TALLAHASSEE -- State Sen. Steve Oelrich believes he may have been the first casualty in the crossfire from Florida's Republican primary for U.S. Senate, after Gov. Charlie Crist's veto of a non-controversial bill Oelrich sponsored.

The Cross Creek Republican and former Alachua County sheriff said he believes that his ''innocuous'' little bill to allow for an optional transportation fee at community colleges was vetoed by the governor in retaliation for his failure to support Crist's Senate candidacy.

Last week, Gov. Charlie Crist's political director Pablo Diaz asked Oelrich if he would endorse the governor. Oelrich said no.

''I told him I'm supporting Marco Rubio,'' he recalled. Former House speaker Rubio, now the underdog in the U.S. Senate primary, had worked for Oelrich's state senate campaign and Oelrich was a fan.

SURPRISE

This week, Oelrich was hit with a surprise. Crist vetoed his bill to allow community colleges the option of imposing a transportation fee on all students to pay for busing between campuses. The bill, which he was asked to sponsor by students at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, had passed the Senate, 37-1, and the House, 108-4

''There was no warning,'' Oelrich said of Crist's veto. ``It looks to me like politics. I don't know what else to think. I thought the bill was rather innocuous . . . Nobody from the governor's office ever came to me . . . about it.''

UNINTENTIONAL

Crist on Friday denied the veto was intended as retaliation. ''Nothing could be further from the truth,'' Crist said.

Oelrich also suspects he may be being punished for rebuffing the governor another time, when Crist asked him to vote for a bill to allow for Orlando's Sunrail commuter train. The bill failed in the Senate.

He cited Crist's veto letter, which said the governor was concerned that the fee would be charged to all students instead of solely those who would benefit from it.

''In challenging economic times, I cannot support charging students up to an additional $200 per year for services that they may or may not utilize,'' Crist wrote.

Crist added on Friday that ``it just didn't seem appropriate to me to have a transportation fee increase at potentially all 28 community colleges when this may have only really been driven by one.''

He said his office ``reached out to presidents at other community colleges and they didn't have any interest in it. Those are the facts.''

Oelrich says the fee was optional at other community colleges. Oelrich believes students wanted the fee because it will save many of them money. Student parking on campus is becoming harder to get; gasoline costs are rising, and public transportation between the University of Florida and the Gainesville college is scarce, he said.

Rubio on Friday tried to stay out of the fray. ``I'm grateful for his support and I'm sorry his bill got vetoed.''

Herald/Times staff writers Beth Reinhard and Alex Leary contributed to this report. Mary Ellen Klas can be reached at meklas@MiamiHerald.com

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