Orlando, Florida
“I’M STARTING OUT wanting to break the rules,” said Florida representative Corrine Brown in 1992, one month after she was elected to Congress. Brown was of course joking, about her failed attempt to win coveted seats on three major committees — simultaneously. But she has broken the rules. Numerous times. And she broke several laws just to win that 1992 election.
“She’s a crook,” says Andy Johnson, Brown’s 1992 primary opponent, who now supports her Republican challenger. “There are 50 reasons why the woman should be in jail. And I say this as an activist Democrat, a yellow dog who wants very badly to see a Speaker Gephardt after the election.”
Brown’s scandal-ridden record is one reason this surprisingly competitive race has gained notice. Another reason is that both Brown and her opponent, retired Navy lieutenant commander Jennifer Carroll, are black, while the Third District is majority white. Most important, this contest is one of about two dozen that will determine which party controls the House of Representatives. In theory, Florida’s Third District should be a safe Democratic seat, but the incumbent’s misdeeds and her opponent’s impressive showing so far have Republicans talking upset.
The Third District looks like a jalepeno as it stretches from Jacksonville to Orlando. Gerrymandered to have a black majority in 1992, it was “corrected” in 1996 for constitutional reasons. Today, the district, one of Florida’s poorest, is just 47 percent black. It is also heavily Democratic — having elected President Clinton by 23 points in 1996 and 27 points in 1992, the same year Corrine Brown was elected with 59 percent of the vote.
In that campaign, Brown disregarded or disobeyed numerous campaign finance laws by misplacing, misallocating, and misreporting tens of thousands of dollars. Among her violations: failing to report use of a corporate plane, using money from a non-federal campaign account, accepting donations from foreign citizens, accepting donations from corporations, failing to account for numerous disbursements, and failing to report $ 81,000 in contributions before the election.
Just last month, Brown escaped punishment on bribery suspicions. After key witnesses fled the country, members of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct concluded, “Representative Brown’s actions and associations . . . demonstrated, at the least, poor judgement and created substantial concerns regarding both the appearance of impropriety and the reputation of the House of Representatives.” The charges involved her lobbying of the Clinton administration and her congressional colleagues on behalf of Gambian businessman Foutanga Sissoko, who has been convicted of bribing U.S. Customs officials. Three months after Brown penned a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno to plead for leniency for Sissoko, her daughter Shantrel received a $ 50,000 Lexus from the chief financial officer of Sissoko’s company.
And there’s more. So much more.
P She knowingly employed a convicted murderer on her congressional staff.
P She paid $ 5,000 to settle a dispute with the Florida Ethics Commission. She never admitted any guilt. But, as a state representative, she had, for three years, paid a state salary to a full-time employee of her travel agency. The employee, Betty Ann Howard, confirmed the charges.
P She paid a congressional salary to a “jazz singer” living in New York City. The singer admitted she had no legislative duties, but did sometimes travel to the district (at government expense) to sing to constituents.
P She claimed a tax exemption for a home outside her district, despite the fact that the Florida Constitution requires state representatives to live in the district they represent. Meanwhile, the exemption requires that the property be “occupied.”
Though the details of Brown’s history of malfeasance would fill this magazine, and take up much of the next issue, too, her opponent is reluctant to discuss it.
“People are just sick of hearing about it and sick of her playing the poor victim,” says Jennifer Carroll. “I have received lots of positive feedback because I’m not dwelling on the negative.” But pressed by an incredulous reporter, Carroll slips. “She really is a slime-bucket, isn’t she?” she says. “She hasn’t done crap for this district.” Carroll looks like she wishes she hadn’t said that.
Otherwise, one gets the feeling that Carroll works hard at making the right impression. At 41, she looks physically fit. Her hair is pulled back in a tight pony-tail and held up with bobby pins. Her pressed, light-brown, button-down oxford is tucked neatly into her dark brown trousers, just so.
She has a toughness about her, but exudes warmth as she shakes hundreds of hands with a firm grip and an engaging smile. The Orlando Federated Republican Women applaud wildly when she is introduced. (The ovation for Senate candidate and hometown congressman Bill McCollum is tepid in comparison.)
Carroll largely shares the conservatism of those in attendance. She favors partial privatization of Social Security, tax cuts, and some school choice plans. Recently, Carroll even advocated the elimination of the Department of Education, a position national Republicans — having failed to make their case persuasively — have shelved.
This is not the first time a conservative has run well in this district. In 1998, with the Sissoko controversy in the news, Republican candidate Bill Randall won 45 percent of the vote despite revelations that he hadn’t paid $ 30,000 in taxes and that he had fathered a child out of wedlock. Clearly, there’s a huge anti-Corrine Brown vote, and Jennifer Carroll is poised to benefit from it. “She’s articulate, bright, and hard-working. She gives people a reason to vote against Corrine,” says Florida GOP chairman Al Cardenas. “She’s the perfect candidate.”
Perhaps sensing this, Brown has so far refused to debate Carroll. On October 13, she skipped a debate sponsored by Channel 2 in Orlando in favor of a rally with “Shaft” singer Isaac Hayes. There are other ways to attack an opponent, of course. “Black Republicans are a freak of nature,” Brown said when J. C. Watts came here to campaign with Carroll.
Freak or not, Carroll has proven herself as a fund-raiser, leading Brown by a 3-to-2 margin at the last FEC reporting period. What’s more, some 73 percent of her contributions have come from individuals, while the bulk of Brown’s money comes from PACs, including support from top House Democrats. Carroll currently has a $ 150,000 cash-on-hand advantage, though President Clinton has helped raise money for Brown since the September 30 report.
Nonetheless, Jacksonville mayor John Delaney and Orlando mayor Glenda Hood, both Republicans, have not endorsed Carroll. Though endorsements in general are of limited value, their decision to sit out the race is a blow, since together their cities account for approximately 50 percent of Third District voters. In a close race, Jennifer Carroll’s promising political future could fall victim to their political timidity.
Stephen F. Hayes last wrote about the congressional race in California’s Twentieth District for THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
