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Newcomers try to halt a political comeback
By DAVID KARP, Times Staff Writer On a steamy August afternoon, Faye Culp walks down a quiet row of houses in Bayshore Beautiful. Her tennis shoes are black and worn. Her shirt, recycled from her 1996 campaign, has faded. She spends many days like this, knocking on doors in 90-degree heat. She does it for one reason: She wants to reclaim the job she gave up four years ago. Culp, who left a state House seat in 1998 to run for higher office, wants to return to Tallahassee. Name recognition is no problem. "I know who you are," one voter, an elderly woman on Fair Oaks Avenue, tells her. Yet Culp doesn't face an easy ride. Many voters remember her hard work. But others recall her negative campaigns and eccentric style. In a sense, Tuesday's primary has become a referendum on Culp. At stake is District 57, a sprawling state House district that covers South Tampa, Upper Tampa Bay and Westchase. Two Republican challengers, Marcos Lorenzo and Jim Johnson, offer alternatives. Lorenzo, a doctor and lobbyist for Tampa General Hospital, has mounted the most serious challenge. At 56, he is endorsed by the St. Petersburg Times and Tampa Tribune. He has raised $61,000, to her $15,000. Like Culp, Lorenzo spends evenings walking neighborhoods. "I feel comfortable knocking on doors and talking to people," he says. "I feel just as comfortable if they are a doctor or a fruit picker. I like that one-on-one thing." It's a skill that helped Lorenzo in Tallahassee, where he has lobbied for health care funding for Tampa General Hospital. During sessions, Lorenzo spends his days navigating Capitol halls and his evenings sharing tables at Clyde's & Costello's, the Capital bar. "I'm a very high-energy guy," Lorenzo says. He was born in Cuba. His parents sent him to live with a relative in Tampa when he was a teenager. Fidel Castro had just taken power, and Lorenzo's parents didn't want their son to live in a totalitarian state. When the parents finally immigrated to Florida, Lorenzo's father worked three jobs to keep the family off welfare. Lorenzo graduated from Jefferson High School and Stetson University and then earned a medical degree from the University of Sevilla. After treating patients in a family practice for 11 years, he went to work for Tampa General Hospital, rising to vice president and lobbying for more public money to treat poor patients. If elected, his top priority would be ensuring that all patients have access to health care and medical insurance, Lorenzo said. He also wants to work on bills that expand Florida's economic base and promote business growth. He takes one shot at Culp, who ran for education commissioner in 1998 and state senator in 2000, losing both times. "My opponent, she is always running for something," Lorenzo said. "When she was beginning to pick up steam and strength in the Legislature, she gave it up to run for something bigger. What tells me she won't do the same thing again? This is not a stepping stone for me." Culp, 62, doesn't shy away from her experience in politics. Having served four years in the Legislature (1994-98) and four years on the Hillsborough School Board (1988-1992), she promotes her work inside and outside Tallahassee. "I am a politician, yes," she said. "But I am not a career politician." She taught school. She sold real estate. She worked for IBM. "I am well qualified to serve in many positions," she said. People remember her from the PTA at Plant High School. "Before I got in office, I was always fighting for some cause," she said. In Tallahassee, she supported legislation to make classrooms safer and backed a bill to reserve Lottery money for education. She also earned a reputation for her off-beat style and negative campaigning. In 1994, Culp unseated Democrat Ron Glickman in one of the nastiest local races of the 1990s. In one flier, Culp called Glickman "A liberal lawyer who lies." This time, Culp says she plans a positive campaign. She doesn't mention her opponents in campaign literature. Jim Johnson, the third Republican running, has less campaign money and name recognition than either Culp or Lorenzo. He has raised about $7,000. But Johnson, 30, says you shouldn't discount his candidacy. The incumbent leaving the seat, Chris Hart IV, won the position at age 30. (Hart decided not to seek re-election so he could spend more time with his family.) Like Johnson, Hart was a young aide to a state legislator when he ran for office. Johnson has worked for three state legislators, including as an aide to Culp. He lists his current occupation as political consultant. At the University of South Florida, Johnson majored in political science. He dabbled so much in local politics, it took him eight years to earn a bachelor's degree. He was also student body president at USF. He acknowledges youthful mistakes, including a suspended driver's license in 1996. He had failed -- deliberately, he says -- to pay a speeding ticket. When Hart announced that he wouldn't seek re-election, Johnson jumped into the race. He resigned his state job and moved to a Hyde Park apartment. Johnson touts his youth, his new ideas and understanding of the Legislature. His ideas including cutting school bureaucracy, and merging departments to cut waste. He suggests eliminating the Department of Children & Families. "Sometimes the way to do things in the past is not the best way to do things in the future," Johnson says. The winner of Tuesday's Republican primary faces a Libertarian candidate and Democrat Scott Farrell, a lawyer, in the Nov. 5 election.
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From the Times Marlene Sokol |
