advertisement

SSN on Facebook SSN on Twitter SSN on YouTube RSS Feed

3 Comments
Politics

Dan Webster Promises 'Transformation' in Washington if Elected Speaker

October 6, 2015 - 11:15am
Dan Webster
Dan Webster

Vowing to put “principle over power,” U.S. Rep. Dan Webster, R-Fla., made his pitch to serve as speaker of the U.S. House this week, even as the leadership contest looms on Thursday. 

With U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, announcing at the end of last month that he would step down at the end of October, Webster threw his name into the hat for another speakership bid. Earlier this year, Webster was Boehner’s main challenger, gaining 12 votes against the speaker but getting kicked off the powerful U.S. House Rules Committee after his bid failed.

Webster has two rivals also seeking the gavel: U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who launched a speakership bid over the past weekend. 

Trying to make the case for conservatives to back him, Webster released a Web video on Monday. 

“The American people are looking for change, not just a change in leaders,” Webster said in the video. “They are looking for transformation.”

Webster pointed to his tenure as speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, insisting he offered service-based leadership which was inclusive to lower ranked members. The Florida congressman vowed to listen to more members if he is elected as speaker. 

But Webster insisted the stakes were far higher as the “American people are watching” to see who Republicans pick to be speaker. 

“Are we going to just change the personalities in the speakership or are we going to fundamentally transform the way we do business here in Washington, D.C.?” Webster asked. 

In the meantime, McCarthy and Chaffetz are also rounding up votes before the speakership vote. 

As congressional redistricting continues to remain unsettled in Florida, Webster’s future remains cloudy. Under the base map used by the Legislature in a special session last month to tackle redistricting, Webster would have faced a far more Democratic district than his current one, prompting some major Democratic candidates to line up against him. Former Orlando Police Chief Val Demings, who Webster barely beat in 2012, and state Sen. Geri Thompson, D-Orlando, have already launched bids against Webster.

Webster currently represents parts of Orange and Polk counties and most of Lake County. Under the base map the Legislature is using for congressional redistricting, his new district would be far more Democratic, taking in only parts of Orange County and bringing in 150,000 voters -- more than 90,000 of them Democrats -- currently represented by U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla.

Webster testified before the joint legislative committee tackling redistricting in Tallahassee last month and tore into the base map. 

“The new plan disfavors incumbents,” Webster told the committee. “An affirmative vote for this plan ... is a specific intent to disfavor me as an incumbent.”

The Republican congressman even insisted the base map “makes the seat uncompetitive for anyone in my party" and was built to “eliminate an incumbent.” 

Webster has been in Florida politics since 1980 when he was first elected to the state House. A staunch conservative, he served longer in the Legislature than anyone else in Florida history, leading the GOP caucus in the House before becoming the first Republican speaker since Reconstruction after the 1996 elections. 

After facing term limits in 1998, Webster moved on to the Senate. While he failed in his efforts to become Senate president, he did serve as Senate majority leader. Turning his eyes to federal office once he faced term limits in the Senate, Webster blew out U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., in 2010, but two years later, in a far better year for Democrats, he almost lost to Demings. 

Webster’s been honored in his district and in Tallahassee with everything from a section of SR 429 to a room in the state Capitol named after him. But none of the maps advancing in the Legislature this week are helping his chances for a fourth term. 

Democrats tried to recruit Demings to take on Webster in 2014 but she explored looking at county office instead. But, on Monday, Demings announced she would run against the Republican congressman again. In 2012, Webster beat Demings 52 percent to 48 percent. 

Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN

 

Comments

The Demings family have been on "power trips" for years "leapfrogging" each other when possible, and accepting lesser "power positions" when they become available to them, or would be easy to 'capture' (like Webster's seat in in District 10 due to impending "gerrymandering"). Think carefully District 10 Voters....Demings would just be one more Corrine Brown clone.

Dan has exactly what is needed, Honor, Truth, and Principle. The Repub caucus knows they are in trouble. It is time to do it the right way.

Sorry Dani'l but you just do NOT have what it takes! Power is all some of your buddies know and they've tossed out 'principle' long ago! Best you retire as you'll never see another committee chair again.

Comments are now closed.

politics
advertisement
advertisement
Live streaming of WBOB Talk Radio, a Sunshine State News Radio Partner.

advertisement