While Gov. Charlie Crist and gubernatorial candidate Bud Chiles are getting most of the attention, Florida is seeing a large number of independents taking on both the Democrats and Republicans in the 2010 elections.
Its exciting, said Michael Tupper, campaign manager for independent congressional candidate Troy Stanley who has offered a conservative challenge to veteran Republican U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw.
Besides Chiles, three independent candidates as well as two minor party nominees are running for governor. Besides Crist, at least five independent candidates as well as two minor party nominees have made the ballot for the U.S. Senate race.
Thirteen independent candidates, including Stanley, and four minor party candidates have made the ballot for Floridas 25 congressional races. While filing has not closed, independent candidates have launched bids for two state Cabinet positions -- attorney general, and commissioner of agriculture and consumer services.
Leaders from third parties and independent campaigns said voters were dissatisfied with politics as usual and were looking for alternatives, including parties and candidates outside the two-party system.
The voters arent satisfied with the way the country is headed, said Dave Richardson, chairman of the Reform Party of Florida.
Tupper said that much of this resurgence in independents has come from the tea party movement, and certainly the large number of conservative independent candidates bears that out. Its not a movement that is part and parcel with the GOP, said Tupper. They see very little difference in spending between the Democrats and the GOP.
Jim McClellan, a spokesman for the Chiles campaign, said that voters were increasingly feeling isolated from political parties more concerned with large interests and their contributions than with the average citizen.
People feel left out and sold out by the parties, said McClellan. Its big money vs. big money -- and people are standing on the sidelines.
Peter Allen, the founder of the Independence Party of Florida, who had been a gubernatorial candidate until Thursday, said he expected to see more candidates with no party affiliation before the filing closed. Allen said that the two parties were responsible for the increased number of third party and independent candidates.
There is such dissatisfaction with the Republican controlled Legislature, said Allen, who called it the worst legislative session in recent memory.
Florida has not traditionally been solid ground for third party and independent candidates, though Sidney Catts was elected governor in 1916 after leaving the Democrats to run as the Prohibition Party candidate.
In 2008, while Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama pulled almost 4.3 million votes in Florida and Republican John McCain received 4.05 million votes, third party and independent candidates trailed far behind. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who ran on the Ecology Party of Florida line, received more than 28,000 votes and former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate, received more than 17,000 votes. The rest of the field -- including Pensacola minister Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party, former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney of the Green Party and former ambassador Alan Keyes of Americas Independent Party -- pulled less than 10,000 votes each.
Despite this, Florida is seeing an increased number of independent and third party voters.
The day of the two-party system is pretty much over, said Allen.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
