The leadership of the Florida Legislature will change Tuesday when Don Gaetz passes the baton to Andy Gardiner and Will Weatherford hands the gavel to Steve Crisafulli.
Both Gardiner and Crisafulli have strong Republican majorities controlling the chambers, but observers can be pardoned if they experience some deja vu. Only four years ago, two young and ambitious Central Florida Republicans -- Mike Haridopolos and Dean Cannon -- were in a similar situation and they presided over a debacle to get the budget through at the end of the 2011 session. Gardiners and Criasfullis ambitions cant afford a similar situation.
Gardiner is only 45, so its easy to overlook that he is a veteran of the Legislature. He was first elected to the Florida House in 2000 and served a full eight years before facing term limits and running for the Florida Senate.
In both chambers of the Legislature, Gardiner has served in the Republican leadership so some of his duties shouldnt be too new or overwhelming. He was the GOPs leader in the House from 2004 until 2006. That service helped him move quickly through the Senate. After winning his seat in 2008, Gardiner was GOP whip and, two years later, moved up to majority leader.
Gardiner knows managing the Senate can be something of a problem, even with the GOP holding a 25-14 edge (it should be back up to 26 after the special election to fill John Thrashers old seat). Despite setting his eyes on the Senate presidency pretty early, he faced opposition from the outgoing Senate leadership, including Gaetz, against his aspirations. Gardiner kept enough of his supporters in line and reached out to rival Jack Latvala for support. After cutting a deal, Gardiner will head up the Senate in 2014 while Latvala and Joe Negron duke it out to take over the chamber in 2016.
Despite his agreement with Latvala, who is generally seen as the leading Republican moderate in the Legislature, especially now that Mike Fasano is back in Pasco County, Gardiner has not been shy in playing up his conservative side on both fiscal and social issues. Gardiner has received awards and accolades from the pro-life community and business leaders for his various positions.
The Florida Senate has come off as unmanageable in recent years and more than a few Republican leaders have fallen in their attempts to lead the chamber. But with his background in leadership in both the House and the Senate and his ability to work with both conservatives and moderates in his caucus, Gardiner is well-positioned to manage the chamber.
Gardiner has a few other advantages as he prepares to take over the Senate. By the time he becomes Senate president, he should know all of his fellow senators well. None of them faced term-limits or lost their seats in 2014 and the two leading contenders for Thrashers seat -- Travis Hutson and Doc Renuart -- are known commodities in Tallahassee. Gardiner should face a host of familiar and mostly friendly faces when he takes over the Florida Senate.
Despite his youth, Gardiner should not be underestimated. He survived an attack from the GOP Senate leadership and has spent years leading Republicans in the House and the Senate. He is not a lightweight by any means.
He is young and ambitious -- but thats not always a good thing in his new assignment. The Senate presidency is not always the best launching pad for higher office. Ander Crenshaw, Toni Jennings and Jeff Atwater advanced their careers after leading the Senate, while the political careers of Haridopolos, who was around Gardiner's age when he took over, and Tom Lee stalled after their time in charge of the chamber.
Gardiner is relatively young, but he sits on a crowded bench of other up-and-coming Republicans. A successful Senate presidency can help him move on as he weighs his options on what to do when he faces term limits.
Crisafulli is newer to the leadership role, but he has a Republican supermajority to work with. The last two years have seen him move up from a backbencher in the Florida House to House majority leader to now House speaker and even higher office beckoning down the road.
Chris Dorworth had been in line to be House speaker in 2014 but, after he lost his seat last year, Republicans had to scramble to find a replacement. Crisafulli emerged quickly to replace Dorworth, though there was some talk that Charles McBurney would stand in his way.
Crisafulli certainly got on-the-job training while he was waiting in the wings. He led the State Affairs Committee in 2013 and later that year took over as House majority leader, which will give him more of a chance to connect with the Republican caucus. He can also look to the example of Larry Cretul who did not have much time to prepare after Ray Sansom resigned. But Cretul proved a capable speaker.
Dorworths loss can be Crisafullis gain, not just in the Florida House but also if the incoming speaker turns his eyes toward an even higher office. Crisafulli works in real estate and agribusiness. He has been active with the Brevard County Farm Bureau for more than 15 years, serving as a director since 1996 and serving two years as president. Agriculture also falls under the State Affairs Committee in the Florida House.
Adam Putnam will face term limits in 2018, two years after Crisafullis tenure as House speaker ends. With his background and interests, Crisafulli is a natural fit to run for Florida agriculture commissioner in 2018 and theres increasing buzz that he is interested. Its hard to imagine a relatively unknown state representative making the leap to statewide office even if he comes from Brevard County, which is the tenth most populated county in Florida.
But Crisafulli has a chance to greatly expand his political profile as House speaker and connect with Republicans across the state. He should find the House speakership will provide an excellent springboard to run for agriculture commissioner. There are perils, too. Most recently, Haridopolos paid the price for trying to serve as president of the Florida Senate while running for the U.S. Senate. But Crisafulli can wait until his time as House speaker ends before he starts turning toward 2018.
He is only 43, but he is facing an increasingly crowded -- and younger -- bench of ambitious Republicans. While less than a year ago it would have been impossible to imagine, Crisafulli now has the opportunity to lead the Florida House and then run for agriculture commissioner. If he plays his cards right, this former backbencher has the chance to become one of the leading political figures in Florida.
Of course, to move up, Gardiner and Crisafulli have to run their chambers well and not have things blow up on them as they did to Haridopolos and Cannon. Their chances to lead the Legislature and advance their future ambitions start Tuesday.
Tallahassee political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this analysis exclusively for Sunshine State News.
