Dave Aronberg for Attorney General

Name: Aronberg for Attorney General
Office: Attorney General
Website: dave4florida.com

Background:

Referring to State Senator Dave Aronberg, the Orlando Sentinel stated, "If you're looking for new leaders, try starting here." The Fort Myers News-Press said that Senator Aronberg "is considered to be the strongest consumer advocate in state government." The Naples Daily News called him "the real deal."

In his seven years in the State Senate, Dave Aronberg has passed major consumer protection legislation that safeguards our privacy against identity theft and financial schemes. As part of a Medicaid task force, Dave successfully fought for reforms to combat fraud and abuse that will save taxpayers millions of dollars.

As a rare Democratic committee chair in a Republican-led Senate, Senator Aronberg led the Senate's efforts to secure federal funding for Everglades restoration. In addition, he oversees a consumer protection project in his Senate office that has returned more than four million dollars to Floridians who have called with consumer complaints.

In 2008, Senator Aronberg was named Chair of the Military Affairs and Domestic Security committee, where he works with members of local, state and federal law enforcement to protect Florida's ports and to ensure proper treatment of our State's veterans and those serving on active duty.

Dave Aronberg was born and raised in South Florida and attended public schools before going off to Harvard for college, then Harvard Law School, where he graduated with honors in 1996. As an attorney, he worked closely with Insurance Commissioner (now U.S. Senator) Bill Nelson to investigate European insurance companies that refused to honor World War II-era policies sold to victims of the Holocaust. In 1999, Dave became a Florida Assistant Attorney General for economic crimes. Among other cases, he headed the State's lawsuit against "Miss Cleo," the "Jamaican Shango Shaman psychic" who had become an international celebrity among late-night television viewers.

In 2000, Dave was selected to be one of 15 White House Fellows from across the country. In this non-partisan position, Dave served in two Presidential Administrations as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury Department for international money laundering.

Elected to the Florida Senate in November 2002, Senator Aronberg represents a challenging, diverse district that stretches from eastern Palm Beach County through Glades, Hendry and Charlotte Counties all the way to Lee County on Florida's gulf coast. Even though Democrats comprise only 38% of his district, Dave was re-elected in 2008 with 59% of the vote.

Goals:

As a former Assistant Attorney General under a progressive AG, Bob Butterworth, I want to return the Florida Attorney General's office to the days when it used to be a leader in consumer protection.

It was Florida that first took down the once invincible tobacco industry, with an unprecedented lawsuit that forced big tobacco to pay billions of dollars to Florida and other states for children's health care needs. It was Florida that went after Ford for its Explorers that rolled over, and Firestone tires for its tires that exploded. Florida used to stand up for consumer protection and public safety!

I want the Florida Attorney General to again be a leader in civil rights. It was Florida that charged Adams Mark hotels with discriminating against African-American spring breakers. The charges resulted in a dramatic change in corporate policy and the payment of hundreds of thousands of dollars towards scholarships at Florida's historically Black colleges and universities.

In the last 8 years, however, Florida's Attorneys General have been professional politicians who are more interested in protecting their political careers than protecting public safety and civil rights.

My goal is to return Florida as the nationwide leader in public safety, consumer protection and civil rights. I am a different kind of candidate for Attorney General, as this is not a mere political stepping stone or backup plan for me. I am running for Attorney General because I want to be Attorney General. I am not a professional politician looking for a short-term job until a higher office opens up. I will take political risks in this office, and will be unafraid to take on the powerful interests in our State. Because the job I truly want is Attorney General, I will always put public safety ahead of my own political interests.

Issues:

(1) Protecting public safety. As Attorney General, public safety will be my #1 priority, and that means getting tough on "pill mills" that feed prescription drug addictions; it means reforming our sex offender laws so that released offenders are not placed under bridges and overpasses to live; and it means pushing the legislature to fund its anti-gang initiatives, instead of pushing unfunded mandates onto local law enforcement.

(2) Consumer protection. I used to be an Assistant Attorney General in the economic crimes division. My work in fighting consumer fraud continued as a State Senator, where I've had a consumer protection division within my office that has returned more than $4 million to people (mostly seniors) who have called about being ripped off. Today, however, Florida is currently the leader in foreclosures and mortgage fraud, yet our Attorney General has largely ignored the AG's role in consumer protection. That will change if I am elected Attorney General.

(3) Protecting voting rights. The next Attorney General must stand up to a Legislature that is hostile to voting rights. In addition to supporting the cause of ex-felon voting rights, I will fight the gerrymandering that ensures one-party rule in Tallahassee. I will also challenge policies and laws that curtail voting rights, such as the infamous "write-in loophole" and the legislature's recent attempts to further limit early voting hours.

Grassroots Support:

GRASSROOTS
A strong grassroots campaign enabled me to first win election in 2002 as a relatively unknown 31 year old. My campaign manager was Helen Strain, who has led DFA organizing sessions and who taught me the importance of grassroots efforts.

Although this statewide race will be expensive, we will also rely on a grassroots field operation that turns out the vote during a traditionally slow off-year summertime election. Our grassroots operation currently includes online social media such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Twibbon and Cinchcast.

DFA Values:

I have been able to win three times in a Senate district that is only 39% Democratic, and have done so by embracing our shared Democratic values.

I am socially progressive. I was the only Senator to speak out at a press conference calling for specific GLBT protections in a proposed anti-bullying bill. I then put legislative intent into the landmark legislation that ensures that GLBT students are protected under the new law. In addition, I have fought for a woman's right to choose and, in the recent legislative session, stopped the Republicans from sending millions of extra dollars to fund additional anti-abortion billboard on our highways. I also co-sponsored a repeal of the ban on gay adoption, and have repeatedly spoken out on the issue in the conservative parts of my district in red Southwest Florida.

I am fiscally responsible: I have made a career out of fighting the legislature's special interest tax breaks in our State budget and the unfunded mandates onto local governments.

Just this past legislative session, I stopped the State from giving automatic pay raises to private contractors while, at the same time, cutting state worker salaries across the board. This saved state taxpayers millions of dollars in a strapped budget year.