Frankel's first campaign manager is potential opponent's mother

If Democrat Lois Frankel and Republican Adam Hasner end up facing each other in the race for a Palm Beach-Broward congressional seat, Hasner can count on the support of Frankel's first campaign manager.

Judy Hasner, Adam's mom, ran Frankel's first state House campaign in 1986, then went to work for Frankel as her legislative aide. Adam Hasner was a teenage Republican at the time. While his mother was helping send Frankel to Tallahassee, Adam Hasner said he was helping send a Republican to Washington by volunteering on former GOP Rep. Tom Lewis' 1986 reelection campaign.

"Let's just say the conversations around our dinner table were always entertaining," Adam Hasner said.

Frankel has been pursuing the District 22 congressional seat for nearly a year. Hasner abandoned a U.S. Senate bid and jumped into the race this month after redistricting led incumbent Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, to pursue a Palm Beach-Treasure Coast seat.

"My son made a decision to run for District 22 and I totally support his bid for office," said Judy Hasner, who lives in Tallahassee and says she and Frankel haven't maintained much contact.

"I would just say it's a small world," Frankel said the prospect of running against her former campaign manager's son. "It's not going to be personal. We just think very differently about issues."

Since Hasner first won office with a 2002 state House victory, he and Frankel have advanced on separate political paths that may now intersect .

"I didn't anticipate it," Hasner said. "But I'm certainly looking forward to it."

• While Frankel and Hasner are the favorites of their party establishments, Democratic Broward County Commissioner Kristin Jacobs jumped into the District 22 race this month and Republican Broward County Commissioner Chip LaMarca is considering getting in against Hasner.

If it withstands legal challenges, the newly drawn District 22 has about 43 percent of its voters in Broward County.

• Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi could complicate any GOP efforts to win the Palm Beach County state attorney's job. Democrat Dave Aronberg, the only candidate in the race so far, was hired by Bondi last year to crack down on illegal "pill mill" pain clinics.

"I think he'd make a fine state attorney. He's done a great job working in my office and he's done a great job fighting pill mills," Bondi recently said of Aronberg.

An even bigger problem for any Republican running for state attorney is the 44.7 percent to 29.1 percent registration advantage that Democrats enjoy in Palm Beach County.

• U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, is supporting U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Cape Coral, in the Republican Senate primary. Rooney's older brother, state Rep. Patrick Rooney, R-West Palm Beach, last week endorsed George LeMieux in the primary.
• Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Klein has raised between $200,000 and $500,000 for President Obama's reelection bid, making him one of the top 19 Obama bundlers in Florida.

Klein's role drew controversy last week when The Washington Free Beacon website noted that Klein was registered as a lobbyist for Spirit Airlines in apparent violation of Obama's pledge not to accept lobbyist contributions. But Klein said the congressional form registering him as a lobbyist was filed in error by his Holland & Knight law firm. Klein says he's in business development, attracting clients to the firm but leaving the lobbying to others.

Palm Beach County's biggest Obama bundler is Boca Raton investment banker Mark Gilbert, who has raised more than $500,000, according to the Obama campaign website.