Rick Santorum received the endorsement
of former Ft. Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle at a campaign stop in Coral
Springs, Florida on Sunday.
Santorum on Saturday came in third
behind Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney in the South Carolina primary.
In introducing Santorum, Naugle said
Florida conservatives have “really only one choice.”
“And when you look at the candidate
we're here to support today, his unwavering support for the unborn,
his unwavering support for the second amendment. He's the only
candidate left standing that has a position on repealing Obamacare
that makes any sense.”
In 2007, Naugle, as mayor of Ft.
Lauderdale, launched a campaign to rid the city's parks of gay men.
He said he had ordered police to arrest men accused of having sex in
park restrooms because he was protecting children, but later added
that he was saving lives from HIV. Yet, from the beginning of the
controversy police reported few problems in the parks.
He also found himself in hot water
later that year when he said, “I use the word homosexual. Most of
them aren't gay; they're unhappy.”
(Related: Rick
Santorum's Florida Chairman O'Neal Dozier: Gays make God vomit.)