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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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26

Florida Mayor's Dad Threatens Her at Gunpoint

She'd endorsed his opponent in another mayoral race

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(Newser) – Local politics took a bizarre turn in Florida’s Broward County Tuesday night, when Mayor Stacy Ritter’s father—an 84-year-old World War II veteran—showed up at her home with a gun and threatened her. After a brief struggle, Ritter convinced her dad, Edward Portner, to let her go to the kitchen for a drink of water, using the opportunity to escape out of the garage door, her husband tells the Miami Herald.

Portner admitted to the incident when police arrested him later at his home. “He was quite contrite,” says his attorney, and insists the gun wasn’t loaded. Ritter has vowed to get her father “the help that he needs.” Relations have been strained between Ritter and Portner; he decided to run for mayor of Tamarac after she’d already endorsed his opponent, and she hasn’t switched sides.

A headshot of Stacy Ritter, taken from the Broward County website.
A headshot of Stacy Ritter, taken from the Broward County website.
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It probably makes most voters think we've entered the political Twilight Zone. - Pollster Jim Kane, on this incident, and recent corruption indictments in the county

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26 comments
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LibertyMan
Oct 8, 09 12:07 PM CDT
Sad but typical of Florida poltics. Reply
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+3
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DontLikeYou
Oct 8, 09 12:26 PM CDT
The gun waving dad is a Democrat. Funny how it took almost an hour for me to figure that out since the news stories did not mention his party affiliation. Any bets that if he were a Republican it would be all over the news??? Seems like a lot of democrats are losing their minds these days.
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-8
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Unaffiliated
Oct 8, 09 12:36 PM CDT
What's it matter which party they're affiliated with? You're right, though, that if he had been a Rep he would've been blasted in the press as a crazy gun-toting backwards Southern conservative.
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+5
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Fondue
Oct 8, 09 1:15 PM CDT
"Seems like a lot of democrats are losing their minds these days." Really? Who else?
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+2
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Nelstorm
Oct 8, 09 1:23 PM CDT
@dontlikeyou - You spent almost an hour (for an article you commented on 25 minutes after it's posting) looking up this guy's party affiliation on the chance he was a democrat? I'm sure that if he was a republican you would have made a witty comment against them instead.
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+3
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