Lawton Chiles
Encyclopedia
Lawton Mainor Chiles, Jr. (April 3, 1930 – December 12, 1998) was an American politician
Politics of the United States
The United States is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States , Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.The executive branch is headed by the President...

 from the US state of Florida. In a career spanning four decades, Chiles, a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 who never lost an election, served in the Florida House of Representatives
Florida House of Representatives
The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The House is composed of 120 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 156,677.The House convenes at...

 (1958–1966), the Florida State Senate (1966–1970), the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 (1971–1989), and as the 41st Governor of Florida from 1991 until his death in office in the last month of his second term as governor. He was the first Democratic Governor in state history to have a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

-controlled legislature.

Early life

Chiles was born in Polk County
Polk County, Florida
Polk County is located in central Florida between the Tampa Bay and Greater Orlando metropolitan areas. The county was established by the state government in 1861 on the eve of the American Civil War and named after former United States president James K. Polk. The county seat is Bartow and its...

, Florida near Lakeland
Lakeland, Florida
Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States, located approximately midway between Tampa and Orlando along Interstate 4. According to the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, the city had a population of 94,406...

. There he attended public school, then went on to the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...

. At UF, Chiles was active in student politics, inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame (the most prestigious honor a student can receive at UF) and inducted into Florida Blue Key
Florida Blue Key
Florida Blue Key is a student honor and service society at the University of Florida. It is often written and referred to by the initialism "FBK."This organization was started at the University of Florida in 1923 under the presidency of Albert Murphree...

. He was also a member of the Alpha Tau Omega
Alpha Tau Omega
Alpha Tau Omega is a secret American leadership and social fraternity.The Fraternity has more than 250 active and inactive chapters, more than 200,000 initiates, and over 7,000 active undergraduate members. The 200,000th member was initiated in early 2009...

 fraternity. He graduated in 1952. Following his college years he went to Korea
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

 as an artillery officer in the US Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

. After the war, Chiles returned to the University of Florida for law school
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...

, graduating in 1955; he passed the state bar exam that year and went into practice in Lakeland. He was married to Rhea Chiles
Rhea Chiles
Rhea Chiles was the First Lady of the state of Florida from 1991 to 1998. Her husband was Governor Lawton Chiles.Chiles founded the Florida House on Capitol Hill in 1973. It was her vision that created and sustained the House for these many years...

.

Politics

In 1958, Chiles, a Democrat, was elected to the Florida House of Representatives
Florida House of Representatives
The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The House is composed of 120 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 156,677.The House convenes at...

. He served there until 1966, when he was elected to a seat in the state senate
Florida Senate
The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The Senate is composed of 40 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 470,032....

, which he held until 1970. While serving in the state senate, Chiles served on the 1968 Florida Law Revision Commission. During his time in the state legislature, Chiles continued to work as a lawyer and developer back home in Lakeland. He was one of the initial investors in the Red Lobster
Red Lobster
Red Lobster is a U.S. chain of seafood restaurants. It also operates in Canada, the UAE and Japan . It is aimed at the mid-level "casual dining" segment of the market...

 restaurant chain.

The 1,003-mile walk

In 1970, Chiles decided to run for a seat in the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

. At the time, despite his 12 years in the state legislature, he was largely unknown outside his Lakeland-based district. To generate some media coverage across the state, Chiles embarked upon a 1,003-mile, 91-day walk across Florida from Pensacola
Pensacola
Pensacola is a city in the western part of the U.S. state of Florida.Pensacola may also refer to:* Pensacola people, a group of Native Americans* A number of places in the Florida:** Pensacola Bay** Pensacola Regional Airport...

 to Key West
Key West
Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....

. The walk earned him the recognition he sought, as well as the nickname that would follow him throughout his political career– "Walkin' Lawton". In his journal Chiles wrote that sometimes he walked alone, while other times he met ordinary Floridians along the way. In later years, Chiles would recall the walk allowed him to see Florida's natural beauty, as well as the state's problems, with fresh eyes. After the walk, Chiles was elected easily.

The Senate

Chiles was re-elected to the U.S. Senate twice, in 1976 and 1982. Chiles, never flashy, was considered a moderate lawmaker who rarely made waves. He served as the Chairman of the Special Committee on Aging
United States Senate Special Committee on Aging
The United States Senate Special Committee on Aging was initially established in 1961 as a temporary committee; it became a permanent Senate committee in 1977...

 of the 96th Congress (1979–1981), and in the 100th Congress (1987–1989) served as chairman of the influential Senate Budget Committee. While heading the Budget Committee, he played a key role in the 1987 revision of the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act.

Chiles underwent quadruple-bypass heart surgery
Coronary artery bypass surgery
Coronary artery bypass surgery, also coronary artery bypass graft surgery, and colloquially heart bypass or bypass surgery is a surgical procedure performed to relieve angina and reduce the risk of death from coronary artery disease...

 in 1985. After his recovery, he became increasingly frustrated with the slow pace of work in the Senate, complaining that it was too difficult to get anything done. He announced in December 1987 that he would not seek re-election the next year. Chiles was succeeded by Republican Connie Mack
Connie Mack III
Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy III , popularly known as Connie Mack, is a former Republican politician. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Florida from 1983 to 1989 and then as a Senator from 1989 to 2001. He served as chairman of the Senate Republican...

.

Governor of Florida

After the surgery, Chiles developed clinical depression, and was treated with Prozac. He retired from the Senate in 1989 and intended to retire from politics entirely. However, several supporters convinced him to enter the 1990 Florida Governor's race against Republican incumbent Bob Martinez
Bob Martinez
Robert Martinez was the 40th Governor of Florida from 1987 to 1991. Prior to that, he was the mayor of Tampa from 1979 to 1986.- Education and early career :...

. During the Democratic Party primary, his opponent Bill Nelson attempted to make an issue of Chiles' age and health, a strategy that backfired badly in a state with a large retiree population.

Chiles ran a campaign to "reinvent" the state's government, and defeated Martinez to take office in 1991. During his first term as Governor, Chiles managed to accomplish very little. Although he developed ambitious health-care and tax reform packages, neither passed in the hostile state legislature. The early years of his term were troubled by a national economic recession that severely damaged Florida's tourism-based economy, and by Hurricane Andrew
Hurricane Andrew
Hurricane Andrew was the third Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the United States, after the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and Hurricane Camille in 1969. Andrew was the first named storm and only major hurricane of the otherwise inactive 1992 Atlantic hurricane season...

, which struck near Homestead
Homestead, Florida
Homestead is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States nestled between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. Homestead is primarily a Miami suburb and a major agricultural area....

 in August, 1992.

Chiles ran for re-election in 1994 against Jeb Bush
Jeb Bush
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush; the younger brother of former President George W...

. Republican candidate Bush ran a television advertisement which featured the mother of a teenage girl who had been abducted and murdered many years before. The mother stated that "Her killer is still on death row, and we're still waiting for justice. We won't get it from Lawton Chiles because he's too liberal on crime", referring to Chiles not signing the convicted killer's death warrant. Chiles, then governor, responded that he did not sign a death warrant because the case was still on appeal. The Democratic governor further claimed a record of support for the death penalty, having presided over 18 executions during his two terms (among them the first Floridian woman executed since 1848). Moreover, after the botched electrocution of Pedro Medina
Pedro Medina
Pedro Luis Medina was a Cuban refugee who was executed by the state of Florida for the murder of a 52-year-old woman in Orlando...

 in 1997, and despite significant public criticism, Chiles refused to allow prescription the use of lethal injection
Lethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...

 as a lawful form of execution. The new method was introduced under Bush's administration in 1999 after the execution of Allen Lee Davis
Allen Lee Davis
Allen Lee Davis was a convicted murderer executed for the May 11, 1982 Jacksonville, Florida murder of Nancy Weiler, who was three months pregnant at the time...

.

Chiles' second term as Governor was notable as the first time in state history that a Democratic Governor had a legislature controlled by the Republican Party. Despite this, he had some successes, including a successful lawsuit he and state Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...

 Bob Butterworth
Bob Butterworth
Robert A. Butterworth is an American attorney and politician from the U.S. state of Florida.-Early life and career:Butterworth was born in Passaic, New Jersey, and moved to Florida with his family as a child. He received a degree in business administration from the University of Florida in 1965,...

 filed against the tobacco industry
Tobacco industry
The tobacco industry comprises those persons and companies engaged in the growth, preparation for sale, shipment, advertisement, and distribution of tobacco and tobacco-related products. It is a global industry; tobacco can grow in any warm, moist environment, which means it can be farmed on all...

, which resulted in an $11.3 billion settlement for the state. He also won approval for a $2.7 billion statewide school construction program.

In 1995 Chiles sought treatment for a neurological problem, after he awoke with nausea, slurred speech, and loss of coordination. He recovered fully.

Ineligible to run a third time, Chiles supported the Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant Governor of Florida
The Lieutenant Governor of Florida is a statewide elected office in the government of the U.S. state of Florida. According to the Florida Constitution, the lieutenant governor is elected to a four-year term congruent with that of the Governor of Florida, and succeeds to the office of Governor if it...

, Kenneth H. "Buddy" MacKay
Buddy MacKay
Kenneth Hood "Buddy" MacKay, Jr. is an American politician and diplomat from Florida. A Democrat, he was briefly the 42nd Governor of Florida following the death of Lawton Chiles on December 12, 1998. During his long public service career he was also state legislator, U.S. Representative, Lt...

, in the 1998 Florida governor's race against Jeb Bush. Bush, however, scored an easy victory over MacKay. On December 12 that year, just three weeks before his long-awaited retirement was to begin, Chiles suffered a fatal heart attack while exercising on a cycling machine in the Governor's mansion gymnasium. Funeral services were held at Faith Presbyterian Church in Tallahassee
Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...

, following a funeral procession that traced part of his walk from the 1970 Senate campaign, from the panhandle town of Century
Century, Florida
Century is a town in Escambia County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,714 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Pensacola–Ferry Pass–Brent Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Century is located at ....

 to Tallahassee. He was succeeded in office by MacKay, who served until Bush's term began on January 5, 1999.

Legislative and executive programs

Chiles was known as a health care and children's advocate throughout his career. He emphasized health coverage for the uninsured and led a campaign to create the National Commission for Prevention of Infant Mortality in the late 1980s. In 1994 he fought for the creation of regional health care alliances throughout the state, which allow small businesses to pool their health care dollars and broaden coverage while saving money. He also created the Florida Department of Elder Affairs.

In 1992, Chiles created the Florida Healthy Start program to provide a comprehensive prenatal and infant care program available to all pregnant women and infants across the state; since the program's inception the state's infant mortality
Infant mortality
Infant mortality is defined as the number of infant deaths per 1000 live births. Traditionally, the most common cause worldwide was dehydration from diarrhea. However, the spreading information about Oral Re-hydration Solution to mothers around the world has decreased the rate of children dying...

 rate has dropped 18%. In 1996, Chiles appointed a Governor's Commission on Education to examine the state's school system. One of the significant recommendations that came from that commission eventually led to the highly controversial 2002 state constitutional amendment restricting Florida's school class sizes.

In 1997, pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...

 advocacy group
Advocacy group
Advocacy groups use various forms of advocacy to influence public opinion and/or policy; they have played and continue to play an important part in the development of political and social systems...

 Choose Life collected 10,000 signatures and filed the $30,000 fee required under Florida law at the time to submit an application for a new specialty plate. State Senator Tom Lee sponsored a bill in support of the tag's creation. The bill passed both houses of the Florida State Legislature in early 1998, but was vetoed by Chiles, who stated that license plates are not the "proper forum for debate" on political issues.

Judicial appointments

Perhaps his greatest legacy was his impact on the Florida Supreme Court
Florida Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the State of Florida is the highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. The Supreme Court consists of seven judges: the Chief Justice and six Justices who are appointed by the Governor to 6-year terms and remain in office if retained in a general election near the end of each...

, where his appointments continued to have a major impact on state and national events long after Chiles' death. Chiles appointed Justice Major B. Harding
Major B. Harding
Major B. Harding is an attorney and former justice of the Florida Supreme Court. He was appointed to the court by Governor Lawton Chiles in 1991 and served until 2002. His tenure as chief justice lasted from 1998 to June 2000...

 in 1991, Justice Charles T. Wells
Charles T. Wells
Charles T. Wells was a member of the Florida Supreme Court from 1994 until March 3, 2009, when he retired. He was appointed by Governor Lawton Chiles. He served as Chief Justice from July 1, 2000, until June 30, 2002. He is perhaps most noted for presiding over appeals brought to the Court as...

 in 1994, Justice Harry Lee Anstead
Harry Lee Anstead
Harry Lee Anstead was a Justice of the Florida Supreme Court from 1994 to January 5, 2009, and he served as Chief Justice from July 1, 2002 until June 30, 2004...

 in 1994, Justice Barbara J. Pariente in 1997, and Justice R. Fred Lewis
R. Fred Lewis
R. Fred Lewis was appointed to the Supreme Court of Florida on December 7, 1998. While serving as Chief Justice, he founded Justice Teaching, an organization that now has over 3,900 volunteer lawyers and Judges placed with and active in all Florida public schools, which enhances civic and...

 in 1998. Chiles and incoming Gov. Jeb Bush jointly appointed Justice Peggy A. Quince in 1998 just a few days before Chiles' death. Quince was jointly appointed because her term as Justice would begin the exact moment that Bush's first term as Governor began, so there was a legal question which Governor had the authority to appoint her. Bush and Chiles agreed to make a joint appointment to avoid a lawsuit over the question.

Thus, at one point, Chiles had appointed five of the seven Justices and had jointly appointed the sixth. Chiles' appointments formed the Supreme Court majorities that decided the following major cases:
  • In 2006, the Court struck down a law passed by the Florida State Legislature that had created the United States' first statewide education voucher
    Education voucher
    A school voucher, also called an education voucher, is a certificate issued by the government, which parents can apply toward tuition at a private school , rather than at the state school to which their child is assigned...

     program. The majority in this case consisted of Wells, Anstead, Pariente, Lewis, and Quince. Bush appointees Raoul G. Cantero and Kenneth B. Bell
    Kenneth B. Bell
    Kenneth B. Bell is a former Associate Justice of the Florida Supreme Court.- Education :Bell attended Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina as an undergraduate, and received his Juris Doctor from the Florida State University College of Law in 1982.- Career :Commencing from 1982 and for...

     dissented.
  • In 2004, the court struck down another piece of legislation from the Florida legislature designed to reverse a lower court decision in the Terri Schiavo case
    Terri Schiavo case
    The Terri Schiavo case was a legal battle in the United States between the legal guardians and the parents of Teresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo that lasted from 1998 to 2005...

    . This decision was unanimous and included Bush appointees Cantero and Bell. By this time, Harding had retired.
  • In the 2000 presidential election controversy, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a statewide recount in the disputed election pitting George W. Bush
    George W. Bush
    George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

     against Al Gore
    Al Gore
    Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....

    . The United States Supreme Court later reversed that ruling. The Florida Supreme Court majority in this case consisted of Anstead, Pariente, Lewis, and Quince. Dissenting Justices were Wells, Harding, and Leander J. Shaw, Jr., an appointee of Gov. Bob Graham
    Bob Graham
    Daniel Robert "Bob" Graham is an American politician. He was the 38th Governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States Senator from that state from 1987 to 2005...

    . Shaw retired in early 2003 and was replaced by Bell.

Relatives

Chiles' niece is US Senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 elected in 2008. Hagan is the daughter of Chiles' sister Jeannette. Chiles' son, "Bud" Chiles, ran for the position of Governor of Florida without party affiliation in a grassroots campaign. Like his father, Bud embarked on a walking tour of the state, listening and visiting with local communities in Florida. On September 2, 2010, Chiles dropped out of the race citing "continuing down this road could have unintended consequences, dividing those who hold common goals..." Chiles threw his support behind Alex Sink
Alex Sink
Adelaide "Alex" Sink is an American politician of the Democratic Party. Sink was the Chief Financial Officer for the state of Florida and treasurer on the board of trustees of the Florida State Board of Administration...

.

Electoral history

Democratic primary for United States Senator from Florida, 1970
  • C. Farris Bryant
    C. Farris Bryant
    Cecil Farris Bryant was the 34th Governor of Florida. He also served on the United States National Security Council and in the Office of Emergency Planning during the administration of President Lyndon B...

     – 240,222 (32.90%)
  • Lawton Chiles – 188,300 (25.79%)
  • Fred Schultz – 175,745 (24.07%)
  • Alcee Hastings
    Alcee Hastings
    Alcee Lamar Hastings is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life, education and career:...

     – 91,948 (12.59%)
  • Joel Daves – 33,939 (4.65%)


Democratic runoff for United States Senator from Florida, 1970
  • Lawton Chiles – 474,420 (65.74%)
  • C. Farris Bryant
    C. Farris Bryant
    Cecil Farris Bryant was the 34th Governor of Florida. He also served on the United States National Security Council and in the Office of Emergency Planning during the administration of President Lyndon B...

     – 247,211 (34.26%)


Florida United States Senate election, 1970
  • Lawton Chiles (D) – 902,438 (53.87%)
  • William C. Cramer
    William C. Cramer
    William Cato Cramer was a U.S. Representative from Florida.Cramer was born in Denver, Colorado. He was three years old when his parents moved to St. Petersburg, Florida. He attended the public schools and St...

     (R) – 772,817 (46.13%)


Florida United States Senate election, 1976
  • Lawton Chiles (D, Inc.) – 1,799,518 (62.98%)
  • John Grady (R) – 1,057,886 (37.02%)


Florida United States Senate election, 1982
  • Lawton Chiles (D, Inc.) – 1,637,667 (61.72%)
  • Van B. Poole
    Van B. Poole
    Van B. "Harold" Poole Born on June 23, 1921 in Orlando, Florida. Poole is a former Republican politician from Florida. He spent twelve years in the Florida House of Representatives, including a stint as House Minority Whip. He was head of the Florida Department of Business Regulation under...

     (R) – 1,015,330 (38.27%)


Democratic primary for Governor of Florida, 1990
  • Lawton Chiles – 746,325 (69.49%)
  • Bill Nelson
    Bill Nelson
    Clarence William "Bill" Nelson is the senior United States Senator from the state of Florida and a member of the Democratic Party. He is a former U.S. Representative and former Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner of Florida...

     – 327,731 (30.51%)


Florida gubernatorial election, 1990
Florida gubernatorial election, 1990
-Overview:Republican incumbent Bob Martinez, who was just a second member of his party elected Governor of Florida after Reconstruction, was deeply unpopular. His job approval rating had sunk to around 24% after, in 1989, he called the Florida Legislature into special session in an effort to pass...

  • Lawton Chiles/Buddy MacKay
    Buddy MacKay
    Kenneth Hood "Buddy" MacKay, Jr. is an American politician and diplomat from Florida. A Democrat, he was briefly the 42nd Governor of Florida following the death of Lawton Chiles on December 12, 1998. During his long public service career he was also state legislator, U.S. Representative, Lt...

     (D) – 1,995,206 (56.51%)
  • Bob Martinez
    Bob Martinez
    Robert Martinez was the 40th Governor of Florida from 1987 to 1991. Prior to that, he was the mayor of Tampa from 1979 to 1986.- Education and early career :...

     (Inc.)/J. Allison DeFoor (R) – 1,535,068 (43.48%)


Democratic primary for Governor of Florida, 1994
  • Lawton Chiles (Inc.) – 603,657 (72.17%)
  • Jack Gargan
    Jack Gargan
    Jack Gargan is a retired financial planner in the United States who became the second chairman of the Reform Party started by Ross Perot...

     – 232,757 (27.83%)


Florida gubernatorial election, 1994
Florida gubernatorial election, 1994
The 1994 Florida Gubernatorial Election was held on November 8, 1994. Governor Lawton Chiles survived a strong challenge from businessman Jeb Bush to win re-election. This race was the second closest gubernatorial election in Florida history since Reconstruction due to the strong Republican wave...

  • Lawton Chiles/Buddy MacKay
    Buddy MacKay
    Kenneth Hood "Buddy" MacKay, Jr. is an American politician and diplomat from Florida. A Democrat, he was briefly the 42nd Governor of Florida following the death of Lawton Chiles on December 12, 1998. During his long public service career he was also state legislator, U.S. Representative, Lt...

     (D, Inc.) – 2,135,008 (50.75%)
  • Jeb Bush
    Jeb Bush
    John Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush; the younger brother of former President George W...

    /Tom Feeney
    Tom Feeney
    Thomas Charles "Tom" Feeney III, usually known as Tom Feeney , is an American politician from the state of Florida. He represented . He was defeated in the 2008 election by Democrat Suzanne Kosmas.-Early life:...

     (R) – 2,071,068 (49.23%)

External links

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