Lawton Bud Chiles III made it official Thursday, pulling the plug on his gubernatorial campaign and endorsing Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink.
Chiles --the son of Florida political legend Lawton Chiles, who served as both a U.S. senator for three terms and governor for two terms --ran without party affiliation instead of remaining a Democrat like his father.
Pledging to fight special interests and refusing to accept any donations of more than $250, Chiles attempted to walk in his fathers footsteps and campaign as a reformer. He also pushed for alternative and renewable interests and for a greater commitment to education.
A graduate of Stanford University, Chiles never sought political office before his gubernatorial bid but he has been active in politics, helping his fathers campaigns as well as Sen. Edmund Muskies unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. Chiles worked for Chiles Communications, a public affairs firm based in Tallahassee, for 16 years before moving to the HOPE Worldwide organization, working on childrens issues and programs in Africa and the Caribbean. Since then, he founded a real estate development firm in Tallahassee and served as the president of the Lawton Chiles Foundation, working on education issues across the state
Appearing in Tallahassee with Sink, Chiles thanked his family and his supporters and praised Sink.
Alex is a friend, a proven leader and a person of great integrity, said Chiles.
While most polls showed that his candidacy was drawing from both Sink and Scott, Chiles insisted that most of his backers would end up supporting the Democrat in the race.
Im confident that Bud Chiles' supporters will be supporting Alex Sink, he said. Perhaps not all of them, but a majority.
We know our state is at a crossroads and this is a crucial election for the state of Florida, insisted Sink, the current state CFO.
Sink said that she and Chiles shared close family ties and that they were both committed to reforming the state.
Neither one of them explained why Chiles, previously a Democrat, didn't support Sink early on, and felt the need to leave the party to run against her as an independent.
When asked what had changed since he entered the race in early June, Chiles said that Scotts self-financing and successful legal challenge to the states public campaign finance system effectively undermined his own efforts. Chiles praised his campaign as the best $75,000 campaign in Floridas history that made an impact on the state.
He and Sink met earlier in the week -- with far different results from when they had met before Chiles announced his bid in early June.
One of my opponents told me she will spend $30 million, said Chiles back in early June when he announced his campaign, referring to conversations he had with Sink at that time. It inspired me that I was doing the right thing in getting into the race.
The Scott team downplayed the significance of Chiles pulling out of the race and backing Sink. They pointed to a poll released Thursday by Rasmussen Reports that had Scott beating Sink 45-44 with Chiles out of the picture.
After trying to convince Floridians that Bud Chiles exit would give Alex Sink the lead, todays poll shows that Sinks campaign strategy is just as flawed as her approach to the economy the drop wasnt the electoral bailout her campaign needed, said Joe Kildea, a spokesman for Scott. Once Floridians realize just how much of an Obamacrat Alex Sink really is, even more voters will rally behind Rick Scott, the conservative outsider with a plan to create 700,000 jobs.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews or at (850) 727-0859.
