UPS Pilot Runs for Office
 

No rant about politics, just proud to see one of our own up there. He is an outstanding individual.


UPS pilot will seek to unseat Klein

By George Bennett

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Republican Marcus Flagg has opened a campaign for the Palm Beach-Broward congressional seat held by freshman U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton.

Flagg, a former Navy pilot who now flies for UPS and lives in Boca Raton, has been nationally active in aviation security issues since his parents were killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Wilson and Darlene Flagg were aboard hijacked American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon


Flagg, 45, filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Elections Commission last week.

He acknowledged Tuesday that he is a political unknown.

"I am fresh. I am new. I'm not a career politician and I'm not a lawyer," Flagg said.

Klein, an attorney and former state legislator, won the seat in November by defeating 13-term Republican U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw in one of the nation's most expensive and closely watched House races.

Since Shaw's defeat, Republicans, who hold a slight registration edge in the district, have tried to recruit a candidate to reclaim the seat in 2008. But state Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, and state Rep. Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach, have declined.

Boca Raton Mayor Steven Abrams, encouraged by many in the GOP to run, says chances are 50-50 that he'll enter the race as he tries to balance a candidacy with his job as an attorney.

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Allen West, now in Afghanistan as a consultant to the Afghan military, has also expressed interest in running as a Republican.

"It's still very early in the cycle and we strongly believe that we will be competitive," National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Ken Spain said Tuesday.

Klein, meanwhile, raised more than $600,000 during the first quarter of 2007 and has more than $500,000 in cash on hand, according to his chief of staff, Brian Smoot