An Important Race No One Outside Of Florida Is Talking About-- Guest Post By Doug Tudor

Doug Tudor was the Blue America-backed progressive running for the Democratic nomination in FL-12 (some of Hillsborough County and almost all of Polk). The DCCC saw to it that Blue Dog Lori Edwards won that race, although they have since abandoned her to her fate. Nate Silver figures the Republican in that race, Dennis Ross, has a 87.5% chance of winning tomorrow. Silver's latest prediction is that Ross will take 49.1% of the vote; Edwards will take 37.5% and the Tea Party candidate, Polk County Commissioner Randy Wilkinson, will only get 8.6%. Doug has been on the ground in Hillsborough and Polk counties, working for the Democratic ticket, including Edwards, and he thinks she's going to win. He thinks she's going to win because Wilkinson is going to do much better than outside pollsters, pundits and prognosticators figure. That will be an interesting one to watch, although not one I'll be rooting for one way or the other.

Doug is very excited about a race I hadn't been following, the campaign pitting Adam Putnam against former Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox for Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. It looks like Scott is running for Consumer Affairs Commissioner and Putnam is running for Agricultural Commissioner. Doug endorsed him, calling him "intelligent, innovative, and extremely ethical," not a ready combination in Florida politics on either side of the aisle.

While I truly believe in Scott's leadership qualities and credentials, there is another reason that we need to rally behind him. Scott is running neck-and-neck with our "old friend," Congressman Adam Putnam... The concept of a Governor Putnam is the scariest thing I can think of during this Halloween season.

Fortunately, we have a great candidate in Scott Maddox. Standing with Scott, we will continue to fight the special interests, right-wing insanity, and corporate cronyism that Adam Putnam is trying to bring back to our state's capitol.

...Scott has a common-sense approach to Florida agriculture; he believes that we need a strong partnership between the department and Florida's many diverse agricultural entities-- securing and growing a one billion dollar industry for the future.

Scott believes in the promotion of fuel crops-- reducing our dependency on foreign fossil fuels by promoting 'American Grown' fuel and investing in a multitude of green energies, specifically: tidal and solar sources. 

Throughout his career, Scott has always been a strong consumer advocate. He took an early stance against offshore oil drilling and believes the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services should take a leading role in combating the many types of fraud that are currently running rampant in Florida, especially against our seniors.

I called Doug and asked him if he's help put the importance of this race in context for us by explaining how Putnam plans to use it. He did:

President Putnam?

-by Doug Tudor

Down ballot races are often ignored by political pundits and voters. There’s just nothing sexy or exciting about a candidacy for a county Soil and Water Conservation Board, for instance. What we do know, though, is those candidates and office holders often go on to occupy higher office.

In Florida, there are four members of the state’s cabinet. Along with the Governor, Attorney General, and Chief Financial Officer, the cabinet includes the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Again, nothing sexy, right?

Actually, the Ag Commissioner is a very important post as it deals not only with farming issues, but with consumer and environmental issues. In a state prone to hurricanes, for instance, it is the Ag Commissioner who acts as responder-in-chief to oversee controls and combat fuel and insurance price-gouging and other disaster-related consumer frauds.

Now here is where this particular race gets interesting. In early 2009, Florida’s political landscape looked pretty well secure. Wildly popular Republican Governor Charlie Crist would run for reelection in 2010, as would Attorney General Bill McCollum, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, and U.S. Senator Mel Martinez. No one seriously considered any of the incumbents to face anything by token opposition.

Viewing the toxic landscape for Republicans in Washington, and after being forced from the House leadership-- okay, he resigned on election night before his fellow Republicans could force him out-- our old friend, Adam “Howdy Doody Looking Nimrod” Putnam, decided to return to Florida via the 2010 Ag Commissioner race.

After all, Opie could glide to victory, serve four years in a state-wide office, then run to replace Charlie Crist as Governor in 2014, once Crist was term-limited. From the Governor’s chair, he could view his future options of a U.S. Senate seat or even the Oval Office. Hell, when you’re 35 and stinking rich and you’ve already been in office for 13 years, the sky truly seems to be the limit.

Accordingly, the Boy from Bartow announced on Super Sunday 2009 that he would leave the U.S. House and seek the non-sexy office of Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. We constituents were thrilled to get this rabid rightwing demagogue out of Washington.

But something happened on the way to Putt Putt’s coronation. Senator Mel Martinez resigned from the U.S. Senate. Governor Charlie Crist appointed his Chief of Staff, George Lemieux, as senatorial seat warmer until Crist could win the seat himself this year. McCullom would run for Governor, as would Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink. Suddenly, all four of Florida’s cabinet seats were open, and a boring off-year election cycle had exciting potential.

This was only a minor hiccup for Putnam. In his eyes, this meant he would either have to face an incumbent Democratic governor in 2014 or ride the Ag post another four years until the incumbent Republican governor was term-limited in 2018. What the hell, he would still only be 44 when he cake-walks into the Governor’s mansion and in his early 50’s when he strolls back to Washington.

Okay, so back to the main point. Down-ballot races are extremely important. They allow the office holder to change the way a particular matter is handled. For instance, Adam has taken hundreds of thousands of campaign contributions from financial services ($616,373), but is set to be the consumer watchdog on banking and other financial matters. He has taken tens of thousands from Big Insurance ($230,275), but is set to be its chief regulator in the nation’s fourth most populous state. He has taken tens of thousands from Big Oil ($84,300), and was one of the “Band of Brothers” who was chanting “Drill, Baby, Drill” in August 2008. Even after the BP disaster this year, Putnam would not back down from his quest to bring drilling closer and closer to Florida’s shores.

In the long term, the real importance of a down-ballot office becomes even more apparent. These offices serve as spring boards for higher office.

Putnam’s ascendency to the Governor’s mansion, the U.S. Senate, and the White House has to run through the office of Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. It may not be sexy, but as Vice President Biden might say, “It’s a Big Fucking Deal.”