Get the scoop on Crist, Scott, Wyllie, Bondi and more
by Mitch PerryGOVERNOR
Rick Scott (R) At one point in his first term in office, our governor had the lowest approval rankings of any state chief executive in the country. Staring at the reality that if he kept up his Tea Party-lovin’ ways he was destined for only one term, Scott started pivoting. So even though he cut $1.3 billion in education spending in his first year, in August his office trumpeted spending $71,176 for each student enrolled in the public school system, the most ever in the history of the state. On the environment, Scott cut funding for the water management districts and eliminated the Department of Community Affairs, Florida’s main growth management agency. He’s now promising to spend a half billion dollars alone over the next decade on springs. He was all for an Arizona-style immigration bill back when it was all the rage in 2010; in 2014 he was happy to sign a bill allowing undocumented immigrants to pay in-state college and university tuition. But he does have a scoreboard when he compares the state’s economic figures to when Charlie Crist was in office. Sure there was a recession going on during Crist’s tenure, but the jobs governor has been relentless in trying to boost the economy.
Charlie Crist (D) You could say this former Republican has been overcompensating, or has been a bit insecure about his progressive bona fides. Let’s be honest, there aren’t that many Democrats calling the Affordable Care Act “great” as Charlie did on CNN’s State of the Union earlier this year (a moment captured in time and featured relentlessly on many an RPOF ad this year). But he is for ObamaCare. For public education. For Medicaid expansion. For medical marijuana. For solar power. For the automatic restoration of civil and voting rights for ex-felons.
Adrian Wyllie (LPF) If there was ever a need for a third (and maybe a fourth and fifth) party candidate, it’s been this year, with the incessant negative ads turning off an undetermined number of voters. Enter Adrian Wyllie, who’s for medical marijuana, against the ACA, and against a lot of progressive positions. But he is for 64-ounce growlers. And he isn’t a Democrat or a Republican, which is saying something.
Why you should care: It’s your governor, your state, your life.
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Pam Bondi (R) The incumbent AG has surprised many of her friends in the Bay area with the hard, ideologically conservative positions she’s taken on a number of issues, most prominently in opposing same-sex marriage and medical marijuana. She’s also not been as activist a consumer advocate as former AGs like Bob Butterworth and Charlie Crist, but has been aggressive on some major issues, such as combating pill mills and sex trafficking.
George Sheldon (D) also has Tampa roots, and extensive service in both the state and federal government. His most recent gig was working in Washington in the Health & Human Services Department (under the controversial Kathleen Sebelius). He also helped clean up the Department of Children and Families for Charlie Crist, and served as a legislator in the ’70s and ’80s in Tallahassee. He’s to the left of Bondi on all of the above issues.
Bill Wohlsifer (Libertarian) thinks Amendment 2 doesn’t go far enough, believing the state should approve recreational pot. He supports same-sex marriage, supports the open carry of handguns, and wants to eliminate the federal war on drugs, not that he’d have any authority to pursue that goal as a state officer. Why you should care: The AG is Florida’s top cop, and has enormous power regarding which laws to support and oppose.
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Jeff Atwater (R) The incumbent is running for re-election as the guy who goes after financial hucksters.
Will Rankin (D) A colorful, somewhat eccentric personality. He calls Jeff Atwater a “really interesting cat,” saying that it simply amazes him “what money and name recognition will do” for some people. A Deerfield Beach resident, this 54-year-old former Army veteran says he’s spent the past 12 years working as an entrepreneur and private business owner in South Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
Why you should care: This office, an amalgam of Comptroller and Treasurer/Insurance Commissioner/Fire Marshal, has only been in existence since 2002. The CFO heads the Florida Department of Financial Services and is responsible for overseeing the state’s finances, collecting revenue, paying state bills, auditing state agencies, regulating cemeteries and funerals, and handling fires and arsons. In addition, the CFO has administrative oversight over the offices which handle banking and insurance regulation. And it’s one of the four positions on the state Cabinet.
Agriculture Commissioner
Adam Putnam (R) The Polk County wunderkind, who bolted Washington after House Republicans' power faded in two consecutive wave elections in 2009, returned home to run and win as Ag Commissioner. You could argue he’s enlivened the office, persuading the Legislature to put his department in charge of the state’s school-lunch program, where he’s linked schools with local farmers, and expanded his office’s consumer protection activities, such as cutting down on bogus charities and identify thefts. And he’s now ready for his gravitas stage, having turned 40 this summer.
Thaddeus Hamilton (D) This Broward County Democrat has run a low-key campaign (to say the least). He does have extensive experience, having served 36 years with the U.S Dept. of Agriculture and Natural Resources Conservation Services. Why you should care: Agriculture is the second biggest industry in Florida (trailing tourism), contributing an estimated $9 billion to the economy and supporting 75,000 jobs. One of the commissioner’s biggest challenges is finding a solution to citrus greening, the disease responsible for the loss of millions of trees across the state and the smallest citrus harvest in decades this year. The office also works as a consumer advocate for Floridians.
Rick Scott (R) At one point in his first term in office, our governor had the lowest approval rankings of any state chief executive in the country. Staring at the reality that if he kept up his Tea Party-lovin’ ways he was destined for only one term, Scott started pivoting. So even though he cut $1.3 billion in education spending in his first year, in August his office trumpeted spending $71,176 for each student enrolled in the public school system, the most ever in the history of the state. On the environment, Scott cut funding for the water management districts and eliminated the Department of Community Affairs, Florida’s main growth management agency. He’s now promising to spend a half billion dollars alone over the next decade on springs. He was all for an Arizona-style immigration bill back when it was all the rage in 2010; in 2014 he was happy to sign a bill allowing undocumented immigrants to pay in-state college and university tuition. But he does have a scoreboard when he compares the state’s economic figures to when Charlie Crist was in office. Sure there was a recession going on during Crist’s tenure, but the jobs governor has been relentless in trying to boost the economy.
Charlie Crist (D) You could say this former Republican has been overcompensating, or has been a bit insecure about his progressive bona fides. Let’s be honest, there aren’t that many Democrats calling the Affordable Care Act “great” as Charlie did on CNN’s State of the Union earlier this year (a moment captured in time and featured relentlessly on many an RPOF ad this year). But he is for ObamaCare. For public education. For Medicaid expansion. For medical marijuana. For solar power. For the automatic restoration of civil and voting rights for ex-felons.
Adrian Wyllie (LPF) If there was ever a need for a third (and maybe a fourth and fifth) party candidate, it’s been this year, with the incessant negative ads turning off an undetermined number of voters. Enter Adrian Wyllie, who’s for medical marijuana, against the ACA, and against a lot of progressive positions. But he is for 64-ounce growlers. And he isn’t a Democrat or a Republican, which is saying something.
Why you should care: It’s your governor, your state, your life.
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Pam Bondi (R) The incumbent AG has surprised many of her friends in the Bay area with the hard, ideologically conservative positions she’s taken on a number of issues, most prominently in opposing same-sex marriage and medical marijuana. She’s also not been as activist a consumer advocate as former AGs like Bob Butterworth and Charlie Crist, but has been aggressive on some major issues, such as combating pill mills and sex trafficking.
George Sheldon (D) also has Tampa roots, and extensive service in both the state and federal government. His most recent gig was working in Washington in the Health & Human Services Department (under the controversial Kathleen Sebelius). He also helped clean up the Department of Children and Families for Charlie Crist, and served as a legislator in the ’70s and ’80s in Tallahassee. He’s to the left of Bondi on all of the above issues.
Bill Wohlsifer (Libertarian) thinks Amendment 2 doesn’t go far enough, believing the state should approve recreational pot. He supports same-sex marriage, supports the open carry of handguns, and wants to eliminate the federal war on drugs, not that he’d have any authority to pursue that goal as a state officer. Why you should care: The AG is Florida’s top cop, and has enormous power regarding which laws to support and oppose.
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Jeff Atwater (R) The incumbent is running for re-election as the guy who goes after financial hucksters.
Will Rankin (D) A colorful, somewhat eccentric personality. He calls Jeff Atwater a “really interesting cat,” saying that it simply amazes him “what money and name recognition will do” for some people. A Deerfield Beach resident, this 54-year-old former Army veteran says he’s spent the past 12 years working as an entrepreneur and private business owner in South Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
Why you should care: This office, an amalgam of Comptroller and Treasurer/Insurance Commissioner/Fire Marshal, has only been in existence since 2002. The CFO heads the Florida Department of Financial Services and is responsible for overseeing the state’s finances, collecting revenue, paying state bills, auditing state agencies, regulating cemeteries and funerals, and handling fires and arsons. In addition, the CFO has administrative oversight over the offices which handle banking and insurance regulation. And it’s one of the four positions on the state Cabinet.
Agriculture Commissioner
Adam Putnam (R) The Polk County wunderkind, who bolted Washington after House Republicans' power faded in two consecutive wave elections in 2009, returned home to run and win as Ag Commissioner. You could argue he’s enlivened the office, persuading the Legislature to put his department in charge of the state’s school-lunch program, where he’s linked schools with local farmers, and expanded his office’s consumer protection activities, such as cutting down on bogus charities and identify thefts. And he’s now ready for his gravitas stage, having turned 40 this summer.
Thaddeus Hamilton (D) This Broward County Democrat has run a low-key campaign (to say the least). He does have extensive experience, having served 36 years with the U.S Dept. of Agriculture and Natural Resources Conservation Services. Why you should care: Agriculture is the second biggest industry in Florida (trailing tourism), contributing an estimated $9 billion to the economy and supporting 75,000 jobs. One of the commissioner’s biggest challenges is finding a solution to citrus greening, the disease responsible for the loss of millions of trees across the state and the smallest citrus harvest in decades this year. The office also works as a consumer advocate for Floridians.