The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) unveiled a website on Thursday seeking to define former Rep. Loranne Ausley, the Democratic candidate for state CFO, for her “long and disturbing liberal tax-and-spend record, well out of Florida’s mainstream” and so named her "Costly Ausley." Ausley faces the Republican candidate, Senate President Jeff Atwater of North Palm Beach, and two candidates who are running without party affiliation in November.
"With a long record of raising taxes, increasing the size of government and stifling Florida's economy, there is much more to reveal about Loranne Ausley," said Ronnie Whitaker, the executive director of the RPOF. "Today is just the latest disturbing example of Ausley's job-killing tax hikes for Floridians to know about."
The Ausley camp quickly fired back, focusing more on Atwater.
“Senate President Jeff Atwater has raised more than $2 billion in taxes and fees and accepted nearly $10 billion in stimulus funding, but he seems to have amnesia about his own record,” said Kevin Cate, a spokesman for Ausley. “Atwater is hiding behind the disgraced Republican Party of Florida, whose own financial oversight was so poor that it has led to arrests, indictments and now potential lawsuits, to try and attack Loranne Ausley. Meanwhile, Atwater has been presiding over the largest job loss period in generations, and has yet to answer for his $110 million ‘Prison to Nowhere,’ or the lavish $48 million ‘Tallahassee Taj Mahal.’ Where is Jeff Atwater? Why can’t he speak for himself?”