Pam Bondi Wins AG Spot

November 3, 2010

Former Tampa-area prosecutor Pam Bondi is Florida’s new attorney general, defeating Democratic state Sen. Dan Gelber Tuesday in the race to be the state’s top lawyer.

Bondi, who stepped down as a Hillsborough county prosecutor after nearly 18 years, swept past Gelber in the general election, touting her opponent as the ultimate insider, a death knell in an anti-incumbent and anti-Democrat year.

She also got a boost from outgoing Attorney General Bill McCollum, who led the lawsuit against President Obama’s health care overhaul. Bondi fervently supported the lawsuit and talked it up at every campaign stop, earning her the immediate support of Republican-friendly groups including the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Associated Industries of Florida.

“As your attorney general, I pledge to make you and your family safer, our neighborhoods more secure, and I will be a vigilant watchdog for our taxpayers,” said Bondi, in a speech to supporters who watched results with her at the Pepin Hospitality Center in Tampa. “And I vow to stand up to a federal government health care takeover.”

The big Republican embrace of Bondi pumped cash into the candidate’s campaign account, allowing her to mount an aggressive television campaign. In TV commercials, she pushed hard against Gelber’s votes as a House and Senate member, particularly a vote for a now repealed measure, called the “Scarlet Letter” law, which required women to publish their sexual histories if they put a child up for adoption and did not identify the child’s father.

For weeks, polls had been giving Bondi the edge over Gelber in the race to replace Attorney General Bill McCollum, though there was still a rather large contingent of undecided voters because the race received less attention than some other races in the state, such as senate or governor. She ultimately claimed victory by a margin of 56 percent to 40 percent.

Bondi’s victory was immediately praised by Republican supporters who campaigned on her behalf.

“We need a strong Republican in this position to continue the federal health care lawsuit and ensure our Constitutional rights are upheld,” said incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos.

Gelber, a state senator and former House minority leader, called Bondi to congratulate her and in a two minute speech to supporters in Miami, recounted the last few days of the campaign, comparing it to a “dysfunctional family vacation.” The political winds were not in his favor he admitted, but said he believes Bondi will do “just fine” in her new job.

“I want her to do well,” he said. “Because frankly, if she does well, Florida does well. And that’s something we should all understand very deeply.”

By Kathleen Haughney
The News Service Florida

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News