Senate Hopefuls Lee and Burgin to Address Alafia Republicans

Controversy-plagued District 24 Senate candidates state Rep. Rachel Burgin, R-Riverview, and former Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, are slated to discuss their candidacies Monday, July 30 at the monthly meeting of the Alafia Republican Club.

The meeting will be held at at 4330 Bell Shoals Rd., Valrico. Social time starts at 6 p.m. and the meeting starts at 6:30 p.m.

Each will be given 15 minutes to speak with a short question-and-answer session following, according to club President Jeff Lukens.

The two Senate candidates have been sent out to East Hillsborough County residents that's played out in the media during recent weeks.

The clash had led to against Burgin.

Locked in competitiveprimaries for Senate seats, House Minority Leader Ron Saunders and formerSenate President Tom Lee were among the state's top campaign fund-raisersduring the latest reporting period.

As of Friday, July 27, the deadline for filing campaign-finance information, Lee was among one of the top Senate fundraisers in the state.

Lee collected $35,050 between July 7 and July 20, and has an overall total of $234,635. In the meantime, Burgin raised $6,005 during the reporting period and has raised a total of $127,978.

Donors to Lee's campaign include the Florida Homebuilders Associations, Citizens for Environmental Excellence, the TECO Energy Political Action Committee, Realtors Advancing Good Government, the Hillsborough Firefighters PAC, Protect Our Liberty, the Florida Anesthesiology PAC, the Florida Optometric PAC, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, the Sugar Farms Coop and Citizens for a Better Tomorrow.

Burgin's donors include Magic Kingdom and Sea World & Entertainment, Pepin Distributing Co., the Florida Health Care Political Action Committee, Save Our Internet Access Committee of Continuous Existence, Publix Supermarkets, Council for Senior Floridians, the Florida Farm Bureau PAC, the Florida CPA PAC, Florida Nursery Growers, Floridians for Strong Leadership, the Common Sense Leadership Committee and the Florida Cattle PAC.

Also expected to attend Monday's meeting and discuss his candidacy is U.S. Congressman Tom Rooney, R-Stuart, who is running for the District 17 U.S. House of Representatives, a new district created as the result of reapportionment from the 2010 U.S. Census. The new district include areas south of the Alafia River.

In addition, club member Deborah Cox-Roush, operations-volunteer coordinator for the Republican National Convention's Committee on Arrangements, will give an update what’s happening at the RNC and how local Republicans can participate.

In preparation for upcoming flag-waving and "Walking to Win" events, the Alafia Republican Club will have club T-shirts on sale for $10 each. Its motto for the 2012 elections is “Freedom’s Last Stand.”

The club will host a "Walking to Win" event starting at the Bell Shoals Beef O' Brady's Aug. 4 at 9:30 a.m.

Club members will follow up with a "Waving to Win" event Aug. 9 at the corner of Bloomingdale Avenue and Bell Shoals Road.

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