For decades Florida real estate developer Al Hoffman has used his clout to elect conservative Republicans to office but the gun tragedy in Parkland has prompted him to add a new condition to that support: he refuses to back any candidate, including Republican Gov. Rick Scott, unless he actively works to pass a national ban on assault weapons.
In a letter to Republican party donors on Saturday, Hoffman laid out his ultimatum which was first reported in the New York Times. He asked them to support the cause and, in an interview on CNN late Sunday afternoon, he said he was getting some response.
“I have heard from a couple of them already and they are endorsing the concept totally and I am waiting to hear back from the others,” he said. “But I believe we can achieve a movement consensus here and achieve our objective.”
Hoffman, who was a leading fund-raiser for George W. Bush’s campaigns in 2000 and 2004, said he raised over $600 million in those years for conservative Republican issues. But, he said, the tragedy at Parkland hit home.
“I was so blown away,” he told CNN. His development company, WCI, had a “very close affinity with Parkland,” where they built thousands of homes, golf courses, clubs and retirement communities in the middle to upper middle class community.
“I watched as the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School start construction, get finished, opened and dedicated,” he said. “So I’ve developed a personal affinity with the students.”
When he heard of the tragedy, he said, “I felt my heart just drop. I felt like I was holding my heart in my hands.”
He said he realized then that his efforts trying to persuaded elected officials to support “better guns laws” wasn’t working and it was time to organize a movement of political donors.
To gun rights advocates, who say the problem is not what kind of weapon but who is using the weapon, he was dismissive.
“That was a totally preventable catastrophe,” he said. “That gun massacre could have been avoided. That gun would not have been sold to that kid if he had gone through a background check and the authorities had the ability to take that gun away and take him into custody for examination.”
Scott told CNN last week that “everything is on the table” and he will “look at every way that we can make sure our kids are safe.”
But Hoffman said he is not interpreting that as support for an assault weapons ban.
“I love Rick Scott. I want him to run for Senate,” he said. “I believe he is the best Republican that we could vote into office and I’m going to ask him to support that principle of banning assault weapons. That’s the litmus test.
“If he does, I would be glad to support him and continue to raise money for him. If he doesn’t, in all good conscience I don’t see how I could vote for him. That’s just the way it is. I hope he changes his mind.”
As for the National Rifle Association and its political clout, he said, “I don’t care about the NRA.”
He said he is an owner of a concealed weapon and believes in the Second Amendment but, “the NRA is not my party.”
Source | http://www.tampabay.com/