Sunshine News: AG Race: Dave Aronberg Won't Back Down from Dan Gelber BP Issue

It's the most notable issue (or non-issue, depending on who you talk to) of the Democratic primary for attorney general.

The fire ignited by Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, over the loose ties Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, has with BP will likely continue a slow burn over the next five weeks leading up to the Aug. 24 primary. And despite polarizing his own party and being criticized on his ethics, Aronberg says he plans to continue to fan the flames.

At the end of June, Sen. Aronberg called for Gelber to resign from his law firm, Akerman Senterfitt, after the firm had signed on to represent BP in the potential flood of lawsuits they expect to be coming down the pipe.

Gelber had submitted a letter five days earlier indicating he planned to resign in early July and says he told the Palm Beach Post editorial board about the decision hours later. His resignation wasn't publicly reported until Aronberg called for it.

Since the story broke, fellow Democratic senators who might have stayed publicly neutral on the race have come out of the woodwork. Nan Rich, the incoming Senate minority leader released a statement saying, "I think people are tired of politics-as-usual. Politicizing the tragic oil spill is politics-as-usual. Dan Gelber stands above that."

Aronberg brushed off her criticism and support for his opponent.

"She's never supported me," said Aronberg. "Nan Rich supporting Gelber is like Jeb Bush supporting Marco Rubio. It was always going to happen."

Gelber has called his opponent's move "dishonest," and says he's disappointed Aronberg "took the low road."

Despite the backlash, Aronberg is not backing down.

"Look, if I can't talk about the BP lawsuit in this race for attorney general, then I might as well just shut down the campaign," he said. "Because this to me is not only a relevant issue, it's perhaps the most important issue in this race."

Aronberg went on to say that Florida Bar rules state any client of the firm is a client of all the attorneys who work at the firm, with some special exceptions, and that because Gelber did work for the firm for a number of weeks after Akerman Senterfitt took BP as a client, BP could ask the judge to recuse him from the case if he were attorney general against them.

"So at the very least we're dealing with a potential delay in the litigation," said Aronberg.