What a difference a year or two makes.
In November 2010, during a wave of Republican support, Broward County Mayor Ken Keechl was swept out of office despite a long and blistering attack on his opponent, Chip LaMarca, whom he outspent by nearly half a million dollars.
People wondered why. Was it the doggy death-penalty ordinance that he championed after his little pooch was bitten by a German shepherd? Was it the lowbrow attacks that painted his opponent as a criminal because of a college-age DUI record? Was it the "campaign headquarters" he was renting to himself and his partner for $3,100 a month?
A campaign spokesperson brushed off the 2010 loss, saying it was just a bad time to be a Democrat. But now, the lustrous-haired lawyer has brushed himself off, and you can vote for him in the Democratic primary next Tuesday -- for another Broward commission district.
That district, coincidentally or not, was recently redrawn to include Keechl's Wilton Manors residence. Keechl said that he's friends with the guys who drew the new map and that "he did make it known he liked the map."
Keechl hops on the merry-go-round of Broward politics to challenge current Fort Lauderdale commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom -- who hopes to take over the seat for her husband, John Rodstrom, when he's forced out of the seat by term limits in November.
These are far from the only familiar names on the ballot. Lois Frankel, a former West Palm mayor, gave up her post to run for Allen West's congressional district -- only to have West cut and run for another district where there are more teabaggers to vote for him. She's joined in that primary by Kristin Jacobs, the true-blue Dem and bike-sharing proponent from the Broward Commission.
But Keechl, whose exit from office was celebrated with a bag of dog poop, seems intent just to get his seat as a Broward commissioner back -- such is the power and glory of the post, we guess.
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