The Buzz: Florida politics

Might Gallagher supporter become his running mate?

By Times staff writers
Published June 12, 2005

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Gallagher will pick up an important endorsement Monday when Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen joins him to announce her support.

Ros-Lehtinen will be returning a favor.

Gallagher has helped Ros-Lehtinen in past elections and they served together in the Florida House in the 1980s. She was the first Cuban-American elected to Congress in 1989, filling the seat left vacant by the death of Democratic Rep. Claude Pepper, one of Florida's best known public figures.

Ros-Lehtinen, who married former U.S. Attorney Dexter Lehtinen while both were in the Legislature, could be a big help winning votes in South Florida's Hispanic community.

Would she also make a good running mate?

Gallagher, the state's chief finance officer, and Attorney General Charlie Crist are the key Republicans hoping to replace Gov. Jeb Bush in 2006. Democrats seeking the job include Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa; state Sen. Rod Smith, D-Alachua; and former Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox.

None have yet selected running mates but several have expressed interest in finding a Hispanic.

A STORMY ISSUE: The pocketbook issue of hurricane property insurance is alive and well for the 2006 gubernatorial race, thanks to Maddox.

In a 12-minute conference call with reporters on Friday, the onetime Tallahassee mayor and immediate past chairman of the Florida Democratic Party trumpeted his role suing Citizens Insurance over claims from last year's four hurricanes.

Then he moved on to attack one of his Democratic opponents, state Sen. Rod Smith of Alachua, and Republican gubernatorial candidates Tom Gallagher and Charlie Crist for a law passed this year that will make it harder for future victims of hurricane damage to win full claims from both their homeowners and flooding insurance policies.

Companies argued premium costs would jump even more without the law.

"If I'd been governor, I would have vetoed that," Maddox said.

NO SUDDEN MOVES: Gov. Jeb Bush wanted his A+

The small group, all teachers at Wesson Elementary in Tallahassee, shocked the room when it let out whoops of joy when the governor announced the school had received a B. Two years earlier, it got an F.

"I guess it was a surprise," the governor said, laughing, then noting his security detail from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. "You see FDLE flinch?"

DIPLOMATIC NAMEDROPPER: Mel Sembler will leave his mark on the U.S. Embassy in Rome after he leaves.

The embassy annex has been named the Mel Sembler Building, complete with a tasteful plaque affixed to the outside.

The honor, reportedly the first time an overseas U.S. government building was named for a sitting ambassador, was the result of an act of Congress.

Sembler, a St. Petersburg developer behind BayWalk and Centro Ybor, is expected to return home soon after more than three years as U.S. ambassador to Italy.

Times staff writers Joni James and Lucy Morgan contributed to this report.

[Last modified June 12, 2005, 06:10:32]