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An election for governor of Florida was held on November 8, 1994. Incumbent governor Lawton Chiles, a Democrat, survived a strong challenge from businessman Jeb Bush, a Republican, to win re-election. This race was the second-closest gubernatorial election in Florida history since Reconstruction due to the strong Republican wave of 1994.
Lawton Mainor Chiles Jr. was an American politician from the U.S. state of Florida. He served as a United States Senator from 1971 to 1989 and as the 41st Governor of Florida from 1991 to 1998.
The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Democratic Party was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest active political party.
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, is the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush, and a younger brother of former President George W. Bush. He graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and attended the University of Texas, where he earned a degree in Latin American affairs. In 1980, he moved to Florida and pursued a career in real estate development, and in 1986 became Florida's Secretary of Commerce until 1988. At that time, he joined his father's successful campaign for the Presidency.
Democrats held the Governor's Mansion until 1999. As of 2018, this is the most recent election in which a Democrat was elected Governor of Florida.
Incumbent Lawton Chiles was eligible to run for a second four-year term under the Constitution of Florida. In late 1991, Chiles's disapproval rating rose significantly after he cut funds for education in his first budget. Around 75% of Floridians gave him a fair or poor performance rating. [1] The following year, Chiles's approval rating fell to only 22% and his disapproval reached 76% after the state's inadequate response to Hurricane Andrew. [2] His disapproval rating remained as high as 71% into 1993. As a result, some Democrats suggested that U.S. Senator Bob Graham run for a third, non-consecutive term as governor. [1]
The Constitution of the State of Florida is the document that establishes and describes the powers, duties, structure and function of the government of the U.S. state of Florida, and establishes the basic law of the state. The current Constitution of Florida was ratified on November 5, 1968.
Hurricane Andrew was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in mid-to-late August 1992. It was the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida until Hurricane Irma surpassed it 25 years later. It was the strongest in decades and the costliest hurricane to make landfall anywhere in the United States until it was surpassed by Katrina in 2005. Andrew caused major damage in the Bahamas and Louisiana, but the greatest impact was felt in South Florida, where the storm made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane, with sustained wind speeds as high as 165 mph (270 km/h). Passing directly through the city of Homestead in Dade County, Andrew stripped many homes of all but their concrete foundations. In total, Andrew destroyed more than 63,500 houses, damaged more than 124,000 others, caused $27.4 billion in damage, and left 65 people dead.
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, which along with the United States House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the legislature of the United States. The Senate chamber is located in the north wing of the Capitol, in Washington, D.C.
John Gargan was an American financial consultant who became the second chairman of the Reform Party started by Ross Perot. He was ousted from this position by a 109–31 vote in February 2000. He asked his supporters to boycott the illegally-called convention. He is also known for the creation of Throw the Hypocritical Rascals Out (T.H.R.O.), an organization whose platform was to vote out all incumbent members of congress and to set term limits on all members of Congress. He is considered the "father" of the American term limits movement.
The President of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.
George Herbert Walker Bush was an American politician who served as the 41st president of the United States from 1989 to 1993 and the 43rd vice president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. A member of the Republican Party, he held posts that included those of congressman, ambassador, and CIA director. Until his son George W. Bush became the 43rd president in 2001, he was usually known simply as George Bush.
Alexander Mann "Ander" Crenshaw is an American banker, attorney, and politician who served as the U.S. Representative for Florida's 4th congressional district from 2001 to 2017. He is a member of the Republican Party. Crenshaw retired from Congress when his term ended on January 3, 2017.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Lawton Chiles(Incumbent) | 603,657 | 72.17% | |
Democratic | Jack Gargan | 232,757 | 27.83% | |
Total votes | 836,414 | 100.00% |
A runoff primary election was scheduled to be held between leading candidate Jeb Bush and second-place candidate James C. Smith because no candidate received a majority of the vote. However, Smith dropped out of the race a few days later, leaving Bush as the Republican nominee for governor.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Jeb Bush | 411,680 | 45.68% | |
Republican | Jim Smith | 165,869 | 18.40% | |
Republican | Tom Gallagher | 117,067 | 12.99% | |
Republican | Ander Crenshaw | 109,148 | 12.11% | |
Republican | Kenneth L. Connor | 83,945 | 9.31% | |
Republican | Josephine A. Arnold | 8,326 | 0.92% | |
Republican | Bob Bell | 5,202 | 0.58% | |
Total votes | 901,237 | 100.00% |
Opinion poll source | Date | Chiles (D) | Bush (R) |
---|---|---|---|
Associated Industries of Florida [6] | Nov. 3-4, 1994 | 48% | 43% |
Mason-Dixon | Nov. 1-3, 1994 | 48% | 45% |
New York Times | Oct. 30-Nov. 3, 1994 | 47% | 41% |
Orlando Sentinel | Nov. 1, 1994 | 48% | 45% |
Associated Industries of Florida [6] | Oct. 30, 1994 | 45% | 45% |
St. Petersburg Times | Oct. 16, 1994 | 39% | 49% |
Mason-Dixon | Oct. 7, 1994 | 43% | 48% |
Mason-Dixon | Sep. 1-3, 1994 | 43% | 48% |
Mason-Dixon | Aug. 1-3, 1994 | 44% | 41% |
Mason-Dixon | July 1–3, 1994 | 46% | 35% |
Mason-Dixon | Feb. 1-3, 1994 | 42% | 38% |
Mason-Dixon | Oct. 1-3, 1993 | 41% | 32% |
Bush ran as a political conservative, and tried to paint Chiles as beholden to liberal interests. At one point, when asked what he would do for African Americans, Bush responded: "It's time to strive for a society where there's equality of opportunity, not equality of results. So I'm going to answer your question by saying: probably nothing." [7]
The final weeks of the campaign was described as "one of the nastiest in Florida political history." [8]
On October 18, a debate that was broadcast by 36 radio stations was held at Walt Disney World in Orlando. Bush and Chiles stood behind two lecterns decorated with Mickey Mouse ears. [9]
Another debate between Bush and Chiles was conducted by the League of Women Voters of Florida at Tampa Performing Arts Center on November 1. Early in the debate, Chiles again criticized Bush's ad about the death penalty, stating that Bush had outdone his father's ad about Willie Horton and saying "You knew [the ad] was false. You admitted it was false. And I am ashamed that you would use the loss of a mother in an ad like this." Later, during a discussion about school vouchers, Chiles quipped "My mama told me, 'sticks and stones will break my bones,' but names will never hurt me. But let me tell you one other thing about the old liberal. The old He-Coon walks just before the light of day." This referenced Chiles' Florida cracker roots, and served as a deliberate contrast with the more urbane Bush. [10]
In a poll conducted by Associated Industries of Florida between November 3 and November 4, Chiles led Bush by 48%-43%, with a margin of error of 3.5%. [6]
On the day before the election, a bloc of Chiles' campaign used get-out-the-vote phone calls to about 70,000 people. These calls alleged that Bush was a "tax cheat" and that his running mate Tom Feeney planned to destroy Social Security. The information was falsely attributed to a "tax fairness" and a senior citizen advocacy organizations. Chiles denied authorizing the phone calls but still later apologized [1] when the media discovered top officials in his campaign had authorized them. When the Florida legislature investigated the calls, Chiles claimed he was "out of the loop." [11]
Throughout the campaign, Bush raised approximately $7 million, more than half of which came from fundraisers featuring his parents and out-of-state fundraisers sponsored by his family and friends. On each of Barbara and George H. W. Bush's visits to Florida, they raked in about $1 million for the campaign. [12] Chiles limited contributions to $100 per person and raised $6.23 million, which included $2 million in public money. [1]
Chiles prevailed against Bush, winning 2,135,008 votes against Bush's 2,071,068 – a margin of about 1.52%. Additionally, write-in candidates G. G. Boone and C. C. Reed garnered 556 and 27 votes, respectively. With the election occurring during the 1994 Republican Revolution, Chiles was one of only two Democratic governors nationwide in close competitive races to hold onto his seat that night (the other being Zell Miller). In Florida alone, Republicans took over the State Senate for the first time in over a century, U.S. Senator Connie Mack III was re-elected in a landslide, Sandra Mortham defeated Ron Saunders for Secretary of State, Gerald A. Lewis was ousted by Robert Milligan for Comptroller, and Frank Brogan, who would run as Bush's running mate in 1998, was re-elected as Commissioner of Education. Also following in the conservative tone of the night, a statewide ballot initiative to legalize casino gambling was defeated in a 62%-38% landslide. [13] [14]
During the course of the campaign, Chiles again successfully carried out his "Dixie-Dade Strategy"—winning both Dixie and Dade (now known as Miami-Dade) counties. Chiles also carried the other two major metropolitan counties in the South Florida – Broward and Palm Beach. However, he failed to win the Cuban voters in Miami. In comparison with the 1990 election, Chiles performed significantly worse in North and Central Florida, where he lost his native Polk County. Although he lost several counties in the Panhandle, Chiles' largest margin of victory was in Gadsden County – the only predominantly African-American county in Florida. Bush received his highest percentages of victory in several rural counties in the northern portion of the state, especially Baker, Clay, and Union counties.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Lawton Chiles (Incumbent) | 2,135,008 | 50.75% | -5.76% | |
Republican | Jeb Bush | 2,071,068 | 49.23% | +5.75% | |
Write-ins | 583 | 0.0% | 0% | ||
Majority | 63,940 | 1.52% | -11.51% | ||
Turnout | 4,206,659 | ||||
Democratic hold | Swing |
County | Chiles% | Chiles# | Bush% | Bush# | Others% | Others# | Total# |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alachua | 61.8% | 35,030 | 38.2% | 21,624 | 0% | 7 | 56,661 |
Baker | 31.5% | 1,654 | 68.5% | 3,600 | 0% | 0 | 5,254 |
Bay | 43.1% | 17,816 | 56.9% | 23,498 | 0% | 2 | 41,316 |
Bradford | 37.1% | 2,642 | 62.9% | 4,470 | 1.2% | 0 | 7,112 |
Brevard | 46.6% | 72,393 | 53.4% | 82,878 | 0% | 6 | 155,277 |
Broward | 65.4% | 261,368 | 34.6% | 138,333 | 0% | 11 | 399,712 |
Calhoun | 50.5% | 1,811 | 49.5% | 1,775 | 0% | 0 | 3,586 |
Charlotte | 46.3% | 24,159 | 53.7% | 27,965 | 0% | 0 | 52,124 |
Citrus | 49.3% | 20,094 | 50.7% | 20,633 | 0% | 5 | 40,732 |
Clay | 29.1% | 9,986 | 70.9% | 24,290 | 0% | 1 | 34,276 |
Collier | 38.6% | 22,860 | 61.4% | 36,370 | 0% | 0 | 59,230 |
Columbia | 41.6% | 5,288 | 58.3% | 7,408 | 0% | 0 | 12,696 |
DeSoto | 45.6% | 2,856 | 54.4% | 3,407 | 0% | 0 | 6,263 |
Dixie | 50.2% | 2,003 | 49.7% | 1,981 | 0% | 5 | 3,989 |
Duval | 42.5% | 80,945 | 57.2% | 108,900 | 0% | 471 | 190,316 |
Escambia | 42.2% | 33,210 | 57.7% | 45,261 | 0% | 1 | 78,472 |
Flagler | 52.6% | 7,954 | 47.4% | 7,160 | 0% | 0 | 15,114 |
Franklin | 66.6% | 2,636 | 33.4% | 1,324 | 0% | 0 | 3,960 |
Gadsden | 69.4% | 7,751 | 30.6% | 3,422 | 0% | 0 | 11,173 |
Gilchrist | 47.0% | 1,701 | 53.0% | 1,922 | 0% | 0 | 3,623 |
Glades | 51.4% | 1,387 | 48.6% | 1,310 | 0% | 0 | 2,697 |
Gulf | 56.7% | 3,060 | 43.3% | 2,339 | 0% | 0 | 5,399 |
Hamilton | 50.4% | 1,453 | 49.6% | 1,429 | 0% | 0 | 2,882 |
Hardee | 50.4% | 2,695 | 49.6% | 2,649 | 0% | 1 | 5,345 |
Hendry | 44.2% | 2,623 | 55.8% | 3,308 | 0% | 0 | 5,931 |
Hernando | 50.8% | 25,331 | 49.2% | 24,532 | 0% | 0 | 49,863 |
Highlands | 45.7% | 12,323 | 54.3% | 14,617 | 0% | 1 | 26,940 |
Hillsborough | 48.6% | 117,974 | 51.4% | 124,561 | 0% | 11 | 242,546 |
Holmes | 42.0% | 2,134 | 58.0% | 2,942 | 0% | 0 | 5,076 |
Indian River | 44.3% | 16,410 | 55.7% | 20,630 | 0% | 0 | 37,040 |
Jackson | 46.9% | 5,907 | 53.1% | 6,698 | 0% | 0 | 12,605 |
Jefferson | 61.3% | 2,575 | 38.7% | 1,625 | 0% | 0 | 4,200 |
Lafayette | 45.9% | 936 | 54.1% | 1,105 | 0% | 0 | 2,041 |
Lake | 49.5% | 29,797 | 50.5% | 30,394 | 0% | 0 | 60,191 |
Lee | 43.8% | 58,785 | 56.2% | 75,365 | 0% | 0 | 134,150 |
Leon | 63.4% | 47,323 | 36.6% | 27,265 | 0% | 1 | 74,589 |
Levy | 51.5% | 4,588 | 48.5% | 4,322 | 0% | 0 | 8,910 |
Liberty | 49.0% | 947 | 51.0% | 985 | 0% | 0 | 1,932 |
Madison | 54.3% | 2,564 | 45.7% | 2,161 | 0% | 1 | 4,726 |
Manatee | 49.1% | 40,473 | 50.9% | 41,915 | 0% | 0 | 82,388 |
Marion | 44.7% | 31,345 | 55.3% | 38,784 | 0% | 1 | 70,129 |
Martin | 45.1% | 20,706 | 54.9% | 25,239 | 0% | 0 | 45,945 |
Miami-Dade | 52.0% | 215,276 | 48.0% | 198,371 | 0% | 1 | 413,648 |
Monroe | 56.7% | 13,232 | 43.3% | 10,086 | 1.4% | 1 | 23,319 |
Nassau | 34.8% | 5,331 | 65.2% | 9,968 | 0% | 0 | 15,299 |
Okaloosa | 34.3% | 16,459 | 65.7% | 31,459 | 0% | 0 | 47,918 |
Okeechobee | 49.6% | 3,492 | 50.4% | 3,545 | 0% | 0 | 7,037 |
Orange | 48.0% | 85,098 | 52.0% | 92,096 | 0% | 0 | 177,194 |
Osceola | 45.3% | 15,292 | 54.7% | 18,437 | 0% | 1 | 33,730 |
Palm Beach | 61.3% | 198,638 | 38.7% | 125,208 | 0% | 3 | 323,849 |
Pasco | 52.4% | 57,597 | 47.6% | 52,418 | 0% | 5 | 110,020 |
Pinellas | 51.0% | 166,858 | 49.0% | 160,115 | 0% | 7 | 326,980 |
Polk | 47.9% | 58,364 | 52.5% | 65,415 | 0% | 0 | 123,779 |
Putnam | 39.8% | 9,658 | 52.1% | 10,505 | 0% | 0 | 20,163 |
Santa Rosa | 36.6% | 11,726 | 63.4% | 20,345 | 0% | 4 | 32,075 |
Sarasota | 47.4% | 60,770 | 52.6% | 67,531 | 0% | 0 | 128,301 |
Seminole | 44.3% | 39,324 | 55.7% | 49,387 | 0% | 1 | 88,712 |
St. Johns | 36.7% | 12,791 | 63.3% | 22,036 | 0% | 0 | 34,827 |
St. Lucie | 50.5% | 27,956 | 49.5% | 27,436 | 0% | 0 | 55,392 |
Sumter | 51.1% | 5,603 | 48.9% | 5,360 | 0% | 1 | 10,964 |
Suwanee | 43.7% | 3,935 | 56.3% | 5,064 | 0% | 0 | 8,999 |
Taylor | 49.6% | 2,979 | 50.4% | 3,024 | 0% | 0 | 6,003 |
Union | 28.2% | 791 | 71.8% | 2,009 | 0% | 0 | 2,800 |
Volusia | 53.2% | 66,614 | 46.8% | 58,632 | 0% | 34 | 125,280 |
Wakulla | 59.7% | 3,696 | 40.3% | 2,492 | 0% | 0 | 6,188 |
Walton | 43.8% | 5,067 | 56.2% | 6,493 | 0% | 0 | 11,560 |
Washington | 47.8% | 2,968 | 52.2% | 3,240 | 0% | 0 | 6,208 |
After the election, the controversial phone calls were labeled "phonegate." Bill Cotterell of the Tallahassee Democrat believed that the phone calls did not affect the result of the election: "I'm quite sure you know, at least half of them just hung up, never even listened to the message. And those who did probably said, well, that's ridiculous, the governor of Florida ... or the lieutenant governor of Florida can't repeal Social Security." Miami Herald writer Mark Silva also argued that phonegate did not impact the outcome of the election, saying that "[the] campaign was won before that happened. The idea that that somehow tipped the election was a canard, it wasn't true." In November 1995, Bush's campaign manager, J. M. "Mac" Stipanovich noted that "it's quite possible the Chiles campaign stole the election by fraud". Bush himself refused to speculate on the impact of the phone calls. [1]
Chiles testified under oath before a state legislative committee in December 1995, becoming the first modern governor of Florida to do so. He told the Senate Executive Business, Ethics, and Elections Committee that he had no knowledge of the "scare calls." After apologizing to any Floridians who may have been misled, the attempt to tie him to phonegate was reduced to a one-man operation led by then-State Senator Charlie Crist. Later, Chiles passed a law banning false attributions for get-out-the-vote phone calls. Chiles remained governor of Florida until suffering a fatal heart attack on December 12, 1998, less than a month before his second term expired. [1]
After his father lost re-election for President of the United States in 1992, Jeb planned on running for president in 2000 after serving for six years as Governor of Florida. However, because he lost this election, his brother George, who was elected governor of Texas on the same night, instead ran for president in 2000. [10] Jeb did run for governor again, however; he defeated Chiles' lieutenant governor Buddy MacKay in 1998 and easily won re-election in 2002. [10] [16]
Kendrick Brett Meek is an American politician who was the U.S. Representative for Florida's 17th congressional district from 2003 to 2011. He was the Democratic nominee in the 2010 Senate election for the seat of Mel Martinez, but he and independent candidate Charlie Crist lost in a three-way race to Republican Marco Rubio.
Eugene Clay Shaw Jr. was an American politician who was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 until 2007. He represented the 22nd District of Florida until he was defeated by Ron Klein in the 2006 midterm election.
Kenneth Hood "Buddy" MacKay Jr. is an American politician and diplomat from Florida. A Democrat, he was briefly the 42nd Governor of Florida following the death of Lawton Chiles on December 12, 1998. During his long public service career he was also a state legislator, a U.S. Representative, lieutenant governor, and special envoy of President Bill Clinton's administration for the Americas. As of 2019, he is the last Democrat to serve as Governor of Florida.
C. Thomas "Tom" Gallagher III is an American politician, financier, and insurance agent from the state of Florida and a member of the Republican Party. Gallagher holds the distinction of having served more years as an elected state official than any other individual in Florida history. He began his career in the Florida House of Representatives, where he served from 1979 to 1987. He was then the Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshal of Florida from 1989 to 1995, the Education Commissioner of Florida from 1999 to 2001 and the Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshal of Florida again from 2001 to 2003. After 2003, his office was merged with that of Comptroller to form the Chief Financial Officer of Florida, which he held from 2003 to 2007. Gallagher has also run unsuccessfully for the United States Senate in 2000 and four times for Governor of Florida: in 1982, 1986, 1994 and 2006.
Robert A. Butterworth Jr. is an American attorney and politician from the U.S. state of Florida.
The 2006 Florida gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006. Governor Jeb Bush was term-limited, and could not run for re-election. Then Republican Charlie Crist, the state's Attorney General, won the election. The election was notable in that for the first time, the state elected a Republican governor in three consecutive elections.
The election to choose a representative for the 9th Congressional District of Florida was held on November 7, 2006. Gus Bilirakis, the Republican son of retiring incumbent Republican, Mike Bilirakis, defeated Democratic candidate and former Hillsborough County Commissioner Phyllis Busansky. Gus Bilirakis will serve from January 2007 through January 2009.
Willie Logan is an American politician from the U.S. state of Florida. A former member of the Florida House of Representatives, he campaigned for the United States Senate as an Independent in 2000.
The 2000 United States presidential election in Florida took place on November 7, 2000, as part of the nationwide presidential election. Florida, a swing state, had a major recount dispute that took center stage in the election. The outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election was not known for more than a month after balloting because of the extended process of counting and recounting Florida's presidential ballots. State results tallied on election night gave 246 electoral votes to Republican nominee Texas Governor George W. Bush and 255 to Democratic nominee Vice President Al Gore, with New Mexico (5), Oregon (7), and Florida (25) too close to call that evening. Gore won New Mexico and Oregon over the following few days, but the result in Florida would have been decisive however those two states had voted.
The 2002 Florida gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2002 for the post of Governor of Florida. Incumbent Republican governor Jeb Bush defeated Democratic candidate Bill McBride. Bush became the first Republican governor of Florida to win re-election to a second term.
Alejandro "Alex" Castellanos is a Cuban American political consultant. He has worked on electoral campaigns for Republican candidates including Bob Dole, George W. Bush, Jeb Bush, and Mitt Romney. In 2008, Castellanos, a partner at National Media Inc., co-founded Purple Strategies, a bipartisan communications firm. Castellanos is also a regular guest commentator on Meet the Press and a contributor for CNN.
William Cato "Bill" Cramer Sr., was an American attorney and Republican politician, elected in 1954 as a member of the United States House of Representatives from St. Petersburg, Florida. He was the first Florida Republican elected to Congress since 1880, shortly after the end of Reconstruction. He was re-elected, serving without interruption until 1970.
The 1970 United States Senate election in Florida was held on November 3, 1970. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Spessard Holland decided to retire instead of seeking a fifth term. During the Democratic primary, former Governor C. Farris Bryant and State Senator Lawton Chiles advanced to a run-off, having received more votes than Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives Frederick H. Schultz, attorney Alcee Hastings, and State Representative Joel T. Daves, III. Chiles soundly defeated Bryant in the run-off election, scoring a major upset due to his comparatively small name recognition prior to the election. To acquire name recognition and media coverage, Chiles walked about 1,003 miles (1,614 km) across the state of Florida and was given the nickname "Walkin' Lawton".
The 2010 United States Senate election in Florida took place on November 2, 2010, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Eduardo González is a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 111th District, which includes parts of Miami and Hialeah in northeastern Miami-Dade County, since 2012, previously representing the 102nd District from 2006 to 2012.
The 1998 Florida Gubernatorial Election was held on November 3, 1998 to determine the Governor for the State of Florida. Two-term Democratic incumbent Governor Lawton Chiles was term-limited and could not run for re-election. John Ellis "Jeb" Bush, who had previously run for governor in 1994 was the Republican nominee, and incumbent Lieutenant Governor Kenneth Hood "Buddy" MacKay was the Democratic nominee. Bush defeated MacKay by nearly 11% of the vote, and won his first of two terms as governor.
The 2012 United States presidential election in Florida took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 General Election in which all 50 states plus The District of Columbia participated. Florida voters chose 29 electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, Vice President Joe Biden, against Republican challenger and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and his running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan. Several counties in the state suffered delays in finalizing their votes. This was caused in part by a high turnout, as well as a large number of absentee ballots to count, though some (international) media responded that 'foul play' might be involved.
The 2016 presidential campaign of Jeb Bush, the 43rd Governor of Florida, was formally launched on June 15, 2015, coming six months after announcing the formal exploration of a candidacy for the 2016 Republican nomination for the President of the United States on December 16, 2014, and the formation of the Right to Rise PAC. On February 20, 2016, Bush announced his intention to drop out of the presidential race following the South Carolina primary. Had Bush been elected, he would have been the first president from Florida and the first brother of a U.S. president to win the presidency himself.