State Attorney General: Crist's win ensures all-GOP Cabinet

Charlie Crist becomes the first Republican elected as Florida's attorney general.

By ALISA ULFERTS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published November 6, 2002

St. Petersburg native Charlie Crist on Tuesday became the first Republican elected attorney general of Florida, handily defeating Democrat Buddy Dyer.

Speaking from his election party at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg, Crist congratulated Dyer for running a "spirited campaign" and vowed to "put the politics behind us and serve the people of Florida."

[Times photo: lara Cerri] Charlie Crist is greeted by his mother, Nancy Crist, at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort as he prepares to claim victory in the attorney general race.

"He (Dyer) was a gentleman and he called me to congratulate me and I appreciate that," Crist said. "I am tremendously humbled and grateful."

Crist's election means that he will be a part of the first all-Republican governor and Cabinet, which will include Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher and Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson.

Tuesday's election capped what had become an increasingly bitter campaign. Crist and Dyer questioned one another's ethics and competence in recent TV commercials.

One ad by the Dyer campaign, for example, ended with a punch: "Charlie Crist: unqualified, unethical, incompetent. Are these really the qualities we want in our next attorney general?"

Dyer could not be reached late Tuesday night.

Pollsters predicted that Crist would have to go on the attack to counter the damage from Dyer's ads.

And attack Crist did. He fired back with a commercial accusing Dyer of excluding mammograms from HMO coverage, making it easier for criminals to sue from prison and, while a state senator, helping out a client of his law firm with a bill.

Dyer called the accusations a lie and asked television stations to stop running them, hinting that he might sue.

"Charlie Crist has now decided the only way he can win is to lie about my record," Dyer said at the time.

Dyer surprised some political watchers with his staying power throughout the campaign. It was his first statewide effort, compared to the third for Crist.

About a week before the election, polls showed the race too close to call, with a significant bloc of voters still undecided.

So Crist and Dyer spent the last week, including Tuesday, looking for votes.

Crist spent the day waving signs in his hometown of St. Petersburg, while Dyer visited precincts in his hometown of Orlando.

Crist, the state education commissioner, and Dyer, a state senator, 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.

Crist will take office in January.

In the interim, Gov. Jeb Bush on Tuesday appointed Richard E. Doran to fill in as attorney general.

Doran, currently deputy attorney general, is filling the vacancy created by former Attorney General Bob Butterworth, who left his post Monday and lost his bid for a state Senate seat on Tuesday.

Doran, 45, has been with the attorney general's office for nearly 20 years, first as an assistant attorney general in Miami and working his way up to deputy attorney general.

He also spent two years as the general counsel for the then-Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, now the Department of Children and Families.

He, his wife and two children live in Leon County.

-- Times researcher Deirdre Morrow contributed to this report, which includes information from the Associated Press.

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