senator.
“Senator Nelson, with all due respect everything you just said about Rick Scott is a flat out lie ,” Pol lack wrote, adding that Scott “took swift action after the shooting & has personally helped my family and I get through the hardest time of our lives.
“I support him 100%. He gets we need to #FixIt.”
Partisan politics
Guttenberg has been an outspoken supporter of Democratic politicians, including Deutch.
During the summer primary season, Guttenberg was featured in a television ad in which he endorsed Philip Levine, an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination to run for governor.
And on Friday, he said he wants Democrats to take over the U.S. Senate to dislodge U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as majority leader.
Guttenberg said that is the only way to get action on guns. “We must fire Mitch McConnell from his leadership position,” he said. “And the way we do that is we flip the Senate. And the way we do that is we make sure that we help re-elect Sen. Nelson. We cannot have more of the same.”
Guttenberg said later that his decisions aren’t motivated by political affiliation. He said he would endorse Republicans — if they asked, and if they favored actions on guns.
He said he’d consider endorsing U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, a Republican whose district includes northern Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties.
Mast has split with his party on the issue of guns. The former Army sergeant, who lost both legs and a finger when a bomb exploded under him in Afghanistan, supports several restrictions, including a ban on the sales of assault weapons, such as the AR-15.
“He’s right on the issue,” Guttenberg said.
When he met Mast earlier this year, he said he told the congressman he was “my hero” for publicly disagreeing with his party’s leadership.