With little more than a week to go until the election next Tuesday, the attacks are flying in the battle to be Florida’s next attorney general. On Monday, Democratic candidate Sen. Dan Gelber jabbed Republican nominee Pam Bondi as they continue to fight for attention from voters more familiar with the dramatic gubernatorial and U.S. Senate contests.

Gelber’s team took aim at some support Bondi was getting from national Republicans -- namely an almost $1 million ad campaign backed by the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC). Gelber’s team insists the RSLC is funded by special interests.

"In the final days of a campaign, you would think Pam Bondi would focus her attention on Florida, but according to her political calculations she can get more bang for her buck by continuing to sell her campaign to the highest bidder in Washington at the expense of Floridians,” said Christian Ulvert, Gelber‘s campaign manager. “Ms. Bondi should spend less time making deals with D.C. lobbyists and more time talking to Florida voters. Maybe then she’d have a little more to say about the real security challenges facing our state, rather than focusing on Washington issues that have nothing to do with the attorney general’s office.”

Bondi was in Washington for a fund-raiser but Sandi Copes, a spokeswoman for Bondi, fired back.

“Raising money to get your message out is important, and it becomes even more important to have resources to defend oneself when your opponent starts misrepresenting the truth about your record and your positions on the issues," said Copes. "We wish Mr. Gelber would spend more time discussing how to deal with gangs, Florida’s record unemployment, the foreclosure crisis in our state and the federal health-care challenge rather than personally and untruthfully attacking Pam. It is exactly what he said he would not do."

The Gelber campaign also took to the airwaves, launching a new television commercial attacking Bondi and highlighting their candidate’s experience and endorsements from newspapers across the state.

 

“The overwhelming majority of newspapers from across the state of Florida have said that Dan is far more qualified to be attorney general than his opponent,” said Ulvert. “Newspapers from every corner of the state have seen through Pam Bondi’s tired partisan sound bites, and have repeatedly called out Ms. Bondi for focusing on issues that have nothing to do with the attorney general’s office. As these newspapers have pointed out, Dan’s experience as a top federal prosecutor, chief investigator in the U.S. Senate and consensus builder in the Florida Legislature has prepared Dan to lead on day one.”

Also on Monday, Bondi announced that her campaign had won the backing of the Latino Officers Association.

"Pam Bondi is the clear choice for Florida's attorney general because she has nearly 20 years of experience as a prosecutor and she will use that experience to work closely with law enforcement to protect Floridians," said President Alex Martinez of the Latino Officers Association. "Florida's Latino officers look forward to working with Pam, and we are confident she will prioritize the public safety needs of our communities."

"I am so honored to have the support of Florida's Latino officers because there will be nothing more important than making Florida a safer place, and that includes Florida's Hispanic communities, children and families," said Bondi. "I've spent the last 18 years as a prosecutor fighting crime and protecting victims, and I look forward to bringing that experience to the entire state as Florida's 'top cop' and chief legal officer."

Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.