Bush becomes first GOP governor in Florida to earn re-election

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Tuesday, November 5, 2002

Last modified at 10:50 p.m. on Tuesday, November 5, 2002

MIAMI (AP) -- Republican Jeb Bush won a second term as Florida's governor Tuesday, overcoming a strong challenge by Democrat Bill McBride and a concerted effort by his party to humble the president's brother.

With 90 percent of precincts reporting, Bush had 2,560,969 votes, or 57 percent, while McBride had 1,902,182 votes, or 42 percent. The victory made Bush the only Republican governor ever to capture re-election in Florida.

''I am so grateful for your support and I thank you from the bottom of my heart,'' Bush said in his victory speech. ''I will not let you down. I will work as hard as I can.''

Bush watched returns from his hotel suite in downtown Miami where he was joined by his family, including his parents, former President Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush. He called his parents ''my inspiration in life'' in his victory speech.

National party officials considered this marquee race pivotal. The victory by Bush bolsters the re-election bid of President Bush, while a loss would have been embarrassing to the president.

The race was under extraordinary scrutiny for another reason: State and county officials spent millions of dollars on new touchscreen voting machines put in after the 2000 presidential election marred by chads, recounts and court fights. Justice Department observers were posted at some polls, as were specialists in watching Third World elections.

Several figures from the 2000 debacle were running for House seats Tuesday, including GOP darling Katherine Harris, the former secretary of state at the center of the recount debate. Harris defeated political novice Jan Schneider in the heavily Republican 13th District.

But the governor's race was the key matchup.

Bush, 49, held a massive fund-raising advantage, and he stressed his work to bring accountability to public schools, reduce taxes and foster a pro-business climate.

McBride, 57, a Tampa lawyer and first-time candidate, upset former Attorney General Janet Reno in the primary and challenged Bush on education. He called for increasing teacher pay, smaller classes and reducing the state's emphasis on grading schools and use of standardized tests.

Democrats touted his military service -- he was awarded a Bronze Star in Vietnam -- and hoped it would appeal to many of Florida's 1.7 million veterans.

However, McBride had to scramble to address black and elderly voters after concentrating elsewhere before the primary. And criticism of Bush over the state's troubled child welfare agency didn't seem to stick.

McBride, in his concession speech in Tampa, said his campaign had placed a spotlight on the importance of public education.

''We've moved the agenda into, I think, the right place in large measure because of your efforts,'' McBride said. ''That's good for Florida, that's good for the public schools, that's good for the teachers and the working men and women of Florida.''

Bush is only the third Republican elected Florida governor since the 1870s -- Claude Kirk in 1966 and Bob Martinez in 1986 were the others and both lost re-election bids. Florida governors were prohibited from serving two terms before 1968.

Analysts said the race would pivot on turnout. In 1994, the late Gov. Lawton Chiles got a record 66 percent turnout in a nonpresidential election year to beat Bush in Florida's closest gubernatorial contest. Four years later, Bush easily defeated Democrat Buddy MacKay when turnout slipped to 49 percent.

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2002

Answers

Jeb Bush's promise

Posted November 6, 2002

Our position: Jeb Bush has the opportunity to be a great governor.

With his resounding re-election victory Tuesday, Gov. Jeb Bush now has a prime opportunity to be one of Florida's great governors.

He will have a politically sympathetic, Republican-controlled Legislature with which to move the state ahead. The same goes for the newly downsized Cabinet, which along with the governor oversees numerous state functions and weighs important issues such as land purchases and state pension funds. And Mr. Bush also has his brother's ear in the White House.

Mr. Bush, in short, truly can build on his victory over challenger Bill McBride and accomplish tremendous things for the state -- but only if he remains true to the compassionate campaign message that so clearly resonated with voters.

To succeed, however, Mr. Bush must be willing to expend some political and financial capital in several critical areas.

First off, he should resist calls by right-wing ideologues to further reduce the state tax burden, which already compares favorably to other states in the nation. There's no need for additional cuts. Mr. Bush should take what he has and use it now to lure business and higher-wage jobs, diversify the state's tourism-dependent economy, establish stronger international trade and beef up Florida ports.

Mr. Bush also must focus on preparing a work force to fill those jobs. Already, he's off to a good start. His plan to grade schools based on achievement has focused a laser-like beam of attention on public education, particularly on the schools populated by low-income students. Communities, businesses and individuals have responded, which only can be a harbinger of better things to come.

If he can raise educational opportunities for all children -- particularly the disadvantaged, who long have been neglected by the public-school system -- Florida will be ideally positioned to compete well in an increasingly global economy.

The governor also must focus more on growth issues during his next term. The status quo -- communities that sprawl into environmentally sensitive areas, creating a state of isolated subdivisions and mind-numbing commutes -- is unacceptable. Mr. Bush must hold local government officials accountable for building strong neighborhoods, investing in a sensible transportation network and revitalizing decaying urban areas.

The governor hopes that a state plan allowing local officials to assess the true cost of growth will provide some answers. But deep-pocketed developers long have held too much sway over local government decision-making. And the state progressively has withdrawn from aggressive oversight.

That can't continue. Development in one community can have broad, detrimental implications for a much larger geographic area. And the governor can play a vital role in determining the state's future quality of life.

Already, intense pressure is mounting to build new roads that potentially could open up the state-protected Wekiva River basin to future development. And at least one developer is proposing to build a massive new community east of the Econlockhatchee River, one of the last environmentally fragile, rural frontiers in the region.

In areas such as rapidly growing Central Florida, the need for state enforcement of growth-management plans cannot be overstated.

Those are the issues that will gauge Mr. Bush's historic relevance in the state.

Certainly, he had good reason to cheer last night. The defining work of Mr. Bush's political career, however, begins today.

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2002


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