Jeb Bush

Governor of Florida

In 1998, Bush defeated Democratic opponent Lt. Governor Buddy MacKay (55% to 45%) to become governor, after courting moderate voters and Hispanics. Simultaneously, his brother George W. Bush won a landslide re-election victory for a second term as Governor of Texas, and the Bush brothers became the first siblings to govern two states at the same time since Nelson and Winthrop Rockefeller governed New York and Arkansas from 1967 to 1971.

Bush's administration has been marked by a focus on public education reform. His "A+ Plan" mandated standardized testing in Florida's public schools, eliminated social promotion and established a system of funding public schools based on a statewide grading system using the FCAT test. Bush has been a proponent of school vouchers and charter schools, especially in areas of the state with failing public schools, although to date very few schools have received failing grades from the state. One program that has seen fruition is the Florida Virtual High School, a distance-learning program that allows students in rural areas of the state to take Advanced Placement classes for college credit. However, his policies have also been driven by a firm refusal to raise taxes for education, which lead Bush to oppose a ballot initiative to amend the Florida Constitution to cap growing school class sizes. Bush was caught on tape boasting about having "a couple of devious plans if this thing passes." [5]. (The tape is available online. [6]) Despite his opposition, the amendment passed; [7] Bush's subsequent suggestions that the amendment be repealed [8] have contributed to criticisms that he has failed to implement it in good faith. A similar concern about new expenditures has lead to controversy over whether Florida has provided adequate resources to implement a subsequent voter-approved state constitutional amendment that requires a universal state-financed pre-Kindergarten program.[9]

For most of his career, Bush has also been a vocal advocate of environmentalism, signing legislation to protect the Everglades and opposing federal plans to drill for oil off the coast of Florida. In early October, 2005 Bush attempted to strike a compromise with fellow Republicans that would allow offshore drilling in an area that stretches 125 miles off Florida's coastline and give the state legislature the power to permit drilling closer to the state's coastlines. The compromise, which was warmly received by some Florida Republicans and U.S. Congressmen, such as bill sponsor Richard Pombo, has yet to be agreed upon; others, including some Republicans, notably U.S. Senator Mel Martinez, objected to any backtracking on the drilling moratorium; some, mostly Democrats, termed the shift a betrayal.

Some observers have questioned whether he or Secretary of State Katherine Harris attempted to help his brother in the 2000 presidential election by tampering with the voter rolls and then certifying a controversial election. Questions have been raised about Bush's involvement in the notorious "Florida Felons List" affair in which primarily black and Democratic voters who were not in fact felons erroneously were listed as ineligible to vote. Bush ignored at least one direct warning from a state computer expert that the list was flawed and should not be used. [10] Other opponents have questioned some of his business dealings, including a Nigerian deal, where it is claimed Nigerian government officials demanded bribes in return for approval of a $74,000,000 water-pump sale that was mostly financed by US foreign aid.

Governor Bush was involved in the case of Terri Schiavo, a woman with massive and irreversible brain damage, who was on a feeding tube for over 15 years, and whose husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo, wished to remove the tube. Bush, who is pro-life, signed "Terri's Law", a law passed by the Florida legislature that permitted the Governor to keep Schiavo alive. The law was successfully challenged in court, and ruled unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court on September 23, 2004. That decision was appealed to the federal courts, but on January 24, 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case, thus allowing the Florida court's ruling to stand. Bush took heated criticism from conservatives who were disappointed that he didn't take further action to prevent Schiavo from having her feeding tube removed.

Despite these critics, Bush has consistently remained popular overall in Florida — a state with more registered Democratic than Republican voters, and an influential and diverse number of independent swing voters, who are broadly recognized as determining the final outcome of every state election.

One of the most important goals of Bush's final two years as governor is to secure the FTAA Secretariat for Miami. Supporters of the governor believe he intends Miami to become the "Brussels of the Americas".

Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan. Brogan, a former fifth-grade teacher, principal, and superintendent, served only one term with Bush. After Brogan became a widower and then remarried, he was eager to start a new life with his second wife, so he opted not to serve a second term. Brogan was reelected to a second term in 2002 with Bush and then resigned in March of 2003. He and his new wife moved to Boca Raton, where he serves as president of Florida Atlantic University. Back in Tallahassee, a museum was named in honor of Brogan's late wife, Mary, who died of cancer and, like her husband, was a Florida school teacher.
Following Brogan's resignation, Bush appointed former State Senate President Toni Jennings as lieutenant governor. An Orlando resident, Jennings is reportedly Bush's preferred choice of a successor. While serving as Senate President during Bush's first term, she had disagreed with Bush on a number of issues and people were surprised when she was appointed to the number two post.

As governor, Bush serves as the chairman of the Florida Cabinet, a unique state agency which provides collective governance over part of state government. On the national-level, he is a member of the National Governors Association, the Southern Governors' Association, and the Republican Governors Association.

Bush's appeal to Florida voters

Bush is very popular among Cubans in Florida (winning 80% of the Cuban vote in 2002), and popular among non-Cuban Hispanics (56% in 2002, equaling the 56% he won statewide). As a longtime supporter of Israel, Bush also maintains a significant connection to Florida's Jewish voters. He was endorsed in his two winning governor races by a national Jewish publication, and won 44% of the state's Jewish vote in the 2002 governor's race. Many black voters support his focus on public education and parental choice in education, and a number of Black Republican clubs have sprung up in Florida. In his re-election in 2002, Bush surprised critics by winning the white female vote in the swing-voting battleground of Central Florida's I-4 corridor. Most recently, he has reached out extensively to Florida's Haitian community.

Bush's impact on his political party

Bush's appeal to Florida's highly diverse group of voters, along with his groundbreaking second term and success in expanding the so-called "big tent" of the Florida Republican Party, appears to have propelled him into a commanding political position. Nationwide, American conservatives appear to be positive about Bush, seeing him as committed to upholding core conservative principles. Bush strives to personally keep in touch with his base, as when he emailed his thanks to his most devoted supporters, on a conservative web site, within 24 hours after winning the 2002 governor's race. Throughout his two administrations, Bush's office has touted his record of non-discrimination and rewarding merit, claiming he employs highly qualified women, blacks and other minorities more often in top-level government positions than any previous Florida governor.

Republican candidates in Florida seem to have likewise benefited from Bush's leadership, turning the state's Senate and House of Representatives into solid Republican majorities during Bush's time in office. Outside of Florida, fellow Republican leaders throughout the country have sought Bush's aid both on and off the campaign trail. Bush's out-of-state campaign visits include Kentucky, where Republican challenger Ernie Fletcher appeared with Bush and won that state's governorship in 2003, ending a 32-year streak of Democratic governors. On the West Coast, after Democratic Governor Gray Davis was ousted in a California recall vote, Bush dispatched Florida's budget director to that state to lead an independent audit of California's budget, at the request of the state's newly elected Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.