Former Gov. Jeb Bush announced on Monday, at an event at Miami-Dade College, that he is running for president, but the former Florida governor is also running against history -- and not just because a political dynasty has never produced three presidents. Bush and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., are hoping a Floridian can win the biggest prize in American politics.
While Florida may be the third largest state in the nation and the largest swing state in presidential elections, the Sunshine State has never produced a president. Florida has been a state since 1845 and is a traditional battleground state, often dramatically so such as in 1876 and 2000, but residents of the Sunshine State have failed miserably when looking at national executive office.
Before air-conditioning and the population boom of the mid-20th century, when Florida remained a small state, very few of its politicians sought national office. While Florida was closely contested before the Civil War and during Reconstruction, once the Redeemer Democrats took charge in 1877, the Republicans were not much of a factor in most presidential elections, though they did carry the state in 1928 when Herbert Hoover rode a wave of anti-Catholicism to take the state from Democratic candidate Gov. Al Smith, D-N.Y.
The few Floridians who ran for national office did poorly. Gov. Thomas Brown flopped in his bid to become the Whig vice presidential candidate in the 1850s and Democratic Gov. Napoleon Bonaparte Broward failed in his bid to become William Jennings Bryan's running mate in 1908.
Florida has grown dramatically since the middle of the 20th century but politicians from the Sunshine State have fumbled when they seek national office:
- U.S. Sen. George Smathers, D-Fla., made a favorite-son bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1960 but nobody took his campaign seriously on a national level, including the candidate himself.
- Gov. Claude Kirk, R-Fla., the first Republican in that office since Reconstruction, toyed with the idea of higher office in 1968 but his backing of Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, R-N.Y., doomed whatever chance he might have had for being vice president. Kirk made a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984, running in New Hampshire and floating the name of his childhood friend, businessman Lee Iacocca for the presidency.
- Gov. Reubin Askew, who defeated Kirk in 1970, did not fare any better in his bid for national office. He turned down the chance to be George McGovern's running mate in 1972 and fared badly in his 1984 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.
- U.S. Sen. Connie Mack, R-Fla., garnered some interest as a potential vice presidential candidate but lost out to Jack Kemp in 1996 and Dick Cheney in 2000.
- While mentioned for the vice presidency in 1988, 1992 and 2000, former Gov. and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham’s, D-Fla., campaign for the Democratic nomination for 2004 did not even get to Iowa.
- Gov. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., then a Republican, was a contender for the vice presidential spot under U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in 2008 but lost out to Sarah Palin.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
