by Brandon Larrabee
The News Service of Florida
His race for the U.S. Senate might not be over, but state Senate President Mike Haridopolos (R-Merritt Island) isn’t done taking shots at one of his former rivals for the GOP nomination.
Speaking with reporters shortly after a redistricting meeting in Melbourne, Haridopolos slammed former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, a fellow Republican, in the now four-way race to take on U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, the incumbent Democrat.
“I will tell you one person I will not be supporting,” Haridopolos volunteered when reporters asked him whether he would get behind a candidate. “I will not be supporting Adam Hasner.”
Asked why, Haridopolos said, “We need to be the party of better ideas, and a person who’s consistent in their record, and not just legislate one way and campaign another.”
Hasher’s campaign dismissed the slap.
“How do you quote a shrug?” asked Doug Mayer, a spokesman for Hasner. “Adam is focused on continuing to build the support he’s received from grassroots conservatives across the state, across the country, and we wish Senate President Haridopolos the best.”
Haridopolos did not endorse a current candidate in the race, and suggested he might not.
In addition to Hasner, the field includes former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, tea-party backed candidate Mike McCalister and former steakhouse executive Craig Miller.
“I’ve let it be known clearly that I’m hopeful that a principled, tested conservative will still consider this race,” said Haridopolos.
Haridopolos said candidates he could back would include former Gov. Jeb Bush, who has publicly insisted he’s not interested in running for office in 2012.
Other candidates Haridopolos said he could support include U.S. Reps. Allen West, Jeff Miller, Tom Rooney and Connie Mack, who flirted with a run for the Senate before stepping out.
The Senate president stunned the political establishment last week when he announced he was ending his campaign. Haridopolos had entered the race as one of the front-runners, able to leverage his position to raise money and command media attention.
He ran into trouble after the legislative session ended, fumbling his answer to a question about the ambitious and politically unpopular Medicare overhaul being pushed by national Republicans.
In his Thursday comments, the most extensive on his decision to date, Haridopolos suggested that didn’t influence his decision.
Instead, he repeated his stance that running for office would have been a distraction from running the state Senate, and vice versa. Haridopolos said many residents didn’t seem to be aware of what the GOP majority had accomplished as he toured the state.
“I realized that if we’re going to bring focus to the Legislature, I need to make a choice: Either drop out of the state Senate or drop out of the United States Senate race,” said Haridopolos.
“And I think Bill Nelson will be very difficult to defeat, and to defeat him, you’re going to have to be on the road 24-7, like Marco Rubio had the opportunity to do,” he said.
Haridopolos all but declared he will run for office in the future.
“If you do the job you’re in well now, opportunities will come,” he said. “And I don’t know what that exact opportunity God is going to provide for me. I’ll make that decision, as far as my future, after I finish my role as Senate president.”