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Florida Inauguration Requests Already Flooding In

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By BILLY HOUSE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 10, 2008

WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor are among Florida members of Congress being inundated with requests for tickets to Barack Obama's inauguration in Washington on Jan. 20.

"Right now, we're letting people know that we've not been informed of what our allotment is going to be," Nelson spokesman Bryan Gulley said Friday.

Nelson's office already has received about 2,000 ticket requests, he said.

The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies will decide Nov. 17 how many tickets will be allotted to each lawmaker, he said.

"When we do know, we will be distributing them on a first-come, first-serve basis," Gulley said. He said the senator's office is keeping a record of the telephone and e-mail requests that come in.

Each lawmaker will also be given a number of tickets for personal use and distribution, along with those allotted to the office.

Castor's office also is getting hundreds of requests.

"We have received requests for more than 600 tickets so far, though there are few specifics available on how many tickets we will be able to distribute. We are keeping track of our constituents and will work hard to take care of as many of them as possible," said Ellen Gedalius, a spokeswoman for Castor, a Democrat from Tampa.

Castor's office is also steering people to the congresswoman's Web site for information: www.castor.house .gov/Events/.

Even some Florida congressional Republicans are getting deluged.

Rep. Adam Putnam's office has received hundreds of requests for tickets, says spokesman Keith Rupp.

"We're taking down the name of every caller and making a list," Rupp said.

Reporter Billy House can be reached at 202-662-7673.

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