Pious Agnostic

According the this story in the Orlando Sentinel, former mayor Bill Fredrick will probably run in the special election to fill the vacancy created by Buddy Dyer's suspension after his indictment on charges of election fraud:

Frederick's plan would be to serve as mayor until a final decision is cast about Dyer's political fate. If Dyer is convicted and permanently removed from office, Frederick said, he would resign the mayor's seat in about a year and not run in a general election.

Frederick has asked other potential candidate Tico Perez to step aside to allow him to run unopposed:

Perez, who has acknowledged his interest in filling Dyer's seat, said he rejected Frederick's proposal.

"I was very respectful to the former mayor but not receptive to the idea," Perez said. He would not comment further.

Frederick was the mayor of Orlando from 1980 - 1992, and has the support of many local politicos, including Former Orange County Chairman Linda Chapin:

"If he does it, it would clearly be a positive response to the unfortunate situation that Mayor Dyer finds himself in," said Chapin, director of the Metropolitan Center for Regional Studies at the University of Central Florida. "With his experience, this absolutely would be a perfect solution."

Frederick was a very popular mayor during his tenure in office. He is fondly remembered by this humble blogger for an incident that occurred late in his last term, where he unholstered his legally-owned firearm and discharged it in the air in an attempt to apprehend a mugger he encountered in the parking lot of a mid-town eatery.

He was roundly castigated in the press, but his behavior was generally applauded by the citizens of Orlando. Whether the incident effected his decision not to run for re-election is unknown.

Mulvaney is a former pub owner who ran against Dyer for the office of mayor in Orlando.

Mulvaney camp sees redemption, opportunity

Ken Mulvaney started the absentee-ballot allegations that finally bumped Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer from office Friday, but it's unclear whether Dyer's indictment will provide any political boost to the former Irish steelworker who hoped to run City Hall.

Mulvaney, 44, sued the city and Dyer after losing the mayoral election last March, accusing Dyer of paying consultant Ezzie Thomas $10,000 to illegally rally voters and collect absentee ballots in heavily black precincts.

"Deep down inside, yes, I knew it would happen," Mulvaney said after charges against Dyer, Thomas and two others were announced. "We knew the evidence was there. This issue needed to be taken care of."

Activist known for turning out minority vote

People involved in Orlando politics have know for years that Ezzie Thomas did more than "get out the vote." When you hired Ezzie, you got results, in the form of properly filled-out absentee voter forms.

Ezzie Thomas, the 73-year-old absentee-ballot consultant at the center of the criminal case against suspended Mayor Buddy Dyer, has weathered similar accusations in the past, but those never rose to indictments or arrests.

snip...

Dubbed the "absentee ballot king," politicians have praised Thomas for his ability to deliver crucial votes in close races.

snip...

Thomas, who has registered as a Democrat in past elections, has worked mostly for Democratic candidates, although he counts a few Republicans as clients, too. Among them are U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, Orange County's former chairman, and Secretary of State and former Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood.

This is only the beginning, I suspect.

The Orlando Sentinal has lots of good coverage, including this graph:

Indicted Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer struck back Friday afternoon saying he has done nothing wrong and he will not step down.

Gov. Jeb Bush suspended Dyer from his mayoral powers on Friday, WESH NewsChannel 2 reported.

The city's attorney said a special election will be held to fine a replacement for Dyer until his suspension is either revoked or he is permanently removed from office. In the meantime, Ernest Page, the Mayor Pro Tempore and a city commissioner, will act as mayor.

"I believe that the charges that have been leveled against my campaign and me are without merit and totally politically motivated. As a result, I intend to fight these charges with every ounce of strength that I have," Dyer said.

The city's attorney said he consulted with the governor's office, state law and the city's charter to determine how to proceed.

"In accordance with the provisions in the city charter, the City Council will meet within 10 days to establish a time for this special election," said Dykes Everett.

Dyer vowed to fight the charges and return to office.

"When we are successful in this fight, I will return to office to serve as your mayor for the remainder of my term," he said.

"And then I shall have my revenge on you all! You will rue the day you ever f***ed with Buddy Dyer!^*

Read the rest

^*No, he didn't really say that.

Update:  Click this link for the WDBO web site, with audio.

Hmmm.... Scared Monkeys isn't afraid to say:

The AP will not tell you that Orlando’s Mayor Buddy Dyer is a Democrat, but Scared Monkeys will. In another pattern of democratic voting fraud, Democratic mayor Buddy Dyer paid solicitors to collect absentee ballots in the Orlando community. This is 3rd Degree Voter Fraud in Florida.

Lawhawk noticed it too.

I knew it and didn't report it. Mia culpa! I just figured that, since vote fraud was involved, you knew he had to be a Democrat.

Pious gratitude to: Michelle Malkin

A DU inmate grabs a clue:

Old guard Democrats are the main reason that Republicans slipped in and took Florida. They have the same plan. Grow, grow, grow. And sell out the masses.

A rare glimpse of clarity.

Update:  Actually, Dyer only was elected because he's an Old guard Dem...if he belonged to the "new guard" that the poster apparently prefers, he wouldn't get anywhere in a conservative town like Orlando...unless he engaged in voter fraud. D'oh!

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer Indicted

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer was indicted Friday morning in an election fraud scandal that arose after the mayoral election last year.

Dyer turned himself into the Orange County Jail just after 8:30 a.m., WESH NewsChannel 2 reported.

An arrest warrant was issued Thursday night. At issue is whether Dyer's campaign staff illegally paid people to collect absentee ballots, particularly among the city's minority communities. Dyer is facing one count of third-degree felony of vote fraud directly related to the activities of campaign worker Ezzie Thomas.

Orange County Circuit Judge Alan Apte also turned himself in at the jail a few minutes before Dyer. Apte faces charges of breaking state election laws. Patti Sharp, who managed Dyer's re-election campaign, was also indicted. Her attorney said he believes it was inappropriate to indict her after she cooperated with the grand jury.

Apte allegedly paid Thomas to collect votes during the judicial race in 2002. Thomas worked for Apte and Dyer in the mayoral race. The fourth indictment was for Thomas, who admitted getting paid thousands of dollars to collect absentee ballots for Dyer.

Alligations of election fraud have haunted the Orlando mayorial race even before polling day, Dyer's opponent accused him of irregularities with regard to absentee ballots.

Governer Jeb Bush, in town at University of Central Florida, was quick to respond:

We want to get it confirmed. I have not gotten the details of how (the indictment) reads. But generally, if a public official is indicted, our policy is to suspend," said Gov. Jeb Bush.

Bush said he considers news of Dyer's indictment disappointing because it violates the public trust in its elected officials. The governor's comments came outside of the First Robotics regional competition the University of Central Florida Friday morning.