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"INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE SERIOUS ABOUT STAYING AFLOAT IN SENATE RACE"
Tallahassee
Democrat by Bill Cotterell Willie Logan is very serious about seeing his independent bid for the U.S. Senate taken seriously. Except for judicial retention races, Florida has never elected a black candidate statewide. There are no independents in the Senate. Logan scrapes together gas money for his mini-pickup while Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Bill McCollum fly to campaign stops in chartered jets. And where their television commercials bombard Floridians daily, Logan had to fight to get a third seat in their televised debates. "I hear people saying, 'I wish you could win,' or some folks saying, 'I want to vote for you, but I don't want to throw my vote away,' " Logan said Saturday, between riding in the FAMU parade and visiting Perry's tree festival. "But big money should not be determinative." Logan, 43, is the best-known of the independent and minor-party candidates running shoestring campaigns to succeed U.S. Sen. Connie Mack, R-Cape Coral, this year. Logan grew up in Opa-locka and was elected mayor of that North Dade town at 23. He attended Miami-Dade Community College and the University of Miami, graduating with a business-administration degree in 1977 and a master's degree in health care in 1997. A House member since 1982, Logan became a statewide figure -- and symbol of black anger at being taken for granted by Democrats -- when party members replaced him with ex-Rep. Anne MacKenzie of Fort Lauderdale as speaker-designate for the 1998-99 term. It had no practical effect, since there was no chance Democrats would win back the House, but dumping the first black speaker-designate sent shock waves through an already fractured party. Logan endorsed Gov. Jeb Bush, the Republican nominee for governor, and announced his candidacy as an independent for the Senate last year. Tallahassee political consultant Gayle Andrews, a veteran of many Democratic campaigns, compares Logan to Green Party presidential nominee Ralph Nader, who has Vice President Al Gore worried in some key states. "He's sort of like Ralph Nader, who could be hurtful to Gore," said Andrews. "However, when folks go into the voting booth, they're going to vote for someone who can be elected." Logan said "it's disappointing" to be written off as a spoiler. He said "people are tired of partisan bickering" between McCollum and Nelson and want "big money" out of politics. McCollum had raised about $6.5 million and Nelson has raised $5.3 million through September, while Federal Election Commission reports showed Logan with about $340,000 at mid-year. "We're benefiting from the frustration that's out there, the people wanting to send a message and see a difference," said Logan. "I've been putting in 16-hour days, seven days a week, for a year and a half. If I didn't believe I could win, I wouldn't have faith in God. I wouldn't believe in our democracy." The Reform Party and Natural Law parties are backing candidates in the Nov. 7 election. There are also two other no-party hopefuls on the ballot. Former U.S. Rep. Joel Deckard of Jacksonville, who represented Indiana in Washington from 1979 to 1983, is the Reform nominee. Joe Simonetta of Sarasota represents the Natural Law Party on the ballot. Independent Andy Martin of West Palm Beach and Darrell McCormick of Gainesville are also seeking the Senate seat. "People are looking for a way to stick it to the major political parties," said Deckard, a computer technical specialist at Citibank. "I am a reasonable person with some experience." Simonetta also has trouble getting his campaign before the people. Like Logan, he said he wants to see serious campaign-finance reform in Washington -- although he holds little hope for that. "Expecting Congress to do it is like putting foxes in the chicken coop," he said. Martin, a Republican candidate for the Senate two years ago, said he is an independent this time but "I am in the reform wing of the Republican Party." And although he is also an independent, McCormick described himself as a Libertarian. He said limiting the televised debates to Logan, McCollum and Nelson short-changed the voters. "It's not fair. The debates should be to inform, not to exclude," he said. "We've been shut out." |
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