The state House race was characterized by negative ads financed by special interests.
By JOSH ZIMMER
Published September 2, 2004
TAMPA - State Rep. Kevin Ambler slipped by again.
Concluding perhaps one of the nastiest campaigns in the state, the first-term incumbent fended off Christian conservative Bill Bunkley by a mere 131 votes in the race to represent northwest Hillsborough County. Because of tallying delays by the county Supervisor of Elections office, they were the last Hillsborough candidates to learn the results.
Ambler, 43, said he didn't get the final numbers until 5:30 a.m. He won by 4,672 votes to 4,541. "This was a very difficult campaign," he said, and he seemed to be struggling to understand why he didn't connect better with voters.
The win mirrored his razor-thin victory over Jill Collins in the 2002 Republican primary. In a three-person primary, he defeated Collins by 83 votes before defeating Democrat Michael Steinberg in the general election.
Bunkley, a self-employed real estate agent and longtime lobbyist for the Florida Baptist Convention, said he was the victim of unfair personal attacks.
"It was a complete smear campaign," he said.
He vowed not to campaign for Ambler, a successful trial attorney who now faces Libertarian and software consulting company executive Kim Snow, 30.
The District 47 race drew tremendous statewide attention. Lobbying groups got involved, as did the Florida Republican Party. Incoming House Speaker Alan Bense, R-Panama City, personally campaigned for all eight of the incumbent Republican House members facing primary challenges. He showed up for a fundraiser Ambler held last month in Lutz.
Of the eight with primary races, Ambler faired the worst. All the rest finished with 60 percent of the vote or better.
Bought with special interest money, negative ads flooded voters' mailboxes, radios and televisions. Many came from well-heeled political action committees.
Floridians for Integrity in Government, a group linked to the Florida Home Builders Association, targeted Bunkley. One mailer claimed he didn't pay his taxes, although records show he finished paying off a $26,000 lien, not including interest, last year.
People for a Better Florida, an independent group focused on malpractice issues, sent out a flurry of attack ads depicting Ambler as a tool for special interests. They also painted him as a greedy trial lawyer who dared challenge aspects of an early version of a malpractice bill. Ambler eventually voted for caps on damages.
Bunkley's campaign strategy was based in part on an attempt to tear at Ambler's credentials as a conservative.
In the last days of the race, Bunkley believes Ambler benefited from a letter the Republican Party wrote that accused him of misrepresenting Ambler's record on malpractice legislation. Vice chairman Allison DeFoor asked Bunkley to pull his ads on the subject.
Ambler mailed copies of the letter to thousands of households in the district, giving Bunkley little time to respond. Bunkley claims the ad helped put Ambler over the top.
"I should be the poster child for what can happen," he said.
