Gov. Rick Scotts former chief of staff has suggested his ex-boss include Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, on the short list to replace former Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll who resigned in disgrace last month. Stephen MacNamara, who also served as Thrashers chief of staff when that legislator served as speaker of the Florida House, sent Scott an email on March 13 pleading his case.
Hope you pick Thrasher, MacNamara wrote in an email,published by Gary Fineout of the Associated Press. Given all he has done, I hope you at least put him on the short list, have Adam tell him he's not it so he can gracefully withdraw saying he needs to keep his commitment to his constituents and fill out his term. He understands you need to make the right political choice with this appointment but it would buy you tons of good will to include him in the list being considered. This is a great opportunity to make a couple of key people feel important by saying they are being contemplated as a replacement.
While Thrasher is certainly one of the leading Republicans in Tallahassee, he makes little sense as an understudy for Scott. A political veteran who was first elected to the Clay County School Board in the mid 1980s, Thrasher was elected to the Florida House in 1992 and eventually rose to become speaker after the 1998 elections. Thrasher re-emerged in 2009 winning a special election to represent parts of the First Coast in the Senate. In 2010, Thrasher took over the chairmanship of the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) after Jim Greer resigned in disgrace.
Thrasher led the RPOF to major victories in 2010, including winning every statewide race and picking up congressional and legislative seats, but the road has proven rockier since then. He was widely touted as a possible contender to become a future Senate president, but that talk ended last year with the emergence of Joe Negron, R-Palm City.
A key ally of current Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Destin, Thrasher was involved with an unsuccessful attempt to undermine Sen. Andy Gardiners, R-Orlando, plans to serve as Senate president after the 2014 elections. Thrasher was also a close ally of Mitt Romney and there had been whispers in Tallahassee that he would have been in line for a federal job had the Republican ticket won in November.
Overlooking Thrashers recent setbacks, as MacNamara noted in the email, there is little political benefit to naming the veteran legislator as lieutenant governor, especially as Scott continues to underwhelm in the polls. While Thrashers political base reaches across Northeast Florida, this area is generally solidly Republican, not exactly a part of the state Scott needs to focus on. Thrasher turns 70 later this year and does nothing to change perceptions that the Republicans are a party for older white men.
Thrasher is a Tallahassee insider, a former party chairman with decades of political experience. While Thrasher is one of the leading conservatives in the Florida Senate, Scott ran against career politicians in both the 2010 primaries and general elections. Thrasher only reinforces Scotts base at best and would do nothing to appeal to the voters the governor needs if he wants a second term next year.
Tallahassee political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this analysis piece exclusively for Sunshine State News.
