Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton will return to Florida today, Monday and Tuesday, Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink said Saturday in an interview with The Palm Beach Post.
“She said she would be in Florida. I do expect her to be in Florida,” said Sink, the only Democrat in a statewide elected office.
Clinton has fundraisers scheduled for South Florida and Sarasota today, but her campaign denied plans to campaign or be in the state in the following days.
“She’s definitely not there Monday,” Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee told the newspaper. “She will not be campaigning in Florida on Tuesday, either.”
In a statement Saturday, Clinton said she would seat Florida’s delegates at the national convention if she won the nomination and added, “I will of course be following the no-campaigning pledge that I signed, and expect others will as well.” Sink last week petitioned top Democrats at the four early-voting states and the party’s national committee to ask that Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards be released from the pledge they signed promising to avoid campaigning in Florida because the state’s primary is earlier than Feb. 5. The pledge does not prohibit fundraising.
Democratic National Committee rules prohibit states other than Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina from holding a primary any earlier.
Neither DNC chairman Howard Dean nor pertinent state leaders have responded to Sink’s letter, she said.
But Clinton did give her a ring Saturday morning to say she knew about the letter and would be in the state, Sink said.
“She just called me knowing about the letter I sent and said she would be in Florida Sunday, Monday and Tuesday,” Sink said.
Sink, who is not endorsing a candidate in the race, said Clinton never said she would “campaign.”
