CFO Atwater, Ag Boss Putnam Cruise To Elections Wins

November 5, 2014

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater on Tuesday easily defeated a pair of unheralded Democratic challengers who received miniscule backing from their state party.

Both Republican Cabinet members, who far outpaced their challengers in fundraising and have spent part of the past two weeks taking separate bus tours across the state, were showing close to 20 percentage point leads as the early, yet still unofficial, numbers came in.

Putnam, a 40-year-old from a Bartow who spent 10 years in Congress and is widely considered a leading gubernatorial candidate in 2018, dispatched Thaddeus “Thad” Hamilton. Hamilton is a 64-year-old U.S. Army veteran who spent 36 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Meanwhile, Atwater, a 56-year-old banker who served as Senate president in 2009 and 2010, had little problem holding off William Rankin, 54, another U.S. Army veteran who describes himself as an international business consultant.

Putnam said the vote showed voters believed in his priorities.

“We’ve grown Florida’s agriculture industry, safeguarded our residents, fostered academic success for our next generation and honored American veterans,” Putnam said in a prepared statement issued from his election night party in Bartow. “In four years, conservative leadership in Tallahassee cut unemployment in half, paid off $4 billion in debt and put another $3 billion in the bank. We’ve fostered a culture of problem solving that has long been forgotten in places like Washington D.C., New York, Illinois and California.”

Since getting elected agriculture commissioner, Putnam has promoted efforts to battle a disease impacting the citrus industry, as well as non-native species such as the destructive Giant African Land Snail. With his office also overseeing consumer services, Putnam has been involved in efforts such as pushing to rewrite rules to protect consumers from fraudulent and deceptive charities.

Putnam on Twitter had earlier noted he made sure to have lunch Tuesday at Fat Jacks Deli and Pub in Lakeland, his Election Day tradition since 1996.

Even with the lack of competition, Atwater, in a release, said he was “humbled” to receive a second term.

“In this campaign I traveled the state to share a positive vision for the future and a record of accomplishments that protect Floridians from fraud, bring transparency and accountability to state government, and policies that grow our state’s bottom line,” Atwater, who held his election night party at the West Palm Beach Marriott, said in a release. “There is still more that needs to be done, and together we will continue to grow Florida’s economy.”

Like Putnam, Atwater has moved steadily up the ranks of Florida GOP politics. After serving in the House and getting elected to the Senate, Atwater became Senate president and then was elected statewide as chief financial officer. He also is mentioned frequently as a possible candidate for higher office in the future.

As chief financial officer, Atwater has launched efforts to make state contracts more accessible to the public. Also, he has been involved in issues such as questioning why property insurance rates failed to fall in line with a drop in costs for reinsurance, which is a type of backup coverage for insurers.

Putnam’s campaign raised $3.16 million, which included $443,334 in state matching funds. He also received more than $1 million in in-kind donations for campaign staff, polling and research mostly from the Republican Party of Florida. Putnam also raised a combined $814,500 through his two political committees, Sunshine State Leadership Project and SSLP.

Atwater, from North Palm Beach, raised $3.24 million as of Oct. 30 and received $1.1 million through in-kind donations, mostly from the Republican Party of Florida. Atwater’s totals included $413,277 he received in state matching funds.

by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News