Election 2002: Bush becomes first GOP governor in Florida to earn re-election (AP)

AP ^ | Nov. 6, 2002 | BRENDAN FARRINGTON

[summer]

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, left, walks onto
the stage accompanied by his mother,
Barbara, and father former President George
Bush, after he had been reeelected to a
second term as governor Tuesday, during a
rally in Miami.

Election 2002: Bush becomes first GOP governor in Florida to earn re-election

Wednesday, November 6, 2002
By BRENDAN FARRINGTON, Associated Press

MIAMI — Republican Jeb Bush triumphed Tuesday to win a second term as Florida's governor, overcoming a strong challenge by Democrat Bill McBride and a concerted effort by his party to humble the president's brother.

With 90 percent of precincts reporting, Bush had 2,560,969 votes, or 57 percent, while McBride had 1,902,182 votes, or 42 percent. The victory made Bush the only Republican governor ever to capture re-election in Florida.

"It's done. We won. We did better than we thought," he said while watching returns from his hotel suite in downtown Miami. He was joined by his family, including his parents, former President Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush.

National party officials considered this marquee race pivotal. The victory by Bush bolsters the re-election bid of President Bush, while a loss would have been embarrassing to the president.

The race was under extraordinary scrutiny for another reason: State and county officials spent millions of dollars on new touchscreen voting machines put in after the 2000 presidential election marred by chads, recounts and court fights. Justice Department observers were posted at some polls, as were specialists in watching Third World elections.

Several figures from the 2000 debacle were running for House seats Tuesday, including GOP darling Katherine Harris, the former secretary of state at the center of the recount debate. Harris defeated political novice Jan Schneider in the heavily Republican 13th District.

But the governor's race was the key matchup.

Bush, 49, held a massive fund-raising advantage, and he stressed his work to bring accountability to public schools, reduce taxes and foster a pro-business climate.

McBride, 57, a Tampa lawyer and first-time candidate, upset former Attorney General Janet Reno in the primary and challenged Bush on education. He called for increasing teacher pay, smaller classes and reducing the state's emphasis on grading schools and use of standardized tests.

In his concession speech, McBride said his campaign had placed a spotlight on the importance of public education.

"We've moved the agenda into, I think, the right place in large measure because of your efforts," McBride said. Democrats touted McBride's military service — he was awarded a Bronze Star in Vietnam — and hoped it would appeal to many of Florida's 1.7 million veterans. However, McBride had to scramble to address black and elderly voters after concentrating elsewhere before the primary. And criticism of Bush over the state's troubled child welfare agency didn't seem to stick. Bush is only the third Republican elected Florida governor since the 1870s — Claude Kirk in 1966 and Bob Martinez in 1986 were the others and both lost re-election bids. Florida governors were prohibited from serving two terms before 1968.

Joining Harris as a winner with ties to the 2000 recount was Florida House Speaker Tom Feeney, who captured the seat in a new Congressional district over Democrat Harry Jacobs. Feeney pushed to name electors before the recount legal battle was over.

Democrat Carol Roberts, a member of the Palm Beach County canvassing board, was defeated in her Congressional race incumbent Republican Clay Shaw. Roberts had helped count infamous "butterfly" ballots in the 2000 election.

[summer]

If anyone posts an article about the demographic breakdown of the FL vote in the FL gov race, please ping me, as I am very curious to see which voters went for Gov Bush.

Also -- thank you all for allowing me to participate to the extent I did here on FR. This was the first time I ever became involved in politics on any level. And, what an education I received here! All thanks to each of you. Thanks again. :)

PS Let's do it again in 2006, if Gov Bush decides to run for US Senator from FL. And, in 2008, if Gov Bush decides to run for President. I have no doubt he can beat Senator Hillary Clinton in that race! :)

[summer]

I meant to bold this part of the article as well:

Bush is only the third Republican elected Florida governor since the 1870s — Claude Kirk in 1966 and Bob Martinez in 1986 were the others and both lost re-election bids. Florida governors were prohibited from serving two terms before 1968.

[summer]

Thank you so much for all your help and support on the JEB threads. You really made a big different, IMO, keeping those threads bumped for the eyes of who knows how many lurkers and countless others.

Also, thank you for never asking me to take you OFF my JEB! ping list! LOL.... :) !

[summer]

different, = difference,

[Joe Brower]

After all the heart and soul you poured into those Jeb threads you did, summer, I tip my hat to you -- your incredibly thorough research and heartfelt commentary provided me a great deal of ammo which I expended and shared freely with everyone else I could, pro and con.

We all did our part, and victory is indeed sweet. Time to take a short break, and then get cracking in preparation for 2004. $:-)

[cksharks]

WOW! What a night!

[summer]

Hey, FL folks, a gentle reminder here:

FL Gov Jeb Bush made history last night! :)

PS Your favorite Dem from Nov 2000, Carol Roberts, lost her race.

[summer]

Thanks so much, Joe. And, a whole lot of heart and soul was on those threads from FR posters, too.

For over a year, I visited Dem sites to find anything remotely like what was going here. But all I found was a lot of hate, and every once in awhile, a plea to vote for Dem candidates. There was such a huge different in the quality of the discussions, and the objective of the discussions, readily apparent to anyone lurking on both sites.

I personally think FR swayed some FL voters for JEB, and those threads I wrote helped, but the overall positive tone of the discussions, and the informative input from FR people, also played a big role. So, thank YOU! :)

[MJemison]

The Bush family is a class act.

[summer]

different = difference

[summer]

bttt! :)

[EllaMinnow]

Bob Butterworth lost, too!

According to the SoS website, Jeb won by 667,619 votes - and I think at least 619 are freepers.

Thank you, summer!

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Yoohoo! Hello! Good morning, Summer! Thank you again for the splendid job you did here at FR with your threads! Wonderful work! And, yes, good discussion from other Freepers. This was just an overwhelming victory!!! Nothing close to the "humiliation" Hillary was planning for President Bush in the "sunshine state". Can you tell me the reason for the huge victory - despite the pretense of a "close" race???? A lot of Democrats came out for Governor Bush evidently also. Could this mean the Democrats are turned off by the Clinton/Reno hate rhetoric finally?

Also, where were the 10,000 lawyers poised to challenge everything in Florida and elsewhere?

Finally - I loved hearing Jeb Bush thank GOD for his victory - first thing! God bless him and thank you, Florida, once again!!! And Katherine Harris winning and Carol Roberts losing are just icing on the cake!!!

[Nuke'm Glowing]

WE KNOW!!!!

And we Florida FReepers thank everyone for the kudos! Not only did we kill the remainder of the Klintoon/Algore legacy down here last night, but we put some real conservatives into Congress. The rats are in full panic mode down here. Life is good, the Michelob tasted great last night, and NOW it's time to get to work on the repeal of Amendment 9.

[mafree]

JEB WON!!

GO JEB!!

[Otta B Sleepin]

This was the first time I ever became involved in politics on any level. And, what an education I received here! All thanks to each of you

Same for me. You guys are the greatest!

[Nuke'm Glowing]

" Also, where were the 10,000 lawyers poised to challenge everything in Florida and elsewhere?"

In my area they were clogging up all the bars by 11 p.m. trying to enjoy one last smoke. What's funnier is that at about $150 per hour, they made a killing yesterday for nothing. Just like a demorat to spend money for nothing.

[E=MC²]

The sun is shining just a little bit brighter today! Jeb is our Governor, Katherine is our Representative, the Florida cabinet is all Republican,... The demonrat spin has begun on mcbribe with the excuse being that Jeb had name recognition and lots more campaign money (yeah, right...with all the demonrats in the country wanting to embarrass GW by defeating Jeb, mcbribe was campaign funding poor). Thanks all you Freepers who championed Jeb and Katherine and thank you Summer for your yoeman (yeoperson?) efforts.

[baseballmom]

Congratulations!!! You did a great job keeping us informed about Jeb and the issues he was running on. Thank God that people were not blinded by revenge and hate, and elected the person who actually cares about his state.

[backhoe]

Many kudos to you, Miss summer- you did yoeman's work writing, researching and promoting these informative posts.