John Carassas, a former assistant Clearwater city attorney, was re-elected easily to the Florida House of Representatives in November. But then opportunity knocked. Attorney General Charlie Crist asked him to become a deputy general, and Carassas accepted. The result is a special election in District 54 to replace him.
The election will be held the same day, Oct. 7, as the California recall is currently scheduled, but its profile is considerably lower. Maybe that's just as well. The terminator in this race, former Sen. Don Sullivan, faces an opponent who doesn't really warrant much of the voters' attention.
Sullivan, 67, is a retired orthopedic surgeon who served 10 years in the state Senate before being squeezed out by term limits. He became a progressive and effective voice for improving public education and can be duly credited with many achievements, including the expansion of the University of South Florida campus in St. Petersburg and the conversion of St. Petersburg Junior College to a four-year program. As a candidate, he offers an insightful education agenda. He understands the need to improve access to higher education, to give public schools the tools they need to reach struggling students, and to recognize the state's financial obligations for a system he says is "severely underfunded."
Sullivan, a Republican, brings a commanding list of professional, civic and political credentials to the job, and his stature in the Capitol is so widely regarded, or feared, that political insiders are already wondering whether he could some day become House speaker. Speaker or not, he would bring to the House a large measure of the pragmatic and mature leadership that is currently in such short supply there.
Sullivan's opponent is an obscure Democrat, Dan Coleman, whose only other political foray was finishing fourth of four candidates in a Belleair Town Commission election seven years ago. Coleman shows some grasp of the issues facing the Legislature, but offers virtually no civic resume and an unsettling explanation for a bankruptcy filing 16 years ago (to evade a court judgment).
Sullivan already has made his presence felt in Tallahassee, and voters in District 54 would be wise to give him another chance. We strongly recommend him.
