Introduction to American Politics
Due: Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Florida Gubernatorial Race 2006 Analysis
This year’s midterm elections have brought about sweeping changes in the House and Senate, forcing media outlets to overwhelmingly focus on those races in post-election coverage. However, the results of gubernatorial races are also important political indicators and deserve just as much attention. I must admit that the results of the elections influenced my decision over which of my assigned topics to choose, because I wanted something that went against the grain. The victory of Republican Charlie Crist over Democrat Jim Davis in this year’s gubernatorial race in Florida intrigued me because it was something different, a GOP victory in a year when most Republicans suffered defeat.
Even though Florida has traditionally been a more Republican-leaning state, it has in the 2000 elections as well as now, shown that it can be the battlegrounds for a very tight race and that Democrats do stand a chance there (Kapochunas 2006). Early in the race Crist was shown as the clear favorite, but as it got closer to Election Day, and especially after the two televised debates that occurred in October, polls showed that Davis was catching up to Crist and tightening the race (Fechter 2006). In the end, however, Crist won 52%-45%, which represents a difference of over 300,000 votes (Cable News Network 2006).
There were three key issues at the core of this race: the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), growing property taxes, and the question of homeowners insurance (Fechter 2006). The candidates each had their own ways of solving these developing concerns, or not solving them, as the case may be. Crist has stated that he wants to cut taxes and give money back to the people. He also declared that he would take steps to slowly lower homeowners insurance by forcing insurance companies that offers homeowner’s coverage in other states but only offer other (more lucrative) insurance plans in Florida to stop this practice of “cherry-picking” or get out. The issue here is that Florida is hit by many tropical storms and hurricanes, and insurance companies that offer homeowner’s insurance in Florida don’t end up making a large profit. By basically forcing more insurance companies to offer homeowner’s insurance in Florida, Crist argues that the prices will naturally go down (Fechter 2006).