[back off, Democratic avengers]

kelley kwalker2 at gte.net
Thu Nov 16 22:30:24 PST 2000


Katherine Harris no stranger to controversy By Dara Kim Nov. 14, 2000 | TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- A Harvard-educated blueblood from one of Florida's wealthiest families, Secretary of State Katherine Harris is no stranger to controversy.

She's been investigated for campaign finance violations and criticized for spending state money jetting around the world, spending up to $500 a night for hotel rooms in Washington. She's also been one of George W. Bush's most prominent political supporters, campaigning for him in Florida and elsewhere. <...> In her first two years on the job, Harris spent $100,000 in Florida tax dollars on foreign trade missions to places like Barbados and Brazil as well as the Sydney Olympics. Her travel expenses were significantly higher than the other five Cabinet members and three times more than Gov. Jeb Bush. <...> Harris, 43, earned a degree in history from the all-female Agnes Scott College in Georgia, received a master's degree in public administration from Harvard and she studied art and Spanish in Madrid, and philosophy and religion in Geneva.

Her grandfather, citrus magnate Ben Hill Griffin, served as a longtime legislator. He was also a friend of former state Republican Party chairman, Tom Slade, who hand-picked Harris for her Senate run. Her cousin, J.D. Alexander, is a state representative. The Cabinet job, one that has been largely ceremonial, is being abolished after Harris' current term, which expires in January 2003.

Harris, who is married to businessman Anders Ebbeson, listed her net worth as more than $6.5 million as of December 1999, according to her latest financial disclosure. http://www.salon.com/politics/wire/2000/11/13/harris_controversy/print.html



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