U.S. Rep. Mike Bilirakis represents a district that begins in Pinellas County near his hometown of Tarpon Springs, picks up west Pasco County and slides across the northern edge of Hillsborough County before dipping down through Plant City and Brandon to include the fast growing community of FishHawk Ranch. Bilirakis, 73 and a Republican, has been in office since 1982, and some had expected him to retire this year to clear the path for his son, state Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor. Instead, the younger Bilirakis has announced plans to seek the seat in 2006. So this year could be the last election for the father.
There's a lot of talk about the congressional district in Tallahassee these days. Some political observers predict House Speaker Johnnie Byrd may jump into the race after the legislative session is over April 30. Byrd insists it won't happen, saying he is in the race for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Bob Graham. But Byrd has been known to change his mind, and the polls indicate he is not gaining much traction with voters around the state.
He would not be the first speaker to think he is known and loved by the state's voters. Just ask former Speaker Ralph Haben, who ran and lost a statewide race for comptroller in 1982.
It was Byrd who engineered the new congressional district during the 2002 legislative session when he was chairman of redistricting in the House. Until the very last minute, the district did not include Byrd's house in Plant City.
That's when Byrd appeared at the back of the Senate chamber and asked then Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Palm Harbor, to make a last minute change in the map. Latvala, chairman of congressional redistricting in the Senate, said he would make the change only if the younger Bilirakis approved of it. A short time later Byrd appeared with Gus Bilirakis in tow, and the deal was struck with Bilirakis looking at the floor as he said yes.
And so the lines were drawn to include the area south of Brandon and Byrd's home near Plant City.
When candidates qualified for federal races a few weeks later, two people waited in the state elections office carefully watching to see if the elder Bilirakis was going to retire and leave a last-minute vacancy to his son.
The two watchers were Latvala, who has considered running if Bilirakis retires, and Byrd, who had expressed interest in the seat in the past. Bilirakis remained on the ballot.
Latvala, now a political consultant, says Bilirakis cannot be defeated in the district, but some think the congressman's less-experienced son would be an easier target.
Would Byrd take on the elder Bilirakis?
That's the $64,000 question. From a legal standpoint, Byrd could transfer the money he has raised in the Senate race to a congressional race.
Byrd would not be the first lawmaker to design a congressional district and then run for it.
But he might want to consult former Sen. Curt Kiser of Palm Harbor and former Rep. George Sheldon of Tampa. Back in 1982, they helped craft a new congressional district based in North Pinellas, West Pasco and northwest Hillsborough. Both ran for the seat.
That's when a little-known lawyer named Mike Bilirakis cleaned their clocks.
Since then no one has come close to defeating Bilirakis.
State legislators took this week off, but is it legal?
The Florida Constitution says the Legislature cannot adjourn its 60-day session for more than 72 consecutive hours without passing a concurrent resolution. The House and Senate passed no resolution when they left town last week, merely recessing for 10 days for Passover and the Easter holidays.
Former House Dean Carl Ogden says lawmakers could be forced to call themselves back into special session and re-file all of the bills that are pending or face having anything they do declared invalid by a court.
