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Bense's humble leadership makes him anything but 'nobody'

By STEVE BOUSQUET
Published May 12, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - As the 2006 legislative session ended with hugs and high fives early last Saturday, House Speaker Allan Bense said he would be leaving as a "nobody" and a "has-been."

He was wrong on both counts.

In the House, where speakers rise to power and then vanish like comets, Bense will be remembered for a style of leadership that commanded respect and restored dignity.

Democrats and Republicans alike found him open and evenhanded. He literally played by the rules, refusing to use legislative procedures for partisan advantage. In so doing, the fifth Republican speaker of the modern era set a standard for his successors.

Bense's brief flirtation with a U.S. Senate candidacy will soon be forgotten. But because he resisted the overtures of Gov. Jeb Bush and fellow Republicans to run against Katherine Harris, his stature has grown larger in the eyes of politicians in both parties.

"The memories of Allan will be that he was perhaps the greatest speaker in modern times," said Rep. Jack Seiler, D-Wilton Manors. "It's a credit to public service when a guy does something like he did and not attempt to parlay that into something bigger."

Despite Bense's stated intentions to leave politics and reconnect with his family, they may not last. He's at or near the top of any list of potential lieutenant governor running mates for Charlie Crist or Tom Gallagher.

Bense, 54, a wealthy contractor from Panama City with a rags-to-riches life story, was elected to the House in 1998 and quickly mounted a campaign to be speaker in the final two years of his tenure. It took four years, a half million dollars and, by his estimate, more than 300,000 miles - but he did it.

His steady, sometimes apolitical approach was a dramatic departure from that of his predecessor.

He followed Johnnie Byrd of Plant City, who opened his term by publicly attacking his Senate counterpart, Jim King, and ended it by using the speaker's position to leverage campaign contributions for an unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign.

Bense governed with an air of humility, refusing to take a coveted space in the parking garage next to the elevator that is one of the perks of his position. He ate lunch with rank-and-file lawmakers in the lounge behind the chamber.

He and Senate President Tom Lee, R-Valrico, got along well and avoided the clumsy horse trading that was a staple of past sessions.

"The gamesmanship was not present," said Rep. Marco Rubio of Miami, who will succeed Bense in November. "The high level of trust made it a lot easier to do the work."

To underscore Bense's evenhanded style of rule, his top priority in the 2006 session barely survived a tough committee vote - an incredible possibility in a House with 85 Republicans and 35 Democrats.

By 7-5, the House Judiciary Committee voted to repeal a legal doctrine known as joint and several liability, which businesses say causes deep-pocket defendants to pay more than their share of fault.

Bense could have stacked the deck and loaded the committee with sycophants. He didn't. "I like a good fight," he said.

Two Republicans on the committee voted no. A shift of only one vote would have defeated the bill.

One of Bense's final acts as speaker was to call for a vote on a bill that was important to Rep. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, the minority leader, to award $6-million to a girl who is paralyzed as a result of medical mistakes.

In the session's last moments, Bense introduced his staffers one by one, thanking them for their work. He paused to remember his former aide, David Coley, who won election to the House in 2004 and died of cancer a few months later.

Turning to Coley's widow, Marti, who won her late husband's seat, Bense said: "He would be proud of you. No, he is proud of you. He's watching you right now."

Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com or 850 224-7263.

[Last modified May 12, 2006, 21:43:02]