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SARASOTA - Sarasota Police are investigating the apparent suicide of Anders Ebbeson, husband of former Congresswoman and Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris. Police were called to the scene of the couple's house in the 1400 block of Sarasota's Bay Point Drive around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. Police and Pastor William Hild of downtown Sarasota's First Baptist Church confirmed that Ebbeson, a 68-year-old Swedish businessman, had taken his own life and asked the community to respect the family's privacy. "On behalf of the family, Katherine's husband took his own life," Hild said outside the home on Bay Point Drive Tuesday morning....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Mel Martinez, a native Cuban and a former chairman of the Republican Party, stunned supporters on Friday by informing them that he plans to resign from Congress, party aides said. Martinez, 62, who earlier said he would not run for a second Senate term next year, scheduled a news conference in Orlando, Florida, at 3 p.m. EDT to make an announcement. In a letter to "friends," a copy of which was obtained by Reuters from a supporter of the senator, Martinez said he planned to step down after a replacement is named. "My priorities have always...

------Whatever happened to Congresswoman Katherine Harris after she left office following her Nov. 2006 defeat? For those who've forgotten, she was Florida Secretary of State during the controversial Nov. 2000 presidential election. For her leadership during that crisis(or because of her name recognition) she made a successful run for U.S. Representative for Florida. She was then re-elected in 2004. She made an ill-fated run for the Senate in 2006 which she lost and lost her Representative seat.

Politics: The former Stuart Smalley becomes the 60th Democrat in the U.S. Senate, thanks to the community organizers at Acorn and the little-known Secretary of State Project. Is the system being rigged? Incumbent Republican Norm Coleman conceded defeat in the mother of all recounts in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race after the state's Supreme Court unanimously rejected his lawsuit. Arguably, his seat may have been lost the day in 2006 when Democrat Mark Ritchie defeated two-term incumbent Republican Mary Kiffmeyer to become Minnesota secretary of state. It was Ritchie who orchestrated the recount that gave Democratic challenger Franken a lead some...

Politics: The former Stuart Smalley becomes the 60th Democrat in the U.S. Senate, thanks to the community organizers at Acorn and the little-known Secretary of State Project. Is the system being rigged?Politics: The former Stuart Smalley becomes the 60th Democrat in the U.S. Senate, thanks to the community organizers at Acorn and the little-known Secretary of State Project. Is the system being rigged? Incumbent Republican Norm Coleman conceded defeat in the mother of all recounts in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race after the state's Supreme Court unanimously rejected his lawsuit. Arguably, his seat may have been lost the day in 2006...

An early review is in for HBO's upcoming movie, Recount, about the Bush-Gore battle in Florida after 2000 election. Gillian Flynn in Entertainment Weekly, which like HBO is part of the Time-Warner family, has described the film, to premiere next Sunday night, as tilted against the Republican characters. In her review in the May 23 edition of the magazine, Flynn asserted: “Recount may not be downright blue, but it's not as purply as it wants to appear.” Saying “Recount is an underdog story, and thus a Democrat story,” Flynn reported that the “Republican players here are coolly calculating -- Tom...

Religious Right Leaders Congregate Skip directly to the full story. By WILLIAM MARCH The Tampa Tribune Published: Sep 22, 2007 ADVERTISEMENT More from this channel: Search for more information: Site Search Archives Keyword TBO.com Site Search | Tribune archive from 1990 BRANDON - Some of the best-known national leaders in the religious right movement have converged on a Brandon church this weekend for a conference to discuss gay rights issues, Islam, abortion, and other issues from what they call the "culture wars."

Okay, now we finally have a reason to care about the presidential election. Variety reported this week that a cast is in place for 'Recount,' a made-for-HBO movie about the 2000 Florida election. It'll star Kevin Spacey as former Al Gore chief of staff Ron Klain, Denis Leary as a Democratic pollster, Tom Wilkinson as Republican James Baker, Bob Balaban as the lead Bush/Cheney attorney, Ed Begley Jr. as the Democrats' lead attorney, and ... (dramatic pause) ... Laura Dern as former Secretary of State Katherine Harris. (An interesting choice. Wonkette wanted Glenn Close or Ellen Barkin; Radar Online suggested...

ORLANDO - Katherine Harris ended her bid to unseat Sen. Bill Nelson the way she started: badly down at the polls, snubbed by GOP leaders and defiantly refusing to give in. ''We don't believe in the polls. We believe in the people. Only votes count,'' said Harris, predicting victory as she waved to passersby at the corner of 26th Street and Manatee Boulevard in Bradenton on a drizzly Election Day afternoon. By then, it was too late. Nelson jumped to a commanding, double-digit lead early and never let up, indicating that Harris -- contrary to her repeated claims -- had...

TAMPA, Fla. - Katherine Harris has insisted all along that she could unseat U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson if she could energize the state's strong Republican base. She'll learn Tuesday night how successful that effort has been. Voters heading to the polls Tuesday had a clear choice between Harris, the conservative congresswoman who made her name overseeing Florida's recount in the disputed 2000 election, and Nelson, the staid, centrist Democratic senator who's been spent more than three decades in public office. Harris had her work cut out for her. Nelson has led the Longboat Key congresswoman by as much as 30...

Even critics are impressed with her debate performances, but experts say it's just too late ORLANDO -- Virtually out of money, abandoned by state Republican leaders and ridiculed by her detractors, Rep. Katherine Harris is refusing to fade into the background in the final days of her U.S. Senate bid. Instead, she is becoming more visible, scheduling one of her busiest series of public appearances in weeks and advertising on television for the first time in months. Even Harris' critics say she has surprised them in her two debates against Sen. Bill Nelson, avoiding the gaffes that have dogged her...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Katherine Harris said Friday she's writing a book about her tumultuous campaign for the U.S. Senate this year, and win or lose she should have plenty to dish. The congresswoman from Longboat Key near Sarasota, who grabbed the national spotlight during Florida's disputed vote count in the 2000 election, is far behind incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson in the polls and has weathered a rocky and controversial campaign season. Top Republicans, including Gov. Jeb Bush, tried to draft someone - anyone - to run in her place. Staffers quit in droves, telling reporters she throws temper tantrums over...

ORLANDO, Fla. - Republican Katherine Harris and Democrat Bill Nelson clashed on taxes, the Iraq war and the future of Social Security in their final debate before next week's U.S. Senate election. Harris, a Longboat Key congresswoman, again attacked Nelson as a liberal who would raise taxes. Nelson, the incumbent senator, said he voted against President Bush's initial tax cut bill because it was flawed but has voted 81 times to cut taxes or extend tax cuts."I'm not going to let her get away with this," Nelson said, sitting at a table with Harris and moderator Tim Russert in the...

Early in the year, we became the first newspaper in the state to endorse the candidacy of Katherine Harris for the United States Senate. We were one of the few newspapers in the state to do so. The press, with few exceptions, does not like Katherine Harris, and campaign problems that would earn no more than a few lines in any other race become front page headlines in hers. The problems and yes, errors, in her campaign, have overshadowed what she offers to the voters of Florida. Like many Polk Countians, we have known her since childhood, and have watched...

A new Mason-Dixon poll out tonight shows Democrat Bill Nelson leading Republican Katherine Harris by 26 points in the U.S. Senate race. Nelson polls at 57 percent; Harris at 31 percent. Nelson has been ahead by at least 15 points since Mason-Dixon first began polling nearly two years ago. While campaigning in North Florida this week, Nelson told supporters that the race would even and that garnering 55 percent of the vote would be a landslide. Harris spokeswoman Jennifer Marks released a statement, saying "Congresswoman Harris has a long history of rebounding from negative polling predictions because her message of...

In March, Harris went on national television to say she would pump $10 million of her personal fortune into her bid to become a senator. So far, she has put in about $3.15 million, and only three weeks are left in the campaign. Harris paid $795,000 for the home in 2003, and its total assessed value in 2005 was about $806,500. Even if she sells it for $1 million and puts that into the campaign, her total personal contribution would be $4.1 million. Just-released finance reports show that Harris had about $964,000 in campaign money as of Sept. 30. That's...

With three weeks until Election Day, U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris has less than $1 million in the bank, an amount that leaves her Senate campaign all but dead in the water, according to political analysts. Unless Harris dumps millions of her own money into the campaign, there is little chance she'll dent the double-digit lead of Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. "The outcome is all but preordained at this point," said Robert Jackson, a professor of political science at Florida State University. University of Central Florida professor Aubrey Jewett agreed. "That is anemic," said Jewett. "She'd need a heck of a...

Senate Candidates Divided On Immigration Issue The two candidates for U.S. Senate find themselves on opposite sides of the battle over immigration reform. Republican Katherine Harris is attacking incumbent Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson, saying he wants to give a free ride to citizenship for people living in this country illegally. A recent survey shows illegal immigration is a top concern among Florida voters, WESH 2 News reported In fact, more voters said they're worried more about immigration than they are about terrorism or the war in Iraq. Willie Telismon said he doesn't mind grueling work. Picking fruit pays little, but...

TAMPA, FL— This morning, Congresswoman Katherine Harris, the Republican candidate for United States Senate continued a targeted effort to inform Florida voters of how Bill Nelson supports amnesty at great peril to our economy and security. Standing in front of the Tampa Sub Office for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Katherine Harris reminded voters that she is the only candidate in this race who will strongly oppose efforts to grant special rights and privileges to millions of illegal immigrants. Congresswoman Harris commented, “Unlike my opponent, I will fight for our hard-working families who struggle to afford our Florida lifestyle...

FLORIDA NEEDS TAX RELIEF TAMPA, FL— Congresswoman Katherine Harris, the Republican candidate for United States Senate launched a targeted effort this morning to inform Florida voters of how Bill Nelson has worked against tax relief for our families and businesses. Standing in front of the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, Katherine Harris reminds voters that she is the only candidate in this race who will fight to reduce taxes and government spending so that people can keep more of their hard-earned money. “My opponent has voted against tax cuts time and time again, opting to funnel more of our wages...