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The Latest: Rooney Was Registered At Dog Track

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By GARY PINNELL

Highlands Today

Published: September 27, 2008

SEBRING - Last week, Tom Rooney criticized Tim Mahoney for living in a barn. This week, it turns out that the Republican challenger had listed his home address at the Palm Beach Kennel Club from December 1998 to December 2003.

During those five years, Rooney was finishing law school at the University of Miami and serving in the U.S. Army in Virginia, Texas and New York, his campaign said.

Mahoney's barn has an apartment, and the congressman is registered to vote at his Caloosa property because he intends to build a home there, Marc Goldberg, the Democratic incumbent's campaign spokesman told the Palm Beach Post in a Sept. 22 story.

Goldberg said Rooney "clearly had no intent to live at the dog track, yet he is hypocritically calling out Congressman Mahoney for being registered at his Caloosa property, where he does in fact intend to live. That shows really poor judgment on Tom Rooney's part."

Mahoney was elected in 2006 to replace Mark Foley, and ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. Rooney won a three-way race in the Republican primary. They face each other in the Nov. 4 general election.

Mahoney also has a house in Congressional District 22, and another home in Palm Beach Gardens, where he claims a homestead exemption.

Rooney's father, Pat Rooney Sr., is the former president of the Palm Beach dog track, and his brother is the current president.

"While Tom was in law school and the Army, he used his father's office address as his mailing address to make it easier to forward his mail," Rooney campaign spokesman Jeff Ostermayer said. "This was an innocent mistake to include his voter registration and it was corrected. Tom is registered to vote, lives and takes his homestead exemption in the district, unlike Tim Mahoney."

In fact, Rooney filed for two homestead exemptions in 2007: for a $410,000 house in Tequesta and a $315,000 house in Jupiter.

Rooney has owned a home and been registered to vote in Tequesta in District 16 since March 2007. He lived in Jupiter in District 22 from 2003 to 2007, the same district where Mahoney currently owns a house.

However, Eric Jotkoff, currently the communications director for the Florida Democratic Party and until December a spokesman for Congressman Mahoney, pointed out that Rooney bought his home and registered to vote in the 16th district after he filed for election.

Jotkoff faxed documents which show Rooney filed his candidacy on March 12, 2007. At the time, his address was in Jupiter. A week later, Rooney registered to vote in the 16th District. Rooney bought a house in Florida's 16th District on March 20, 2007. Rooney did not sell his house in Jupiter until March 13, 2008, a year into his candidacy.

Gary Pinnell can be reached at gpinnell@highlandstoday.com or 863 386-5828

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