FL 16: Mahoney would have appeared at Friday debate if press had been banned.

Scandal-rocked Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney probably will not appear at a Forum Club of the Palm Beaches debate on Friday after his campaign said tonight it fears a “circus” atmosphere if TV cameras are allowed.

Mahoney’s campaign told Forum Club Executive Director Gayle Pallesen this evening that Mahoney would debate Republican challenger Tom Rooney at the lunchtime gathering only if TV cameras were barred. Pallesen rejected the condition.

“I’m not pulling TV crews out of the room,” Pallesen said. “We stand firm that the media has every right to cover every one of our events.”

The debate has generated national media interest, and was to be televised by C-SPAN, because it would be Mahoney’s first public appearance since it was revealed last week that he put a woman with whom he was having an affair on his congressional and campaign payrolls in 2007. Mahoney fired her this year, prompting her to threaten a lawsuit that Mahoney stopped by agreeing to a $121,903 settlement.

Lutrin said that he also met personally with Mahoney. During a three- hour breakfast meeting, Mahoney offered Lutrin a higher-paying job if he agreed to drop out of the primary. "Mahoney tried to get me to run in a different district. He offered me a job at one of his non-profit organizations where he said that I would make more than I was making as a teacher. He said I could campaign full time while working at his non-profit as long as I agreed to drop out of the race," Lutrin said. Lutrin declined the job offer.


David Lutrin, a school teacher, union activist and staunch supporter of immediate withdrawal from Iraq, decided to run against Foley before Mahoney entered the race. After Mahoney declared his candidacy, Lutrin was contacted by field organizers for the DCCC who asked him to drop out and let Mahoney run unopposed.

According to Lutrin, when he refused to step aside, the DCCC shored up local political support for Mahoney. The local AFL-CIO chapter, of which Lutrin was a member, came out with an early endorsement of Mahoney's campaign. According to Lutrin, the union told him that "they would like to back a fellow union brother, but Mahoney has more money and more political support from the party." Lutrin eventually dropped out of the race when the local teachers' union decided to support Mahoney.

New Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman and folks at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in D.C. have had serious talks recently with vFinance Inc. Chairman Tim Mahoney, whose business finances high-growth companies and has more than two dozen offices in the United States.