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Most of state's sheriffs back Rep. Rice for attorney general

By ALEX LEARY
Published March 22, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - State Rep. Everett Rice's campaign for attorney general got a boost Tuesday with the largest-ever endorsement among Florida's sheriffs.

Rice, who was Pinellas sheriff for 16 years, said he is backed by 50 of Florida's 66 sheriffs and appeared with many of them at a news conference to outline his tough-on-crime proposals. Among them, he pledges to seek the death penalty in cases involving sexual battery of children.

"I believe the imposition of the death penalty for previously designated sexual predators who commit these crimes against children is not cruel and unusual punishment," Rice said, referring to a Florida Supreme Court ruling.

He also vowed to expedite the appeal process for death row inmates on both state and federal levels. "It seems we have forgotten about that which is most important: the victims and their families," Rice said.

But the centerpiece of his event Tuesday was the endorsements, which include the sheriffs in Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, Citrus and Hillsborough counties. The entire list - the most ever for a candidate for statewide office - includes 20 Democrats. (A 67th county, Miami-Dade, has an appointed police director, not a sheriff.)

Manatee Sheriff Charlie Wells recounted how, as a deputy, Rice put himself through law school, went into practice as a lawyer then waged a successful campaign for Pinellas' top law enforcement officer.

Wells credited Rice's lobbying for a law requiring inmates to serve 85 percent of their sentences and, as a legislator, for helping pass the Jessica Lunsford Act.

"I look forward to Everett's election as Florida's attorney general," Wells said. "I don't think any other candidate can come close to matching his qualifications."

Still, Rice is considered a long shot in the race that includes state Rep. Joe Negron of Stuart and former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum on the Republican side and Democratic state Sen. Walter "Skip" Campbell of Fort Lauderdale.

And history has shown support from a bevy of sheriffs does not always translate to success at the polls. Four years ago, many sheriffs lined up behind Locke Burt for attorney general, but the state senator lost to Charlie Crist in the primary.

Crist is running for governor now, and on Tuesday he also picked up sheriffs' endorsements - 28 of them.

"The man you see in the light is the same man you see in the shadows. A man who speaks from his heart and whose word you can trust," said Pasco County Sheriff Bob White.

Also in the Republican gubernatorial race Tuesday, Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, after a luncheon at his home for the Florida Federation of Republican Women, announced a statewide coalition of 70 women leaders backing his campaign, from U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, to local Republican activists such as Robin McKinney, a Tampa lawyer with Gray Robinson Law Firm.

Times staff writers Joni James and Steve Bousquet contributed to this report.

[Last modified March 22, 2006, 01:58:24]