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Next governor likely at talk, but who is it?

Four contenders gather at an Orlando forum and give voters a preview of how the race may shape up.

By ADAM C. SMITH
Published January 21, 2006

[AP photo]

Before addressing the Florida Association of Realtors on Friday in Orlando, the four major contenders to replace Gov. Jeb Bush -- from left, Charlie Crist, Jim Davis, Tom Gallagher and Rod Smith -- are all smiles. During the talk, however, the candidates disagreed on several points.

ORLANDO - A spirited political forum Friday provided a rare opportunity early in the governor's race for the candidates to show off their styles and messages before a bipartisan crowd.

The four major contenders vying to succeed Gov. Jeb Bush gathered for the first time to debate taxes, insurance and education.

They presented four distinct personalties:

Charlie Crist, the pleasant populist, who invokes Ronald Reagan and Connie Mack and wants to stand up for Florida consumers;

Jim Davis, the detail-oriented and startlingly combative congressman fed up with "those politicians in Tallahassee;"

Rod Smith, the plain-spoken former prosecutor who can get people roaring over homespun jokes or political points;

And Tom Gallagher, the sharply partisan governmental veteran whose thorough knowledge of policy helps compensate for his often dry speaking style.

Smith, a Democratic state senator and the former prosecutor from Alachua, would have won a ticket to the governor's mansion if those attending the Florida Association of Realtors event could decide the outcome of the race.

At least, that was the overwhelming consensus from Realtors interviewed after the forum.

"I am a Republican, but I will switch parties so I can vote for him," declared Cindy Satur of Port St. Lucie. "He offered solutions and wasn't just, blah, blah blah. Tom and Charlie I thought came off like typical politicians," she continued, while Davis seemed "a little too confrontational."

Smith remains the biggest underdog based on early polls and money raised, though the races look unpredictable for both party nominations. Both the Republican and Democratic primary elections are in September with the general election in November.

Friday's forum highlighted familiar questions underlying Florida's statewide elections: Is Florida making strides on quality-of-life issues or are state leaders failing to meet the needs of everyday Floridians? Have billions of dollars in tax cuts moved Florida ahead or pushed more costs onto local government while shortchanging schools, roads and services?

"There is no way - absolutely no way we are going to go back to the days of bigger government, higher taxes and failing schools," Gallagher said. The Republican chief financial officer promised to continue fighting for tax cuts and lawsuit restrictions.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Davis of Tampa panned as "a gimmick" a Republican state House proposal to enact a sales tax holiday that would cost about $500-million and eliminate state sales taxes on purchases up to $5,000.

"I believe it's time to start investing in our people and our state. I think we should take those hard-earned tax dollars and invest them in schools and roads and infrastructure," Davis said.

When all the candidates complained about state lawmakers pulling money out of a fund earmarked for affordable housing, Davis noted that Crist, the Republican attorney general, and Gallagher are statewide leaders who never complained when it occurred. Davis also noted that as Cabinet members Gallagher and Crist oversee the struggling Citizens Insurance Corp., the state insurance pool for a property owners who can't get insurance elsewhere.

"They've had some responsibility," Davis said. "It looks to me like we've been fleeced as taxpayers. Folks are not minding the store in Tallahassee."

Crist also jumped on problems at Citizens, which was created by Gallagher, the former insurance commissioner.

"It's very important that we reach out to these insurance companies and say, "Look, you have earned an awful lot of money on the backs of Floridians. That's got to stop. You've got to be able to compete better, compete harder, offer rates that are reasonable and you better start paying these people,"' Crist said.

"I've seen so many blue tarps in this state it is unbelievable, and those aren't from hurricanes that happened this year, those are from hurricanes that happened last year," Crist said, calling himself "the consumer guy" in the race.

Gallagher responded that he has been a strong critic of Citizens and that no one has fought harder to get Floridians' claims paid.

"Nobody ever expected to have $32-billion worth of losses in 15 months," Gallagher said. "Now the best thing we can do to take care of the insurance rates and the availability is to stop having hurricanes."

The candidates broke down on predictable partisan lines on the issue of school vouchers, with the Democrats opposed to vouchers and the Republicans enthusiastically embracing the governor's education record.

But Smith appeared to strike a chord with the crowd when he talked about inadequate funding and an excessive reliance on testing at Florida schools.

"If you want to fix the schools, pay the teachers better, recruit the best and the brightest back into the classroom, give them the authority to run the classes, educate them so we're doing something besides becoming just an FCAT test center," he said.

Adam C. Smith can be reached at 727 893-8241 or adam@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 21, 2006, 01:34:14]