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Far Left and Far Right? Meet far out. They're not big names, but they have big ideas. And they're running for governor.
By WES ALLISON, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 13, 2002
Ray Rollinson boasts enviable credentials for a candidate for office -- war veteran, experienced Democratic campaigner, a detailed platform.
Plus a catchy nickname: Buttercup.
But the 80-year-old Port St. Joe retiree is having trouble getting anyone to pay attention to his campaign for governor.
He's not alone.
The most colorful candidates for governor of the nation's fourth-largest state aren't named Bush, Reno or McBride. They have names you've probably never heard and issues you'd never imagine.
A few are running as Democrats or Republicans, but most represent smaller parties, or no party at all. While big-name candidates can be insipid, pandering and perpetually concerned about image, these candidates are unvarnished and unapologetic.
Most don't have an image to worry about.
They are people like John Wayne Smith, a Libertarian laborer from Leesburg, who visited a St. Petersburg public school recently. He wasn't campaigning but installing a new awning over a walkway.
Then there's Nancy J. Grant, 50, of Arcadia, who founded the Christian Party and is running for governor under its banner after losing a state House race in 2000.
She was the first person to register to run for governor, back in January 2001, and laments that the news media failed to note it. Her party's by-laws are the Ten Commandments. "I'm one of those fighting Christians," Grant said. "I'm fighting for truth and justice and the American way -- what it used to be like, when we had rights."
A change in state law two years ago made it easier for third parties to get on the ballot. That has contributed to a boomlet of alternative candidates, who account for 11 of the 16 candidates for governor, although the number who actually make it on the ballot won't be determined until late next month.
Tonight they have a rare chance to air their views at a University of South Florida St. Petersburg forum. The Democratic front-runner, Janet Reno, can't make it. Neither can Republican Gov. Jeb Bush. Of the four mainstream candidates, only state Sen. Daryl Jones, D-Miami, is scheduled to attend.
That should leave plenty of time for the seven or so alternative candidates who plan to be there.
Sometimes, minor party candidates play major roles: Ralph Nader of the Green Party got more than 90,000 votes in Florida in November 2000, and many Democrats blame him for spoiling Al Gore's bid.
Many Republicans blame Texas businessman Ross Perot for siphoning enough votes from President George H.W. Bush to elect Bill Clinton in 1992.
But most times, wildcat candidates have as much impact on an election as a bucket dipped into the ocean has on the sea level. And they hate that.
"Their perception is the only reason they're minor is because they can't get the media to cover them, that if only the media would cover them, their ideas would catch fire, and the public would support their campaign," said Darryl Paulson, the USF political scientist who organized tonight's forum.
Here's a sampling of the ideas advanced by the current crop of alternative gubernatorial candidates:
The Christian Party's Grant: "To shut down state agencies, that's why I'm running for governor, if you want to put it in a nutshell."
The unaffiliated Mike Calhoun, 75, of Blountstown: "To enforce the Constitution of the state of Florida, which prohibits lawyers from holding public office outside of the courthouse. That's the basic argument. From there it goes in all different directions, to and including the Sunshine Law, which is more or less managed by the First Amendment Foundation, and guess who serves on the board? You, the media. So we have a problem there."
Democrat Rollinson: Send an $800 check to every Florida voter every year and double the homestead exemption to $50,000 and cancel government-issued credit cards. "These credit cards have been causing most of our national debt of $7-trillion," he said.
Republican Andy Martin, 55, of Palm Beach, who is making his second run for governor: "I consider myself to represent the reform wing of the Republican Party, the anti-corruption, progressive wing of the Republican Party. I'm the anti-Bush."
The Independence Party's Seth M. Rosen of West Palm Beach: He's not talking much until tonight's forum, at least not to reporters. "I'm going to be making some monumental comments regarding the electoral process," he explained.
These candidates typically have no campaign staff or literature and often can't even offer a photo of themselves. While major candidates raise millions of dollars, most of the alternatives will be lucky to raise anything.
Democrat Bob Kunst, a longtime Miami Beach gay rights advocate who addressed delegates during the April Democratic convention in Orlando, has raised just over $5,000. He has essentially one issue: Jeb Bush helped Republicans steal the 2000 presidential election.
"Buttercup" Rollinson lent his campaign $1,600. Calhoun has $1,250, all but $500 of it his own money. The one contribution he got was from a buddy of his, and he's asking people not to give him any more. Grant gave her campaign $690.
Grant, who has four grown children, said she jumped into politics when an elderly neighbor was taken into state custody, put into a nursing home and died there three months later.
"I said that's it, I've had it, I'm going after the state to shut down state agencies," she said. "The elected officials do nothing to protect citizens."
Getting on the Nov. 5 ballot requires 87,527 signatures -- 1 percent of the state's registered voters -- or $7,210 for partisans, $4,800 for nonpartisans.
Several, including Martin, said they plan to raise the money. Others aren't so sure. Smith, 56, the Libertarian from Leesburg, has run for office seven times in 34 years, and he figures this election is his last. "I'm tired of beating the bushes," he said, no pun intended. "Beating the bushes for freedom."
And while he would be thrilled to move into the Governor's Mansion, victory also would have its price, given that he's a strict less-government, more-freedom Libertarian.
"The worst thing in the world would be trying to tell other people what to do," Smith said. "I would really have a hard time."
The USF program begins at 6 p.m. with an hourlong, meet-the-candidates mixer and a demonstration of new voting machines. The forum starts at 7 p.m. Each candidate will give a two-minute statement. Questions from the League of Women Voters will follow.
Nancy Grant -- a "fighting Christian" who wants to shut down state agencie
Bob Kunst -- His issue: Jeb Bush helped Republicans steal the 2000 presidential election.
Andy Martin -- the Republican "anti-Bush"
Ray "Buttercup" Rollinson -- wants every Florida voter to get an $800 check annually
Seth Rosen -- says he will make "monumental comments regarding the electoral process" at tonight's forum
John Wayne Smith -- "The worst thing in the world would be trying to tell other people what to do."