Fort Myers News-Press: “Meek Seeks Signatures”
U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, who’s running for the U.S. Senate, was in Fort Myers this week energizing supporters to help gather petition signatures that would put him on the ballot without paying filing fees.
Meek could pay like most candidates, but he sees the advantage of getting backers organized early to gather names and raise his profile. It’s tough work for a statewide candidate, who must collect about 112,500 voters’ names from all over Florida. In fact, no other statewide candidate has ever done so. But Meek says he’ll be the first, and the early organization gives him a big boost.
So does the infighting between the two leading GOP candidates, Gov. Charlie Crist and former House Speaker Marco Rubio of Miami, say some of Meek’s supporters, although Meek himself wouldn’t go that far.
“People are saying it’s pretty ugly,” was his response to the GOP jousting. “Nobody’s saying that about my campaign.”
About 50 people, including several Republicans who said they support him, turned out for the event that was open to the public and let everyone meet the candidate.