Once foes, Florida Republicans, trial lawyers find conservative agenda is common ground

BY LAWRENCE MOWER
MARCH 02, 2022 6:46 PM

 GETTY IMAGES

TALLAHASSEE

For decades, Republicans have railed against frivolous lawsuits and litigation, blaming them for driving up costs for businesses and governments. But this year, Florida Republicans are turning to trial lawyers, one of their historic foes, to help enforce their agenda. GOP legislators are advancing legislation that would allow Floridians to sue Big Tech companies over data privacy, sue primary schools that teach about gender identity or sexual orientation and sue cities for passing ordinances that damage their businesses.

The expanded use of lawsuits to enforce Republicans’ agenda is a shift for the party, and it has business groups concerned. “There’s a populist strain of Republicans who have allied with supportive trial lawyers, and they’re working to create a slew of opportunities for social grievance lawsuits,” said William Large, president of the Florida Justice Reform Institute, a tort reform advocacy group.

“It’s a troubling trend,” he added.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has been one of the primary drivers behind the philosophical shift. Last year, he pushed the Legislature to pass laws allowing Floridians to sue Big Tech companies if they’re censored and to sue schools for imposing mask or vaccine mandates.

He’s also supported the “don’t say gay” bill, which would allow parents to sue their school district if they believe their child’s school is teaching gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade. The bill has yet to pass.

And DeSantis proposed legislation moving through the House this year that would allow Floridians to sue technology companies for selling or sharing user data without consent. The Senate has yet to take it up.

That bill is strongly opposed by the Florida Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, which are some of the largest donors to GOP lawmakers and routinely complain about the amount of litigation in Florida’s courts.

The chamber said Florida already ranks among the most litigious states and that the legal climate hurts local business.

“Any increased frivolous litigation against these local businesses would only further impact Florida’s competitiveness,” Florida Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Mark Wilson said in a statement.

Historically, Republicans have been against expanded litigation and in favor of tort reform. Trial lawyers, who are a powerful lobbying group, have usually found more support from Democrats.

That has changed both nationally and in Florida. In Congress between 2015 and 2018, Republicans were just as likely as Democrats to support legislation that creates individual rights enforceable by private lawsuits, according to a 2021 study by professors at the University of Pennsylvania and University of California at Berkeley entitled, “A New (Republican) Litigation State?”

In a January op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, the head of the American Tort Reform Association criticized legislation allowing employees to sue their employers over vaccine mandates, titling it, “Conservatives for Abusive Lawsuits.”

IT’S A NATIONAL TREND

Like Florida, Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country have introduced or passed laws allowing employers to sue over vaccine mandates and students and parents to sue over mask mandates. Texas lawmakers last year “deputized” citizens to sue abortion providers, a novel approach that amounted to a near-total ban on abortions.

The approach gets to the heart of Republican philosophy on increased regulation, which the party has traditionally opposed. Instead of having state agencies regulate behavior, Republicans are putting regulation in the hands of citizens.

“That’s the philosophical challenge: Do you regulate more? Or do you give access to your judicial system?” said Rep. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, a trial lawyer by trade who leads the House’s Judiciary Committee. “Is access to the courts critical? Of course I think it is, and is that better most days than over-regulation? I feel like ultimately it can be.”

The shift is a “sea change” for policy in Tallahassee, said Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, one of the only Republicans in the Legislature to argue against the trend.

The influence of the trial Bar has “dripped into everything,” he said, and it’s influenced the type of legislation lawmakers pass or refuse to pass. He cited last year’s decision to overhaul the state’s auto insurance laws without a study, a bill that was supported by trial lawyers but vetoed by DeSantis.

“Everybody feels harmed and wants to take action,” Brandes said. “And so the trial Bar says, ‘We’re happy to glean off of that perspective.’ Everybody wants to sue everybody for everything.”

TOUTING ‘ACCESS TO THE COURTS’

The Florida Justice Association, which represents trial lawyers, said the Legislature has consistently supported “a private market approach to accountability for wrongdoers.”

“The best way to ensure these free-market principles of responsibility and accountability is through access to the courts,” association President Tiffany Faddis said in a statement. “When a government or private business violates an individual’s rights, we must allow these victims [to] seek justice for the harm caused to them by pursuing causes of action.”

Since last year, the association and its political committees have donated nearly $400,000 to statewide or legislative candidates, all of it going to Republicans or political committees supporting Republicans.

Last year, lawmakers passed a law allowing people to sue telemarketers for receiving unsolicited scam calls and text messages. One California lawyer estimates that about 100 lawsuits against telemarketers have since been filed in Florida.

This year, the scope of bills allowing more lawsuits has startled business groups.

After the accrediting body for the state university system raised questions about a recent Florida State University presidential search and “undue political influence” at the University of Florida, lawmakers proposed allowing institutions to sue their accrediting agency for “retaliatory action.”

In the Senate’s proposed budget, Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, included language requiring school districts and some private employers who receive state money to pay employees a minimum of $15 per hour — or face lawsuits by those employees. (He’s also proposing spending $1 billion to help employers afford the increase.)

Meanwhile, the Legislature has been working to raise the caps on “sovereign immunity” — the amount that local governments and agencies can pay out in a settlement without needing legislative approval. The amount would be raised from $200,000 to $400,000 per person, and some Republican lawmakers said this week that it should be higher.

Such a proposal would have had no chance of passing just a few years ago, when lawmakers were resistant to approving such settlements. Part of the shift, observers say, is that the Legislature has been dominated by lawyers in recent years — four of the last six Senate presidents and House speakers have been lawyers.

“I often say that for too many legislators, the definition of a frivolous lawsuit is one that doesn’t involve me or my family,” said Sen. Gary Farmer, D-Lighthouse Point, a trial lawyer by trade. “Your perspective sure changes when you have firsthand experience.”

Miami Herald staff writers Ana Ceballos and Mary Ellen Klas contributed to this report. This story was originally published March 2, 2022 6:21 PM.

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article258978843.html#storylink=cpy 

 

Legislators fast-track plan to limit business liability in COVID lawsuits

BY MARY ELLEN KLAS HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU
JANUARY 14, 2021 02:57 PM, UPDATED 44 MINUTES AGO

The Upscale retail and art district opened for business on Wednesday, COVID-19 precautions in hand.
BY COURTSEY: Miami Design District – David Santiago

TALLAHASSEE

In response to businesses, schools, churches and healthcare providers that worry they could be sued for legal liability for exposing people to COVID-19, Florida legislators are fast-tracking a measure to do what they know best: limit lawsuits.

Meeting for the first time since the onslaught of the pandemic, the House Subcommittee on Civil Justice and Property Rights approved HB 7 along party lines on Wednesday. It will establish new barriers to lawsuits related to COVID-19. An identical bill is pending in the Senate for considering during the 2021 legislative session, which will start March 2.

A second measure that would shield nursing homes, hospitals and other healthcare providers by raising the standard for COVID-19 liability is being drafted by the House Health and Human Services Committee, which held a workshop on the issue Thursday.

But it’s unclear what the need for the measure is, and several lawmakers are calling for more immediate measures to help businesses address their financial woes.

Rep. Lawrence McClure, a Dover Republican who is sponsoring HB 7, admitted there were “fewer than 10” lawsuits that have been filed in Florida with claims related to COVID-19. But he said the bill was necessary “to reduce the threat of potential civil liability.” Other estimates of the number of COVID-related lawsuits are higher.

“This bill is intended to give clarity to Florida businesses that if they are making a good faith effort to comply with regulations, they will not have the cloud of potential frivolous litigation hanging over their head,’’ McClure said. “It’s the fear of frivolous lawsuits as this evolves.”

Opponents, which include consumer advocates, unions for healthcare workers, and plaintiffs lawyers, argued that the bill raises the standard of gross negligence and raises the burden of proof so high that it will make it almost impossible for anyone who accuses an employer or business for endangering them.

Sen. Gary Farmer, the Senate Democratic leader from Fort Lauderdale who is a trial lawyer, said there is no need for the legislation because the threshold for proving someone got COVID-19 from exposure to a business or a place of employment is already so high that few lawyers are willing to take the cases.

To win a case, a plaintiff must show that the defendant “breached the duty” to follow the established standards to protect customers or employees, and also prove they caught COVID-19 at that establishment, he said.

But because of the community prevalence of the virus “you’re never going to be able to prove that you caught COVID that any particular place,’’ Farmer said.

BURDEN OF PROOF IS ON DOCTORS

HB 7 puts the burden of filing a lawsuit almost entirely on the word of a physician who must attest “to the physician’s belief, within a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that the plaintiff’s COVID-19-related damages, injury, or death occurred as a result of the defendant’s acts or omissions,’’ the bill states.

A judge would then determine whether the business “made a good faith effort to substantially comply with authoritative or controlling government-issued health standards or guidance at the time the cause of action accrued.”

Curry G. Pajcic of the Florida Justice Association, which represents plaintiffs lawyers, told the House Civil Justice Committee that the bill is unconstitutional because it “makes the judge the jury” and uses “impossibly high standards that no one can meet.”

Rep. Ben Diamond, a St. Petersburg Democrat, attempted to amend the bill to clarify how and when a physician’s affidavit would be used. The committee rejected the attempts along a party-line vote.

The measure is a top priority of the state’s influential restaurant, lodging and entertainment industry. A 40-member industry task force that included representatives of restaurants, hotels, nursing homes, retailers, home builders and insurers met over the summer and concluded the higher standards were needed.

William Large, president of the Florida Justice Reform Institute, told the committee that he found 53 lawsuits have been filed against nursing homes by staff, patients and their families, cruise lines by passengers and crews, tour companies by customers in refund disputes and a host of workplace clashes tied to the coronavirus.

He argued that if Florida raises its litigation standards for COVID-19 liability it would join 16 states that have raised the standard of care in medical liability cases and 17 states that have addressed exposure liability.

The coalition had TaxWatch, the business-backed research organization, to draft a report that concluded that because of the threat of lawsuits employers could lose confidence in the economy and the state could lose billions in business activity and thousands of jobs.

Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed related to COVID-19 in Florida, according to a COVID-19 complaint tracking site created by the law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth. Few of the cases relate to liability because of exposure to COVID-19, and the majority are a result of businesses suing their insurer for refusing to cover their business interruption insurance.

Samantha Padgett, general counsel for the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association, said the legislation was necessary to put their industry “in a better position than they are in now.”

She spoke of unclear regulations and confusion “trying to adhere to conflicting regulations.” She made no mention of pending lawsuits or liability.

WHAT ABOUT SMALL BUSINESSES?

Democrats argued that legislators could do more to help small businesses by drafting bills to address concerns they said were more immediate, such as meeting their loan and rent obligations or creating bridge loans to keep them in business.

“What really frustrates me is that we have all these very real small-business challenges and no one’s saying this is one of them,’’ said Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat. “The biggest phone calls I get are around, ‘I need rent relief, and I need my unemployment,’ and nothing comes to me about this issue.”

Rep. Michael Gottlieb, a Davie Democrat, urged the House to narrow the focus of the bill.

“We’ve got bad actors that are lawyers, there’s no doubt about that,’’ he said. “Why are we not having a bill that punishes the bad actors for filing frivolous lawsuits? And I think that’s a better solution to the problem that we have.”

Lakey Love of the Florida Policy Action Network said she represented working-class people and indicated she was concerned the bill would put workers at higher risk if employers were shielded from protecting them.

A SEPARATE BILL FOR HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS

The House Health and Human Services Committee also plans to draft legislation to give healthcare providers, including nursing homes, protection from lawsuits.

Mel Beal, CEO of Airamid Health Services, which represents 40 skilled nursing facilities and three assisted-living facilities across Florida, said that the absence of guidance from the state and federal authorities, as well as conflicting guidance about handling COVID-19, increased the exposure of businesses.

“The threat of litigation against long-term care professionals is not theoretical, it’s real, and it’s ongoing,’’ he said. He said relief was needed to protect against the expense of “sue to settle” threats in which attorneys demand information as a precursor to a lawsuit to force potential defendants to settle without going to court.

But Sam Brooks, project manager for the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, national consumer advocacy organization long-term care, said that most cases that are emerging are when nursing homes “fail to provide basic care” and residents and their families seek more information.

“In many situations, the courts may be the only potential source of justice for residents who were harmed,’’ he said. “Removing acess to the court could be devastating and perpetuate harm to residents” and “make workers less safe by allowing participants to deteriorate inside a facility.”

But Thomas S. Edwards, Jr, a Jacksonville trial lawyer at a workshop before the House Health and Human Services Committee on Thursday called the measure “a solution in search of a problem.”

He said he has reviewed the cases filed so far and only six are from exposure to COVID.

He argued that if a healthcare facility “was not following the most basic standards or practices that have been in place for years, then they may get sued.” But because there are “fluctuating standards” and they’re following basic standards of care, “then they’re going to have protection from the standpoint of being sued.”

Beal said relief was needed to protect against the expense of “sue to settle” threats in which attorneys demand information as a precursor to a lawsuit to force potential defendants to settle without going to court.

A similar effort to expand COVID-19 liability protections for businesses was attempted in Congress, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried and failed to get a measure included in the stimulus plan that passed in December.

Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau reporter Lawrence Mower contributed to this report.

Mary Ellen Klas can be reached at [email protected] and @MaryEllenKlas

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article248500950.html  

 

Healthcare groups ask Florida governor for legal immunity during COVID-19 pandemic

BY CHRISTINE SEXTON NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

APRIL 23, 2020 04:59 PM, UPDATED APRIL 23, 2020 07:12 PM

As Gov. Ron DeSantis looks to open the state back up, he is being pushed by healthcare providers to shield them from lawsuits stemming from the delivery of care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state’s largest physician, hospital and nursing-home associations are asking DeSantis to issue executive orders that would protect their members from lawsuits because of actions that occurred — or didn’t occur — during the crisis. Several groups even provided a fully worded proposal to the governor this week.

DeSantis has remained silent on whether he will follow the lead of other governors who have provided immunity to healthcare providers. The governor’s office did not answer questions about the requests.

The Florida Hospital Association and other groups sent a letter Wednesday to DeSantis that voiced worries about potential lawsuits against frontline workers. Among the groups signing onto the letter were the Florida Nurses Association, the Florida Society of Anesthesiologists, the Florida Nurse Practitioners Network, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Florida.

“While the battle rages, it is unfortunate, but necessary, that steps be taken to avoid another crisis — a proliferation of inappropriate and unwarranted lawsuits,” the letter said. “In the future, after the current awareness of the incessant harsh realities confronting patients and providers has faded, there may be some who would seek to take advantage of the COVID-19 crisis by suing providers based on applications of standards of care that would fail to account for the special challenges presented by a devastating pandemic.”

The Florida Medical Association, the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association and the Florida Justice Reform Institute last month were the first organizations to formally request protections from medical-malpractice lawsuits for care provided during the COVID-19 crisis.

“An executive order is important to send a message to physicians that the state of Florida backs them and respects what they are doing [and] agrees that they should not be sued in the future for any liability issues … for the handling of the COVID-19 crisis,” said William Large, president of the Florida Justice Reform Institute, which is backed by business groups and lobbies for lawsuit restrictions.

SEEKING SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY FOR DOCTORS

Signed by Large, Florida Medical Association President Ronald Giffler and Florida Osteopathic Medical Association President Eric Goldsmith, a March 26 letter recommended that DeSantis issue an executive order that would limit liability; provide sovereign immunity protections for doctors who were complying with a DeSantis emergency order that shut down optional healthcare services; or amend sections of the state’s so-called “Good Samaritan Act” so it would apply to physicians working during the pandemic.

Nursing homes, meanwhile, are seeking protections from cases that can be filed against them for violating nursing-home residents’ rights. The Florida Health Care Association sent a letter to DeSantis on April 3 asking for immunity from civil and criminal liability for “any harm or damages alleged to have been sustained as a result of an act or omission in the course of arranging for or providing health care services” during the pandemic.

Spokeswoman Kristen Knapp said the nursing home association has not received a response. DeSantis told reporters last week that, “I think it’s under review. I haven’t made any decisions yet and we’ll look.”

The request remains pending as the number of COVID-19 cases at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities continues to climb. As of Thursday morning, 2,386 COVID-19 cases had been reported involving residents or staff members at 335 long-term care facilities across the state. Those cases had a more than 10% mortality rate.

AHCA SAYS COVID-19 EXCEEDS NORMAL SCENARIOS

Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Mary Mayhew said the state has made “monumental efforts” to help the long-term care industry respond to the virus. Mayhew said last week that the infection prevention and control needed to combat the virus “frankly exceeded the level of infection prevention typically associated with our nursing homes and assisted living facilities.”

The state last week also suspended the licenses of two nursing-home administrators in Jefferson County because of alleged deficient care.

Any attempt to shield nursing homes and other providers from lawsuits, however, likely will face fierce opposition from groups such as plaintiffs’ attorneys. Jacksonville attorney Steve Watrel said now is not the time to grant broad immunity.

“The court system exists for a reason,” Watrel said. “The court system exists to ferret out meritorious from non-meritorious claims. And broad brushes of immunity are not only not appropriate right now but would lead to an increase of injury and death. Because, unfortunately, the reality of human nature is, without the threat of accountability, responsibility dwindles.”

Knapp said nursing homes have been receiving “conflicting guidance from federal, state and local government entities” and that COVID-19 has required facilities to take actions they ordinarily would not take. For instance, Knapps said homes in Broward County are being told by local health department officials to keep residents in their rooms with doors closed, which would “be a violation of health care standards on a normal day.”

“In the midst of this unprecedented crisis, long term caregivers should be able to direct their skills and attention to helping individuals who need them, and not have to worry about being sued for making these types of tough decisions while trying to comply with government directives,” she said in a statement to The News Service of Florida.

ACTIONS IN OTHER STATES

Some other states have provided legal protections for care provided during the pandemic. For example, governors in Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Nevada, New York, Vermont and Wisconsin have issued orders protecting physicians from lawsuits, according to the American Medical Association.

Knapp said governors in Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin issued executive orders limiting lawsuits against nursing homes. Also, lawmakers in New York, New Jersey and Kentucky passed legislation, she said

But shielding doctors, hospitals and nursing homes from lawsuits has long been a controversial issue in Florida, and it flared up again in recent years.

Interest in medical-malpractice protections was refueled by Florida Supreme Court rulings in 2014 and 2017 that struck down limits on non-economic damages in malpractice lawsuits.

The state House considered a far-reaching malpractice bill in 2019 that would have addressed the court rulings. But the proposal cleared only one panel in the House and never was considered by the Senate.

Jacksonville attorney Chris Nuland, who lobbies for physician groups, said other issues, such as expanded practice authority for pharmacists and advanced practice registered nurses, dominated his time during the 2020 session. Changes to the malpractice system were “out there on the scene, although no one really went after it this year,” he said.

Leading up to the pandemic, the state’s medical-malpractice insurance market was profitable and stable. Florida ranked fourth in the nation in terms of premiums written with roughly $562 million in 2018, according to a Florida Office of Insurance Regulation report.

Sixty-five percent of the premiums, the report shows, came from physicians’ policies. On average, the report noted, medical malpractice rates increased for physicians by 3.5%.

The last time the Legislature delved into nursing home lawsuits was 2014, when it agreed to pass legislation that prevented “passive” investors from being named as defendants in cases related to injuries suffered by nursing-home residents. The bill also made it harder to sue nursing homes for punitive damages, requiring courts to hold evidentiary hearings before residents could pursue punitive-damage claims.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article242239046.html

 

 Posted on Thu, May. 12, 2011

Legislative special interests fill Senate President Mike Haridopolos’ campaign coffers in U.S. Senate race

By MARC CAPUTO

Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

Whether it’s trial lawyers vs. the business community or workers comp doctors weighing in on pill mills, some of the biggest battles of the lawmaking session left their mark – and money — on the U.S. Senate campaign of Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos.

An analysis of the $2.5 million Haridopolos raised in the first quarter of 2011 shows how the Republican received his biggest chunks of money from the special interests who wanted something out of the 60-day legislative session.

The city with the most generous Haridopolos donors: Tallahassee, the state capital, where lawyers, consultants, lobbyists and business people contributed $194,335. Miami donors contributed the second highest-amount: $140,010.

Haridopolos said earlier in session that contributions wouldn’t sway him.

“They’re buying into my agenda,” the Republican said in March. “I’m not buying into theirs.”

Haridopolos’ spokesman, Tim Baker, pointed out that Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson has long been a recipient of a who’s-who of special interests in the U.S. Capitol. Nelson raised almost $1.6 million in the first three months of the year.

Heading into the session, former Senate President Tom Lee, said Haridopolos’ desire for higher office would cause him political complications, but the position is “sure good for fundraising” because it’s one of the two most powerful positions in the Florida Legislature.

Legislators are banned from raising money during session because of the appearance that lawmakers are trading favors for contributions. The exception to the session fundraising ban: lawmakers running for federal office.

Haridopolos said the session was a success because lawmakers cut spending and reduced taxes. Long a proponent of limiting lawsuits, Haridopolos presided over a Senate that passed the most tort-reform measures since 2003.

Trial lawyers, playing defense, poured money into Haridopolos’ campaign. Morgan & Morgan employees and their relatives contributed the most to Haridopolos’ campaign – almost $77,000 — than those who work for any other company.

Because the Senate watered down some lawsuit limits, some privately grumbled that the Morgan & Morgan money made a difference.

But William Large, who heads the Florida Justice Reform Institute, said that’s not the case because “Haridopolos did the best he could do with the Senate he had.”

“There are a lot of people who see a leader, such as Senate president, who can control the agenda and they make campaign contributions in the hope of controlling that agenda,” Large said, “But at the end of the day, it didn’t make much of the difference.”

Large said the Legislature got a “B plus” for making it tougher for trial lawyers to sue businesses. The Florida Medical Association, though, said the session was an “A” for the medical-malpractice limitations that ultimately cleared the House and Senate.

John Morgan, head of Morgan & Morgan, couldn’t be reached for comment. Steve Schale, a spokesman for the trial-lawyers lobby, says the Florida Justice Association doesn’t participate in federal elections. He said trial lawyers were beat up this session “but it could have been worse.”

Two bills that passed shielded teaching hospitals run by Shands Health Care system and the University of Miami from lawsuits. Doctors and a few employees of UM, which has sought sovereign-immunity protection for about a decade, contributed about $16,350 to Haridopolos, though Shands officials didn’t appear to contribute.

Employees of one influential health care company, Miramar-based Automated Healthcare Solutions, accounted for $55,200, the second-highest amount of contributions to Haridopolos.

With Haridopolos’ backing, the firm was active in pushing a bill tightening reporting requirements for a prescription-drug monitoring database. The firm, along with Haridopolos, also unsuccessfully fought a provision restricting many doctors from dispensing painkillers in their offices. Automated Healthcare Solutions makes software used primarily by workers comp doctors who dispense drugs in house.

In a sign of how important health care is in a state that will spend $29 billion in its health and human services budget, doctors, health insurers, clinics and chiropractors contributed the most of any industry to Haridopolos: about $432,000. Those in real-estate, development and building contributed the second highest amount — about $402,000 — followed by lawyers ($381,000), and lobbyists and consultants ($268,000).

Of the lobbying firms that contributed the most to Haridopolos, Pennington Moore & Dunbar was first, with $31,550, followed by Ron Book P.A ($21,900) and Smith & Ballard ($19,600) — the 10th largest contributor who lobbied for four of the top 10 Haridopolos donors.

Not every contributor wanted something out of Haridopolos during session. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and his wife contributed $4,800 last quarter to Haridopolos, who supported Huckabee in his 2008 presidential bid. Huckabee formally endorsed Haridopolos on Thursday.

Haridopolos was also able to vote against and appease one industry simultaneously: the agricultural lobby, which ponied up $81,800 and successfully fought a provision of an immigration bill that required employers to use the e-Verify federal system to check whether a worker had the proper documentation for employment. The measure failed in the Senate, but Haridopolos voted for it.

Robert Coker, a vice president for U.S. Sugar, actively lobbied against e-Verify but contributed to Haridopolos. “He has been a good friend and a good advocate for business,” Coker said.

One Republican primary opponent, former state House Republican leader Adam Hasner, criticized Haridopolos for failing to pass the e-Verify check.

Haridopolos faulted the House for not taking up the immigration bill that ultimately passed the Senate and said it didn’t matter if he lost the e-Verify vote.

“Sometimes I win and sometimes I don’t,” he said, “But I’m someone who’s never afraid to take on a tough fight.”

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Herald/Times staff writer Adam C. Smith contributed to this report