Rep. Lake Ray has firmly established himself as one of the leading experts on ports in Tallahassee. And now hes looking to put all that savvy to work back home, as CEO of the Jacksonville Port Authority (JaxPort).
The JaxPort board is due to name a new CEO by April.
Since being elected to the Florida House in 2008, Ray has been an active leader in getting the state to fund port improvements needed to attract larger vessels that -- in the wake of the Panama Canal widening -- will be more active on the Atlantic coast. Rays work in Tallahassee has won him praise from the business community, including the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Florida.
With Paul Anderson resigning to become CEO of the Port of Tampa back in December, JaxPortcurrently is being led by interim CEO Roy Schleicher. Ray, a civil engineer, is already generating support from Tallahassee and Jacksonville. Back in February, the Jacksonville City Council, on which Ray served for eight years before heading to the Florida House, voted to recommend Ray to take over as CEO of JaxPort.
Rays work in Tallahassee has also led the Florida Legislature to use him as the point man to lobby Congress for more funds for port upgrades and repairs. In recent weeks he has made the rounds in Washington, meeting with U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., and with U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., who just took over the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee from U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla. At the very least, Ray should have some pull in Rubios office. Hampton Ray, son of the Florida House member, serves on Rubios staff.
While Rays experience on ports makes him a logical fit, there are other factors that could be propelling his bid to lead JaxPort.
While he has been a major player in Jacksonville since being elected to the City Council in 1999, the fact is, there's nowhere for him to go for the moment. U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., is firmly established as the areas congressman and there would be other Republicans looking to move up when that seat comes open. Challenging U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., in her firmly Democratic district would be political suicide for Ray.
If he wants to move across the Florida Capitol to the Senate, he will have to wait a decade until Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, faces term limits. Certainly he could challenge Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown, but the Democrat incumbent is currently flying high in the polls and has already filed for a second term.
In short, when Ray faces term limits in 2016, theres nowhere for him to go politically. If Ray resigns from the Florida House to take the JaxPortjob, he will give up the chairmanship of the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee and the vicechairmanship of the Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee and the Transportation and Highway Safety Subcommittee.
JaxPortlooks good for Ray, but in no way is the appointment a sure thing. A national search to replace Anderson is under way, and there are other candidates to consider -- namely Schleicher. After placing second to Anderson two years ago, Schleicher, who has put in 12 years with JaxPortand rose to executive vice president before becoming interim CEO, is also once again a candidate.
Tallahassee political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this story exclusively for Sunshine State News.
