GOP Dominates Florida Cabinet
TALLAHASSEE (AP) - The Florida Cabinet was swept by Republicans in the 2010 Midterm elections.
Former Tampa prosecutor Republican Pam Bondi became Florida's first female attorney general Tuesday, riding a wave of anti-incumbent sentiment that helped the political unknown to a comfortable victory over Democrat state Sen. Dan Gelber.
Bondi campaigned on national issues including a promise to challenge President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. With 85 percent of the expected vote counted Tuesday, Bondi had 56 percent, while Gelber had 40 percent.
Bondi told supporters in Tampa after speaking by telephone with Gelber that she will be a "vigilant watchdog on behalf of Florida's consumers and taxpayers" and will continue to push the lawsuit filed by Florida and other states challenging the constitutionality of President Barack Obama's new health care law.
"I pledge to make our families safer and our neighborhoods more secure," she said in a statement.
The 44-year-old Bondi supports Arizona-style immigration law for Florida, saying the federal government's failure to effectively address the issue has left states to fend for themselves. She says she will continue the state's lawsuit against the health care bill, which was filed by the Republican incumbent Bill McCollum. He chose not to seek a second term to run for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, but lost.
She says the bill is unconstitutional and will devastate the economy, create a shortage of doctors and a loss of jobs.
Gelber congratulated Bondi and encouraged her to move the state in a new direction.
"We need to clean up Tallahassee and stop the partisan political games that have distracted many candidates and elected officials from the true task at hand -- protecting Floridians and moving our state forward," he said in a statement.
Rising GOP star Adam Putnam was elected as the state's agriculture commissioner Tuesday, easily beating Democrat Scott Maddox.
Putnam, who was a congressman, will head the powerful agriculture and consumer services department, one of three Cabinet-level positions in state government. The job involves overseeing food safety, helping farmers produce and promote their crops, managing public lands, reducing wildfires and regulating consumer services. The Republican incumbent, Charles Bronson, couldn't run for re-election because of term limits.
"It's just a huge honor to have been selected in a state as large and diverse as Florida," Putnam said.
About 500 people attended Putnam's victory party in his hometown of Bartow, located in Central Florida.
Although neither Putnam, 36, nor Maddox, 42, were household names statewide, Putnam was widely known along central Florida's I-4 corridor. He raised $4.1 million dollars, even hiring a campaign bus and blanketing rural areas with large signs.
Putnam is a fifth-generation Florida citrus and cattle farmer.
He was elected to the Florida House of Representatives when he was 22 and eventually became chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. When he was 27, he was elected to Congress.
Republican Jeff Atwater, the president of the Florida Senate, defeated Democrat Loranne Ausley on Tuesday to become the state's next chief financial officer.
Atwater will replace Democrat Alex Sink, who is running for governor. The chief finical officer is considered Florida's second most influential office. The North Palm Beach Banker will take charge of 2,000-employee agency that has a $200 million annual budget.
"I will work every day to make Florida's government more transparent so that taxpayers can see how every dollar of their money is spent," Atwater said in a statement. "I will work with small business owners and entrepreneurs to make Florida a place where they can succeed and create jobs. And, I will work to end fraud that costs consumers and taxpayers."
Ausley congratulated Atwater.
"Our state faces many challenges and I know that he will work hard as part of a new Cabinet to address these challenges head on," she said in a statement released after she called Atwater and conceded defeat.
With 72 percent of the expected vote counted, Atwater led Ausley 59 percent to 38 percent. Two independent candidates split the rest of the vote.
Ausley, a Tallahassee attorney, had attacked Atwater for his involvement in a new Tallahassee appellate court building, which has been criticized for being too luxurious. Funding was tucked into a transportation spending bill by others at the last minute. Atwater voted for the bill but there is no indication he had anything to do with the courthouse being included.
The CFO oversees the state's treasury, insurance department, fire marshal's office and department of banking and finance. The CFO is part of the Cabinet and with the governor, attorney general and agriculture commissioner has a vote on pardons and serves on the board of several state agencies.
