Filing closed for state elections at noon on Friday -- setting the stage for some interesting contests in Florida come November.
The gubernatorial contest was not greatly impacted on the last day. State CFO Alex Sink filed on Wednesday. She will face Brian Moore, who ran for the U.S Senate in 2006 and as the Socialist Partys presidential candidate in 2008. The two leading Republicans in the race, health care executive Rick Scott and Attorney General Bill McCollum, filed their paperwork on Thursday and qualified to make the ballot. So did retired Col. Mike McCalister of Plant City.
While Bud Chiles campaign did not file until late Friday morning, the son of Florida political legend Lawton Chiles will be on the ballot as an independent. Party founder Peter Allen will be running on the Independence Party line while John Wayne Smith will be running as a Libertarian. Independent candidates who made the ballot include landscape and urban designer Michael E. Arth; businessman Daniel Imparato who labored for the presidential nominations of various third parties including the Libertarians, Greens, Constitution Party and the Reform Party in 2008; economist Farid Khavari; and frequent candidate C.C. Reed.
The state CFO race saw developments that impacted both major parties, leaving Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, as the Republican nominee and former Rep. Loranne Ausley as the Democratic one.
Rep. Pat Patterson, R-DeLand, a veteran of the House, pulled out of the contest for the Republican nomination for state CFO and turned his focus to running for the Senate seat currently occupied by Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, that comes up in 2012.
I have notified the Division of Elections that I would be switching over, said Patterson on Friday.
Patterson gave a warm endorsement for Atwater on Friday. Jeff Atwater will represent us well as the Republican nominee for chief financial officer, he said in a statement his campaign released. I wish him success in the upcoming November general election.
Ken Mazzie, an accountant based in Palm Coast who ran for Flagler County Clerk of Courts in 2008, pulled out of the Democratic contest to continue his campaign for CFO with no party affiliation -- leaving Ausley with the Democratic nomination. Atwater, Ausley, Mazzie and independent Tom Stearns, who served as assistant tax collector for Hillsborough and Pasco counties, will be on the ballot come November.
Former Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox gained the Democratic nomination for the commissioner of agriculture and consumer services. His chief rivals for the nomination pulled out this week. Former Suwannee County Commissioner Randy Hatch endorsed Maddox on Thursday and former Rep. Rick Minton ended his bid on Friday.
We decided it wasnt in the cards, said Minton who represented a Fort Pierce district for eight years. Minton said that he was encouraged to run for the position but the dynamics were changed when Maddox entered the race. It kind of sucked the oxygen out of the room.
In the election in November, Maddox will take on Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, TEA Party candidate Ira Chester, and Broward County Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioner Thad Hamilton, who pulled out of the Democratic race to continue running as an independent.
All of the major candidates for attorney general qualified on the ballot, leaving close races for both the Democratic and Republican nominations. Sen. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach, and Sen. Dave Aronberg of Greenacres, will contest for the Democratic nomination. Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi and former Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Holly Benson are running for the Republican nomination. Independent Jim Lewis will be on the November ballot.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunsinestatenews.com, or at (850) 727-0859.
