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Harrell Makes Illegal Aliens A Top Priority

Jasmina Meyer/Highlands Today

Gayle Harrell, a republican candidate for congress, at the Inn on the Lakes before speaking at a meeting of the Florida Academy of Physician Assistants on Wednesday in Sebring.

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By Gary Pinnell | Highlands Today

Published: May 28, 2008

AVON PARK — She would have supported the 2006 Avon Park housing ordinance. She advocates English only for government signs and ballots. And she would require all illegal aliens to return to their country. But she's not anti-Hispanic.

She sponsored a house resolution urging Congress to fund the Indian River Lagoon South Restoration Project, and she supports the Everglades restoration. But she shirks the label "environmentalist."
And Gayle Harrell calls Tim Mahoney an accidental congressman.

"He was simply the luckiest guy around," said Harrell, who is running against two other Republicans for the 16th district nomination. "He would not be in the U.S. Congress if the Foley scandal had not happened."

Mahoney points to the nonpartisan magazine The National Journal, which called him the Man in the Middle, because his votes are centered between liberals and conservatives.

"What he tells you is that he's a Blue Dog Democrat, but he's voted twice for the largest tax increase in history. He's voted for amnesty. He's voted to withhold funding from the troops. He has has voted to set a date for withdrawal from Iraq, which is basically a date to surrender. I think he's a liberal in conservative clothing," Harrell said. But she admits Mahoney will be tough to beat.

A Conservative's Conservative
Last week, Harrell sent a press release saying Planned Parenthood is advertising against her. She's one of six state legislators whom Planned Parenthood is campaigning against because of her vote in favor of an unsuccessful bill in the 2008 legislature that would have required pregnant women to be shown ultrasounds of their fetus before undergoing an abortion.

Harrell defiantly called it a badge of honor. Anthony Bonna, Harrell's interim campaign manager, said the ads only highlight the conservative and pro-life stances Harrell has taken in the state legislature and would continue in Congress.

"They know she is the biggest threat that the pro-abortion movement has faced in Florida's 16th District," Bonna said.

But Harrell, who always dresses in red and always knocks on doors in her district wearing red tennis shoes, doesn't describe herself as the most conservative candidate in the race.

"We all have similar stances. We're all conservatives," said Harrell.

Tom Rooney, an attorney from Tequesta, and Hal Valeche, a former Palm Beach Gardens councilor, are declared pro-life conservatives.

"But I'm the only staunch conservative who has a voting record to show it," said Harrell, a four-term representative in the Florida House.

Friend Or Foe
Demonstrators at the Capitol said she was anti-Hispanic.
"I'm anti-illegal," she firmly retorted, although she agrees that some xenophobes crouch behind the term anti-illegal as a racial code word.

She and her children speak Spanish, she taught Spanish and Latin American studies in public schools and the community college.

And, chimed in her husband, they've had 10 Latin American exchange students.
However, she thinks ballots and government signs ought to be printed in English, and that English ought to be declared the official language.

Everyone needs to learn to speak English, if you want to be part of the United States, part of Highlands County."

She would continue building a wall between America and Mexico, patrol the border by satellite, and use the Coast Guard to prevent boat people from coming across the Caribbean to Florida.
"And then we can talk about a guest worker program," she said.

Asked in an interview about Avon Park's attempt to pass a housing ordinance which would fine homeowners who rent houses to illegals, fine employers who hire illegals, and require inspections of houses where migrant farmer workers live, Harrell initially ducked the question. However, she called back the next day.

"I would support that ordinance," Harrell said, without qualification. But she would make sure the homeowner and the employer have an Internet mechanism to verify the legal status of the renter, as well as immunity from discrimination lawsuits if the computer mistakenly said the applicant is illegal.

Harrell was miffed that six legislative bills that would forbid illegal residents to bid for state contracts and get jobs didn't pass either. They included HB 821, her bill to prohibit municipal, county or state money from being spent to establish or maintain day-labor centers like El Sol in Jupiter where illegal immigrants gather for jobs.

"Never saw the light of day," Harrell said.
Why? Speaker Marco Rubio, she said. Rubio, R-Miami, is the son of Cuban immigrants.

Issues
In April, Harrell chided Democrats for not doing something to prevent rising gasoline prices. What should the Congress have done?

She took the line, standard with Democrats and Republicans, that America must become energy independent, but to her that means drilling in the Dakotas, not off-shore Stuart. She's also for nuclear power, but it should be noted that she lives within five miles from the St. Lucie nuclear power plant.
What should President Bush have done? "It's not a one-term problem," she replied.

Among the three Republicans, she is third in the money race with $600,000 to Rooney's $700,000 and Valeche's $750,000. She figures she'll need another $250,000 to win the Aug. 26 primary, and $3-$4 million for the general election. Mahoney has already raised $2.2 million.

FAST FACTS
Age: 64
Residence: North River Shores, near Stuart
Elected: Florida House of Representatives in 2000
Re-elected: Three times, now term-limited
Birthplace: Nashville, Tenn.
Family: Husband James, children Stephanie, Jennifer, James Jr., Melinda
Religion: Presbyterian

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