Overshadowed by high profile governor and Senate races, and a couple of controversial constitutional amendments, the race to become Floridas chief financial officer has largely flown below the election-year radar.
Two post-term limit era legislative veterans and Florida natives with deep roots are running against each other for the relatively obscure -- yet influential -- office that allows the occupant the chance to vote on numerous issues.
Republican Jeff Atwater and Democrat Loranne Ausley have spent much of the campaign trying to raise their name recognition outside their immediate home territory, which for Atwater is Palm Beach County and for Ausley is Tallahassee.
Atwater has the higher profile perch from which to run he has served as Senate president for the last two years, which makes him arguably already one of the three most powerful people in the government, along with the House speaker and the governor. But even the leaders of the part-time Legislature find when running statewide that their fame doesnt extend very far beyond the few blocks around the Capitol and their own hometown.
In fact, the current chief financial officer, Democrat Alex Sink, who had never held any office, defeated the last Senate president to run for a statewide office, beating Tom Lee in 2006.
Ausley left the state House in 2008 after eight years there and is a lawyer in Tallahassee. Shes well-known and well-connected in the political establishment, and her family name is on a prominent Tallahassee law firm, but she too has found that doesnt go very far when looking for votes in Daytona, Lakeland and Pompano Beach.
Both candidates have made general statements about improving the economy, holding government officials more accountable and reducing waste.
Both have also said the CFO should have more control over the states $150 billion investment portfolio, the managing of which came under fire after Florida, like other investors, took a major hit when the economy tanked in 2008. The pension and other state accounts are currently overseen by a three-person board of trustees, one of which is the CFO, along with the attorney general and the governor.
Ausley has proposed that agency inspectors general be appointed by the Cabinet for fixed terms to prevent them from undue influence from the agency heads under whose discretion they now serve. The inspectors would have authority to petition the Cabinet or legislative committees regarding any investigatory disruption.
We need to shine a light on state government, said Ausley, who has criticized Atwater and other Republican legislative leaders for lavish spending and lax fiscal oversight.
Atwater touts the need to reduce taxes, though as CFO he would not have a direct hand in determining the state budget. As Senate president, he was among a number of prominent Republicans to sign a no-new-tax pledge.
The people of Florida are making painful decisions every day, Atwater told a group earlier this year. Small businesses and families are eliminating costs and reducing expenses ... We must make those same difficult decisions.
Both candidates have tended to focus on such broader issues that their office may not directly deal with. Ausley has tried to make the race about the Legislature during Atwaters time as Senate president, criticizing him heavily for the Legislatures approval of an ornate new courthouse for the 1st District Court of Appeal, which was funded during his time in the Senate. The courthouse has come under heavy scrutiny because of its cost during an economic downturn.
The states chief financial officer has a range of oversight responsibilities from insurance agents to for-profit cemetery owners.The CFO pays the states payroll and bills, audits its books and makes sure its fire code is enforced as part of the 13 divisions under the Department of Financial Services. The day-to-day operations of the office mostly regulatory arent terribly sexy and the candidates havent talked much directly about what they would do about, say, compliance with workers' comp laws.
The CFOs influence is bolstered by being part of the Cabinet, along with the attorney general and agriculture commissioner. The Cabinet shares some executive power with the governor, and has oversight over the states ability to sell bonds, build power plants, pardon criminals and restore civil rights, and purchase environmentally sensitive lands, among other things.
Sink has used it as a springboard for an attempt at higher office, running this year for governor instead of seeking a second term.
Atwater began his state political career in 2000, succeeding term-limited Rep. Sharon Merchant in House District 83, before vaulting on to the state political radar with a stunning upset of former Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth for an open Senate seat in 2002.
In 2008, Atwater became Senate president following an interparty dustup pitting him against Sen. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, the previous heir apparent to former Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie.
Ausley worked for two years as an attorney in Miami before serving with the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration in the Department of Commerce. She then went to work for the Department of Housing and Urban Development before returning to Florida in 1997 to serve as chief of staff to then-Lt. Gov. Buddy MacKay before running for the House in 2000.
On the fund-raising front, Atwater has outraised Ausley by a more than 2-1 margin, with the Senate president collecting $4.2 million in cash and in-kind contributions to Ausleys $1.6 million. As of Sept. 24, Atwater had $3.2 million cash on hand compared to $1.1 million for Ausley.
