Florida Senate race shaping up as one of nation's best
By Pat Neal/CNN
May 25, 2000
Web posted at: 6:25 p.m. EDT (2225 GMT)
MIAMI (CNN) -- The candidates for Florida's open Senate seat are revved up and ready to go.
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Sen. Connie Mack is retiring from the Senate.
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In all, there are 12 candidates registered to run for the seat currently held by retiring Republican Connie Mack.
Democrats are betting they can take the seat with Bill Nelson, the state's treasurer and insurance commissioner and a former member of Congress. While a member of the House of Representatives, Nelson served on the space subcommittee and flew on the shuttle Columbia in 1986. He is well-known statewide and faces minimal competition.
But the GOP race is something different. Polls show the two lead Republicans are neck-and-neck in their fight for the primary in September.
Rep. Bill McCollum's economic and social conservatism may appeal to Republican primary voters. But polls show his top competitor, the more moderate Tom Gallagher, could be a stronger candidate against Nelson, the likely Democratic nominee.
"I think the main difference between me and my opponent is that nobody really thinks he can win the general election," Gallagher said of McCollum.
Gallagher has been elected statewide three times. He currently serves as the state's commissioner of education. Previously, he was elected insurance commissioner.
This is McCollum's first statewide race, so he started early getting both his name and message out.
McCollum is a 20-year veteran of Congress and a former JAG, or Navy prosecutor. He gained prominence for leading the charge of House managers in the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. That's something Democrats are likely to remind voters.
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Rep. Bill McCollum, a 20-year veteran of Congress, is running to succeed Mack.
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"There was a negative, visceral reaction against the overzealousness -- the mean-spiritedness -- that came out of that impeachment trial," Nelson said.
McCollum's negative numbers are the highest of the leading candidates.
Rounding out the top four, but far behind in the polls, is Democrat-turned-independent Willie Logan.
"I think that there's too much partisan politics in our government," Logan said in a recent interview. He is a former state representative who dumped his party and backed Republican Jeb Bush for governor. He's armed with the media consultant who helped elect Jesse Ventura the governor of Minnesota. To get attention, he's on a statewide motorcycle tour, hoping for some of that Ventura magic.
Analysts say Florida could be the Democrats' best bet in picking up a Senate seat. The party's leading candidate is in an enviable position, with little competition and a hefty war chest. Meanwhile the Republicans
have four months to duke it out before the primary.
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