Bud Chiles is ending his low-budget, independent campaign for Florida governor – a move most expect to bolster support for Democratic nominee Alex Sink.
Several sources close to Chiles on Tuesday told the News Service of Florida that the son of the late Democratic governor planned to formally announce his decision Thursday, most likely in Tallahassee. It wasn’t immediately clear whether Chiles would endorse Sink – but she is widely seen as the beneficiary of his dropping out of the race.
“I think, to his credit, he realized that he could spoil this deal for Alex,” said Jeff Sharkey, a Tallahassee lobbyist who supports Sink, but was a longtime business partner with Chiles. “He’s truly committed to this state. He’s got Florida dirt in his boots.”
A Quinnipiac University poll last week showed Chiles drawing support from 12 percent of Florida voters, trailing Sink, with 33 percent, and Republican Rick Scott, who drew 29 percent backing at the time. Most alarming for the Sink campaign, however, was that 9 percent of state registered Democrats told Quinnipiac they would vote for Chiles.
“I don’t think he wanted to be the Ralph Nader of this race,” Sharkey said, recalling the consumer advocate whose support in the 2000 presidential campaign was seen as drawing votes away from Democrat Al Gore and helping Republican George W. Bush.
The Quinnipiac survey was released before Scott won the Republican nomination which, in turn, has likely given him a boost that could be further amplified by this week’s two-day unity tour with GOP legislative leaders, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and Republican Governors’ Association chairman Haley Barbour, the governor of Mississippi.
“The assumption is that if Chiles were to leave the race, more people who support him would be likely to go for Ms. Sink than Rick Scott, but it’s hard to know the exact effect,” said Quinnipiac University pollster Peter Brown. “The problem is we really don’t know who is for Chiles. We’ve assumed these people are more likely to be Democratic than Republican or liberal rather than conservative, but it’s also possible they are looking for someone not part of the system.”
Some Democrats, however, offered a more direct assessment.
“I applaud his selflessness,” said Mitch Caesar, the Broward County Democratic chairman. “But from a political perspective, this definitely benefits Alex Sink.”
Kyra Jennings, a Sink campaign spokeswoman, declined to comment on Chiles’ move.
Sink and Chiles had huddled before he entered the race, with the Democratic contender attempting to convince him that they shared most political values. But Chiles was undaunted – proceeding with a campaign that included long walks that sought to attract a political echo from the famed Panhandle-to-Keys walk taken by his father in winning election to the U.S. Senate in 1970.
Chiles also attempted to run as a government outsider. Just last week, he appeared outside the office of Tampa accountant Nancy Watkins, declaring it the site of “legal money laundering” for her role in keeping the books for 37 political committees active this campaign season. Chiles wanted to force more spending disclosure by such 527 committees.
But a lack of campaign cash is what may have finally forced this week’s decision. Chiles, who lent his own campaign $25,000, raised almost $100,000 for the race – but he also had spent almost as much, according to reports filed last week.
By John Kennedy
The News Service of Florida
Keith Lang of the News Service contributed to this report.
