Attorney General Pam Bondi made her re-election bid official on Monday when she filed in Tallahassee to run for a second term.
When she took office back in 2011, Bondi had a major opportunity to raise her profile fall into her lap. In 2010, then-Attorney General Bill McCollum led a coalition of states in challenging Obamacare. Despite the Supreme Court ruling against the states in 2012, the case did help make something of a national figure of Bondi.
But Bondi seems curiously immune to wanting to move up the political ladder. When Republican activists and operatives plan out future campaigns for higher office, Bondis name rarely pops up. Unlike, say, Floridas CFO Jeff Atwater, Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam and Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, Bondis name is not generating much buzz as a possible gubernatorial candidate come 2018.
As Bondi is not adverse to pointing out, her campaign to be attorney general in 2010 was her first bid for elected office and it sometimes shows. That was clearly revealed in Bondis lame attempts to insist she headed to the Caymans in May 2012 with a wedding dress to only take photos. The media ripped into Bondi for planning to get married outside of Florida -- and then for trying to offer an absurd sounding excuse for what she was actually doing in the Caymans.
But despite her occasional missteps, Bondi is in solid shape with Florida voters and, as she starts her 2014 campaign, she is a clear favorite to win a second term. Despite an often bruising primary against then-Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp and Panhandle politico Holly Benson, Bondi won big in 2010, crushing Democrat Dan Gelber in the general election. Republican Rick Scott might have won the closest gubernatorial election in Florida history that November but Bondi had no problems, taking 55 percent against Gelber who could only muster 41 percent. It was an impressive victory for Bondi. Gelber proved a shrewd politico when he led Democrats in the Florida House and he is still considered something of an up-and-comer for his party. But Bondi destroyed him.
Bondi had a narrow win over Kottkamp in 2010 but she has done her work to secure Republicans behind her. Besides leading the charge against Obamacare, Bondi received kudos for her efforts to crack down on prescription drug abuse and human trafficking. Bondi has also been active in supporting the GOP, helping out Mitt Romneys presidential campaign and making the rounds to support local and county Republicans.
Adding to her advantages of being an incumbent and her standing with Republicans, Bondi has a head start over potential rivals she might face in 2014. So far, she has not drawn any opponents next year. Theres been speculation that Bondi could face a challenge from House Democratic Leader Perry Thurston, D-Fort Lauderdale, but he has done next to nothing to show that he intends to run against her. Thurston has filed to run for higher office but for a Florida Senate seat instead of taking on Bondi.
Despite losing big to Bondi last time out, there is some talk that Gelber could get a rematch in 2014. To his credit, Gelber has remained politically active since losing to Bondi and is still considered a possible Democratic candidate for statewide office. But theres little to indicate Gelber could do better against Bondi now that she is an incumbent than he did last time.
Democrats certainly have opportunities to defeat Republicans in Florida in 2014 but Bondi is not at the top of that list. As her focus turns to winning a second term, she appears likely to win again even if she is not in peoples political calculations beyond 2018.
Tallahassee political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this analysis exclusively for Sunshine State News.
