The attorney general's office, being sought by two experienced yet understated candidates, is the second most powerful job in Florida.
By ALISA ULFERTS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 31, 2002
Republican Charlie Crist and Democrat Buddy Dyer have waged a low-key battle to become Florida's attorney general, considered the second most powerful post in state government.
Both seek to become the people's lawyer, the one who sues when consumers deserve refunds, and who handles the state's criminal appeals. Both promise to follow in the footsteps of Attorney General Bob Butterworth, who leaves behind 16 years of consumer activism when he steps down because of term limits.
The candidates have spent the past two months crisscrossing the state, speaking at barbecues, unity rallies and churches. Both have filled the airwaves with television commercials promising to be tough on criminals and kind to consumers.
Crist particularly has reminded voters of his tough-on-crime record. While a senator, Crist sponsored legislation requiring criminals to serve 85 percent of their sentences, and he reminds people he earned the nickname "Chain Gang Charlie" for making some criminals work in chain gangs.
Except for a commercial that talks about how his mother was robbed, Dyer has focused more on corporate crime, promising voters that he will seek tougher penalties for people who cheat Florida investors.
Crist and Dyer spent six years in the Senate together, from 1992 through 1998. Dyer served another four years after Crist left to make an unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate. Neither candidate is likely to be as activist as Butterworth, whose lawsuits against misbehaving companies have earned him the reputation as one of the most feared attorneys general.
Crist and Dyer are much closer to the center on business and consumer issues than one might think given their political affiliations. Dyer is a self-described moderate and admits that South Florida Democrats might place him to the right of center. He has received Butterworth's endorsement, although he was consistently ranked higher than Crist by big business lobbying groups that release legislative report cards every year.
"Coming from Orlando, I've always been considered a moderate to conservative," Dyer said.
Like Crist, Dyer has been praised by environmental leaders for his work in conservation but also has supported bills environmentalists have criticized, such as one that required local governments to pay property owners when a zoning decision affected the value of the land.
"My voting record shows I consider the issues. There were some years when I was ranked high by the business groups and also by labor," Dyer said.
Crist has painted himself as a conservative who wants to chisel away at the size of government and let business handle more traditional government services.
"I favor more private sector involvement, rather than government," said Crist, the state's education commissioner.
But he has voted for a number of bills in which the state would have become involved in business, mostly in the arena of health care insurance. He and Dyer have supported legislation that would have allowed people to sue their HMOs in some circumstances.
The attorney general is Florida's chief legal officer and serves on the Florida Cabinet. The attorney general represents the state in most appeals arising from criminal convictions in state courts, opposes major challenges to Florida laws and issues formal legal opinions on state law. The office also enforces antitrust and consumer protection laws. The attorney general serves a four-year term and is paid $119,414 per year.
CHARLIE CRIST, 46, is a lawyer and former state senator from St. Petersburg. He received an undergraduate degree from Florida State University and graduated from the Cumberland School of Law. Crist ran unsuccessfully for the state Senate in 1986 but was elected in 1992 and 1994. After an unsuccessful 1998 run for U.S. Senate, Crist was appointed deputy secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, a job he resigned to run for education commissioner. He attended school in St. Petersburg and graduated from St. Petersburg High School. He is single. ASSETS: investments LIABILITIES: none SOURCE OF INCOME: state salary WEB SITE: www.charliecrist.com
BUDDY DYER, 43, is a state senator who was born in his current Orlando district and raised in Kissimmee, the son of a long-haul truck driver. Following graduation from Osceola High School, Dyer earned an engineering degree from Brown University in Providence, R.I. Dyer then worked as an environmental engineer before attending law school at the University of Florida. First elected to the Senate in 1992, Dyer has served as the state Senate Democratic Leader for the past three years. Dyer is a shareholder with the Orlando firm of Winderweedle, Haines, Ward and Woodman. He is married and has two sons. ASSETS: house, cars, boat, bank account LIABILITIES: mortgage SOURCE OF INCOME: law office, state senator's salary WEB SITE: www.buddydyer.com