The frontrunner right now to be the GOP's candidate for the seat of Rep. Mark Foley -- who resigned yesterday amid revelations of his sexually-charged emails to House pages -- is Florida State Rep. Joe Negron, a 45-year-old lawyer and aggressive fundraiser. Florida GOPers are telling the St. Petersburg Times that Negron is a strong contender, and Negron himself told the paper, "I'm making calls as quickly as I can." Who is Negron? Well, here's one indicator: Negron full-throatedly supported Gov. Jeb Bush's efforts to intervene and prevent doctors from allowing the death of Terry Schiavo, the Florida brain-dead woman who was allowed to die after a national battle over her fate. Negron's take on Schiavo? It was wrong, Negron said in June, "for a judge to say you can't put water on the lips of a citizen of Florida."

Negron's conservative position on Schiavo could be a liability for him if he gets the nod from GOP leaders to take on Tim Mahoney, the Dem nominee who'd been running a credible campaign for Foley's seat.

The Schiavo issue came up earlier this year, when Negron was running in the GOP primary to replace state Attorney Charlie Crist, who's now the GOP gubernatorial nominee. Negron dropped out of the AG race in July after concluding that despite having raised an impressive $1.3 million, he didn't have the name recognition to defeat his opponent, former GOP Rep Bill McCollum, whose 20 years as a Congressman and his two failed runs for Senate made him well known statewide.

The Schiavo case came up at an AG race debate in June. From a June 23 Associated Press piece (via Nexis):

Three of the four candidates for Florida attorney general said Friday the government should not have intervened in the Terri Schiavo case, but one state Rep. Joe Negron said it was right for the state and Congress to try to usurp the courts.

The four didn't disagree on many issues, all saying they supported the death penalty, would protect individual liberties and the environment and get tough on Internet predators and consumer crimes.

Negron, of Stuart, stood out from the others when asked about Terri Schiavo, the severely brain-damaged woman who died last year following an epic legal battle over whether she should be kept alive artificially.

He disagreed with the other candidates, who said the ruling of the many courts that heard the case was the ultimate authority. Negron said if he had been attorney general, he would have intervened to try to keep her artificial feeding intact.

It was wrong, he said, "for a judge to say you can't put water on the lips of a citizen of Florida."

Under Florida law, if Negron gets the nod from Florida GOP leaders, Foley's name would remain on the ballot, and any votes to Foley would go to the GOP-designated replacement -- i.e., Negron. That alone could seriously complicate Negron's race againt Dem Mahoney, but Negron tells the St. Petersburg Times that he's undaunted:

The state Republican Party is likely to name a replacement for Foley next week, but the state Division of Elections said Friday it's too late to take Foley's name off the ballot. Under Florida law, any vote for Foley will go to the candidate named to replace him by the state GOP...

[Negron] said he didn't mind running for an office when Foley's name will remain on the ballot. "I think voters are very smart and sophisticated, and they care about who their congressman is," Negron said. "I think they'll figure it out."