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Democratic candidate packs a house party full

By ALEX LEARY
Published May 30, 2006

	[Times photo: Daniel Wallace]
	Rod Smith, Democratic candidate for governor, speaks to a crowd at Francine Simmons' Tampa home. Ernest Hooper: Citizens work to take their country back

TAMPA - Blown away by a speech Rod Smith gave in December, Francine Simmons decided to throw a house party for the Democratic candidate for governor Monday.

She thought maybe 20 or 30 people would show up. This is Tampa, after all, home of his primary challenger, U.S. Rep. Jim Davis.

Instead, 100 turned out.

Smith, a state senator from Alachua, was showered with applause as he arrived at Simmons' Citrus Park home with his two sons and launched an emphatic attack on the Republican administration. "We can win Florida again for the Democratic Party," Smith shouted.

Behind him, a poster declared "Rod Rocks Tampa Bay." Another read, "Thank you Rod Smith for saving class size."

The Simmons home was packed with supporters who took up any available floor space, munching on hot dogs and red-white-and-blue cupcakes by the pool, in the living room and in the kitchen. Many were trying to get a firsthand look at Smith, who has generated a buzz in recent weeks and has enjoyed a higher profile for leading the charge to defeat Republican attempts to weaken the class size amendment.

"I've been hearing a lot about him and wanted to meet him," said Peggy Land, a prominent Hillsborough Democratic activist who has helped Davis. "Everyone says, 'You have to hear him speak.' ''

When he got into the race, Smith said, he was told the Tampa area was a lost cause. Davis has been in Congress for a decade and served in the state Legislature before that. "I had decided I was going to write off Tampa," Smith said.

"I didn't think he had a chance, because Jim Davis is so well-known," said Fran Magee, a former schoolteacher who lives in Tampa. "But his passion is amazing. He's got what it takes to win a general election."

Playing to that straight-talking image, Smith railed against the Republican-controlled Legislature. He pledged to raise teacher pay.

Davis, who spoke to veterans in Tamarac on Monday, hits many of the same themes on the campaign trail, but his delivery is more muted.

Polls, however, show Davis well ahead of Smith and on par with the GOP candidates, Attorney General Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher. Smith also has the least name recognition.

Like most Floridians, Simmons had not heard of Smith until meeting him and hearing him speak at the Democratic convention in Orlando six months ago. "He touched me," Simmons said. "His future Florida was my future Florida."

[Last modified May 30, 2006, 05:20:49]