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Ladra is changing Curbelo’s nickname to “One Term Congressman” because, if everything goes well, that’s what he is. District 26 is a bell weather model with almost a third
split between Democrats, Republicans and Independents. Former Gov. Charlie Crist, who lost his statewide race against Gov. Rick Scott, won in Distrct 26 with 52% of the vote. Curbelo only beat former Congressman Joe Garcia because it was a midterm year and Garcia was tainted himself by an absentee ballot scandal that saw his chief of staff jailed for 90 days and an investigation into campaign finance shenanigans for a plantidate in the 2012 Democratic primary by the same.
Read related story: Things just went from bad to worse for U.S. Congressman Joe Garcia
That means that Curbelo could be made a one term congressman by someone like, say, former State Rep. Ana Rivas Logan, who was a Republican when she served in the Florida House but changed to Democrat over her party’s immigration stance.
Joe Garcia should sit this one out. If he could get beat by Carlos Curbelo when Curbelo was a nobody, he will get clobbered by Congressman Curbelo after he’s done with all his spin. Forget the mayoral race, I don’t think he could win a countywide race for dog catcher. Ladra has spoken to Dems who do not want him to run.
And Annette Taddeo, who ran with Crist for Lt. Gov, ought to chill 
out and take a break from candidacy after these three strikes (Congress and county commission before this). She’s only going to be seen as someone who wants to be in office, any office, and not someone who is really doing this to represent a particular constituency. Really, girl, go back to the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, where you were more effective.
Now, someone like Andrew Korge, who is looking at a Florida Senate seat, might want to glance over this way instead for a minute and see what is obviously a Democrat’s seat in 2016. But he’s a gringo and that isn’t going to fly here, as we learned last year when former Cutler Bay Mayor Ed MacDougall came in second in the GOP primary. Admittedly, the Dem bench is thin, but you can be sure they are looking for someone already. Even someone like former State Rep. Annie Betancourt, who has been low-key for more than a decade, could give Curbelo a run for his money.
And he’ll have lots of that. If Curbelo spent $3 million in 2014 to unseat Garcia, he’ll spend $5 million to keep the seat next year. That’s because he knows what the Democrats know — which is that if he wins in 2016, Curbelo is in that seat forever. So he’s either a one term congressman or the next John Conyers or Charlie Rangel.
And there will be no end to the spin then.
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Freshman Carlos Curbelo is on a roll — or is it a spin? added by Ladra on
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