In the latest attempt of several years of failing to “take over” the Brevard County Republican Executive Committee, State Representative Randy Fine is running for State Committeeman. He has tried several times to be Republican Chair Rick Lacey for the elected position and continues to fail. Now he’s attempting to recruit to stack the deck in order to get the votes he needs. But in doing so, he’s throwing some that have been loyal to him for years, under the bus.
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At the encouragement of him and others, Trump’s former Volunteer of the Month Karen Colby threw her hat into the ring to run for the Republican State Committeewoman. She has racked up several endorsements from elected officials according to her website. However, the endorsement she failed to secure was that of Randy Fine.
Fine has chosen instead to privately back his former campaign staffer and leader in Moms for Liberty, Marie Rogerson. Rogerson ran for the position in 2020, and despite campaigning very hard, lost by nearly 20 points to the current Committeewoman, Kim Adkinson. Kim has chosen to run for County Commissioner in District 3 this election.
With both Colby and Rogerson running for the same seat, it has put Fine in a tough spot. While Marie has been implying support from Fine through her social media posts, Colby has been directly seeking his support publicly which he has not given. To remedy the situation, Fine is attempting to have Colby drop out with the encouragement of other political players in the county, freeing him to publicly endorse/support Rogerson. How wll that will be received by Colby is yet to be determined, however, what it is in exchange for will be in another upcoming story.
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It’s not the first time Fine has burned a loyal volunteer. Last year, he turned on longtime volunteer and supporter Janice Crisp, leading to Janice releasing a string of damning text messages between the two. When we deposed Fine for a criminal case, he was questioned about the messages and Janice and referred to her simply as “I don’t know, a person who lives in Brevard County.” Anyone who has followed Fine or Crisp over the years knows that they were nearly attached to the hip. “Has she volunteered for you in the past,” Travis asked Fine in a follow up question. “I don’t know,” he says. Fine pretends as if he’s never heard of her. You can watch that amazing exchange below as Fine is deposed by our attorney, Jessica Travis. Of note, Fine paid his attorney $10,000 in campaign finance funds in order to represent him to get him out of the very deposition you see below.
Janice Crisp and Randy Fine during her campaign for Palm Bay City Council
Fine has already begun a shell-game with campaign finance PAC money in order to financially back his hand-picked candidates. On June 21, 2024, Fine moved $50,000 from his PAC Friends of Randy Fine to a PAC named Citizens Alliance for Florida’s Economy which is chaired by his longtime campaign consultant Athony Pedicini. Coincidently, just a few days prior to that, Pedicini moved $50,000 from his PAC to another PAC, Parental Rights PC. (A name very similar to Moms for Liberty’s fundamental claim to fame, partly lead by Marie Rogerson). Also coincidently, the newly formed Parental Rights PC is chaired and treasured by the same husband-wife team, Michael and Debbie Milner, that manages both Randy’s campaign finances, as well as Pedicini’s PAC. In it’s entire existence, since May of 2023, the Parental Rights PC has a single transaction; a $50,000 contribution last month, and zero expenditures (so far).
The Milner’s also happen to be the treasurer’s for Florida House District 33 Candidate Monique Miller who Fine is also backing to succeed him in his current seat, and is also a leader and advisor for Moms for Liberty.
The entire list of everyone running for the seat is below, from the Supervisor of Elections office.
