Candidate Nan Rich is struggling with respect from the Florida Democratic Party for her gubernatorial primary challenge against former Gov. Charlie Crist.
William March of the Tampa Tribune reports that Rich is accusing Broward County attorney Andrew Weinstein, volunteer finance chair of the FDP, organized a fundraiser for Crist even though party officials should remain neutral in primary contests.
Party chair Allison Tant and director Scott Arceneaux asked Weinstein to step down as the FDP’s chief fundraiser, they told Rich in various conversations on the day of Crist’s fundraiser. However, as of Wednesday, party officials seemed to backtrack from that statement.
According to spokesperson Josh Karp, the discussion on Weinstein “captures an instant in a much longer conversation between several people, which involved some misunderstandings.” According to the Tribune, Karp blamed the chaos in part on Republican “spin.”
“I didn’t ask them for his resignation, but I called to voice concern about the neutrality of the finance director because that’s something that’s expected,” Rich told the Tribune. “I spoke with the (Tant and Arceneaux) and they said they had asked for his resignation. I haven’t spoken with the chair since then, and I don’t know what their conversation was after that.”
