Katherine Harris Eyes Senate Bid

A pair of meetings with White House deputy chief of staff and top political guru Karl Rove has sparked speculation that Rep. Katherine Harris is planning to run for the Senate next year, a prospect some political observers suggest is not pleasing to President Bush.

According to Harris spokesman Garrison Courtney, Rove and Harris met most recently for lunch Thursday, telling The Hill newspaper that they "occasionally get together to catch up on things that are going on," and adding that Rove and Harris "just talked in general," touching on, among other things, "local politics in Florida."

One senior House Republican aide familiar with the Rove-Harris meetings, however, described the meetings as "strictly business, focusing on the 2006 Senate race," The Hill reported.

While Harris has insisted that no administration officials have tried to discourage her from running, the Capitol Hill newspaper says that Republicans both in Washington and Harris' home state of Florida say President Bush would prefer that she stay out of the 2006 race against Democrat Senator Bill Nelson.

"The president doesn’t want her to run, short of a natural disaster," a Hill Republican told the newspaper, adding that this was well known in GOP circles in Florida.

Yet after Harris met with Rove several weeks ago, a Hill source told The Hill "she came out of that meeting a little more enthusiastic" about entering the Senate race.

Noting that when Harris considered running for the seat vacated by Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., in 2004 but was dissuaded by the White House and Senate GOP leaders who were backing Mel Martinez, the source told The Hill, "Nothing has changed from '04, when they didn't want her to run, except for the fact that it's not George Bush's neck on the line."

Republicans speculate that Harris' role in the hotly disputed 2000 Florida election, when she was at the center of the controversy, has made her a polarizing figure. Harris, the Hill noted, "is celebrated by Republicans — and reviled by Democrats — for her role as Florida’s secretary of state during the 2000 presidential recount. She won her first term in the 13th District, in central Florida, in 2002."

David Johnson, chief executive officer of Strategic Vision, a Republican polling firm that recently surveyed Florida voters about the upcoming Senate race, told The Hill last month that the White House is "worried [Harris will] polarize voters again." He added, "I think they’re worried, too, about what kind of effect it could have on the rest of the ticket."

Other possible contenders for the chance to take on Bill Nelson include Florida’s Attorney General Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, Reps. Mark Foley and Dave Weldon, and Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings, although Crist is said to prefer vying for Florida's governorship due to be vacated by Gov. Job Bush, who by law cannot run for a third term.

A House Republican aide told The Hill that time is of the essence because Harris has "the luxury of being able to wait" to announce her candidacy because, presumably, she wouldn’t have trouble raising money. Other Republicans, by contrast, must begin building a campaign organization now, the aide said.

"The White House understands that as long as Katherine keeps flirting with the idea, she’s keeping other serious candidates out of the race," the aide said. "I think if they are taking action to get her out of the race now, it’s for that very reason, that other candidates aren’t coming forward."

Harris plans to announce her Senate intentions by summer, Harris spokesman Courtney told The Hill. A White House spokeswoman did not return several phone calls from The Hill seeking comment.

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