Florida Sen. George LeMieux, who managed Gov. Charlie Crist's 2006 campaign and won appointment to the Senate from Crist last year, confirmed Friday that he will not support his former boss's independent campaign for the Senate.
"I am saddened that my friend, Governor Crist, has decided to leave the Republican Party. Our friendship runs deep, but my commitment to the principles of the Republican Party runs deeper," LeMieux said in a statement. "I cannot walk down the path he has chosen."
"I am saddened that my friend, Governor Crist, has decided to leave the Republican Party. Our friendship runs deep, but my commitment to the principles of the Republican Party runs deeper," LeMieux said in a statement. "I cannot walk down the path he has chosen."
Crist appointed LeMieux in August 2009 to the Senate seat left vacant by the resignation of Republican Sen. Mel Martinez — the same seat Crist is seeking this year. At the time, the governor was competing for the Republican Senate nomination against former state House Speaker Marco Rubio, whom LeMieux pledged to support in the general election.
"I will support our Republican nominee and will continue to do everything I can both in Florida and across the country to increase the number of Republicans in the United States Senate," he said, not mentioning Rubio's name.
LeMieux, who is viewed as a possible challenger to Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012, told POLITICO last week that he believed Crist "should run as a Republican — he's been a lifelong Republican, he is a Republican and espouses Republican values."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/36597.html
"I will support our Republican nominee and will continue to do everything I can both in Florida and across the country to increase the number of Republicans in the United States Senate," he said, not mentioning Rubio's name.
LeMieux, who is viewed as a possible challenger to Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012, told POLITICO last week that he believed Crist "should run as a Republican — he's been a lifelong Republican, he is a Republican and espouses Republican values."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/36597.html