Tea Party Flavors Congressional Race to Replace Putnam
Monday, October 11, 2010
By: Steve Newborn, WUSF

October 11, 2010 | WUSF- Republican Congressman Adam Putnam is leaving his Central Florida seat to run for state Agriculture Commissioner, and the race to replace him is anything but politics as usual. The Democratic and Republican contenders are joined by a strong candidate from the Tea Party.

The taste of tea is flavoring the race for District 12, which sprawls from Polk through eastern and southern Hillsborough County. Candidate Randy Wilkinson isn't just riding the anti-incumbent wave that runs through the Tea Party. Rather, he's a small-government conservative who has already sat on the Polk County School Board and served two terms on the Polk County Commission.

"I'm going to do what's best for this country and for this district," said Wilkinson. "Your vote for me is going to be a trend-setting vote. I'd be the first Tea Party-elected Congressman in this country."

That was Wilkinson's answer during a recent debate at the Peace River Country Club in Bartow.

"Who got us into this huge debt that we face? Republicans and Democrats," he said. "Who got us into this incredible deficit spending - earmarks gone mad? Republicans and Democrats. Who gave us the recession? Republicans and Democrats."

University of South Florida political science professor Susan MacManus commented on the race after speaking to a civic group in Lakeland about District 12.

"I think that he has the reputation that if there is a tax, he's going to be against it," she said. "So he has that reputation that sort of is not your typical incumbent county commissioner viewpoint."

MacManus says Wilkinson has developed a reputation for being a maverick on the county commission, which could tap into the current anti-incumbent fervor.

During the Bartow debate, even his Democratic opponent, Lori Edwards, agreed that many voters are fed up with partisan politics.

"I think the partisanship and bickering has gotten to the point where it has turned voters off in record numbers," Edwards said. "I talk to a lot of voters and you know what? They are disgusted with it. Not only are they disgusted with the partisanship, they are to the point where they can't tell the difference between a Republican and a Democrat anymore."

Edwards, who is Polk County's Supervisor of Elections, says more people have registered as Independents in Polk this year than with the major political parties. She even commented on the smaller-government-is-better wave while voicing her opposition to offshore oil drilling.

"If elected, I'm going to work to stop the harmful practices of the big oil companies," she said, "even big government."

On the Republican side is Dennis Ross. He represented parts of Lakeland for eight years in the state House of Representatives until he was term-limited out of office. He paints himself as the only "true conservative" in the race.

"I don't think we should rely on the federal government to provide us everything from jobs to health care," said Ross. "Rather, I think we should see America get back to its greater days. Re-incentivizing entrepreneurship and innovation. Making sure that small business can prosper here. And that we don't tax those who are successful. That we don't bail out those who are irresponsible."

During the debate and in his ads, Ross takes aim squarely at Edwards, the Democrat. MacManus says that might be a winning strategy, since conservative voters are probably already split between the Tea Party and the Republicans.

"And I think that in terms of Ross' strategy of not going after the Tea Party, he would probably get a large share of conservative Democrats than he would going after the Tea Party people who are already in place for Wilkinson," she said.

MacManus she says conservative and working-class Democrats are more likely to lean Republican this year, so it's anybody's guess who will this race.