"LOGAN LEADS GROUP OF SENATE LONG SHOTS"

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October 5, 2000

by Gary Fineout
Tallahassee Bureau

GREEN COVE SPRINGS — State Rep. Willie Logan has come to the 117th celebration of the First African Missionary Baptist Church in this tiny North Florida town near Jacksonville to preach his own form of political gospel.

The tall lanky candidate running an independent campaign for the U.S. Senate waits two hours — through a half-dozen songs, several prayers and a fiery sermon — to deliver a simple two-minute political message.

''I have dedicated my life to public service and I believe I can make a difference,'' Logan tells the 100 people in the audience. ''When you go the polls on Nov. 7, don't forget Willie Logan.''

But the emotional service that preceded Logan's short speech could be an apt metaphor for the long-shot bid that he launched a year ago. The Rev. Karl Flagg — a guest minister from nearby Palatka — tells the crowd that there is help available for ''lost souls'' and of needing guidance in crossing rivers and climbing mountains.

The church members and choir join together to sing loudly: ''We have come this far by faith.''

Faith may be all that is left for the 43-year-old Logan, the one-time rising star of the Florida Democratic Party. The Dade County native was first elected to represent his hometown of Opa-locka in 1982 and 15 years later he was selected House Democratic Leader.

But it all fell apart in early 1998. His fellow white Democrats dumped the black politician from his post, saying he was too liberal and not doing enough to raise money for House races.

The move created a firestorm for Democrats. Logan became a ''free agent'' and was wooed aggressively by Florida Republicans. He endorsed Gov. Jeb Bush over Buddy MacKay in the 1998 election.

But instead of joining the Republicans, Logan decided to run as an independent candidate after Florida Sen. Connie Mack announced he would not seek a third term.

To bolster the idea of a maverick campaign, Logan initially enlisted help from the same political consultant that helped Jesse Ventura become the governor of Minnesota.

But now the roughly $500,000 he has raised for his campaign has just about run out. Logan admitted his campaign was distracted and hurt by news reports that the non-profit development agency he heads — the Opa-locka Community Development Corp. — lent him $63,000 to pay off personal debts before he started his Senate campaign.

Logan, who is paid $112,773 a year as president of the company, said he has since paid the money back, but concedes that law enforcement authorities made inquiries when the loan was revealed.

Logan keeps hoping that televised debates and his constant campaigning will help him overcome the millions that Republican Bill McCollum and Democrat Bill Nelson are spending. He has filed a lawsuit against the state, saying that a 1998 constitutional amendment approved by voters authorized public financing for all offices elected statewide.

He says that voters he has met are turned off by the negative ads exchanged by the two frontrunners and that they are seeking an alternative. He's hoping that his brand of populism — along with liberal positions on abortion, the death penalty and gun control — can win some converts.

''People do care about politics, but they don't have a lot of faith that they can make a lot of difference,'' said Logan. ''People do really want to have some impact and think that they should have some choices. No one is saying — other than the press — 'You shouldn't run or you can't win.'

''If you think I'm just going to get 5 percent of the vote, then I think you are underestimating the desire and willingness of people to choose someone outside the political process,'' he said.

But Logan — who grew up in Miami and still lives three miles from his childhood home — remains relatively unknown outside of South Florida.

''This is a state where television ads are essential,'' said Susan MacManus, a political science professor with the University of South Florida. ''This is a state with 10 media markets and you have to play in all of them.''

Logan is one of five candidates who will appear on the ballot with McCollum and Nelson on Nov. 7. Many of them are mavericks and renegades as well. There's West Palm Beach resident Andy Martin, who has run unsuccessfully as a Republican in the past but is now running with no party affiliation.

Joe Simonetta from Sarasota is the Natural Law Party candidate and his main platform is that campaign finance reform is desperately needed.

Joel Deckard, a former Indiana Congressman now living in Jacksonville, is the Reform Party candidate. He also stresses the need for campaign finance reform, but he also shares Reform Party positions in opposition to NAFTA and other trade agreements.

Darrell McCormick from Gainesville is also running with no party affiliation.

But Logan argues that he is unique from the other candidates because he has held elected office for the last 20 years. During his time in the Legislature, Logan gained a reputation for being able to win money for his district.

In the two years since he was booted from his leadership post, Logan has indeed been a ''free agent'' in how he votes. He supported school vouchers and the ''A-plus'' education reform plan pushed by Bush. He voted for mandatory sentences for those who use guns, but he opposed Bush's efforts to speed up death penalty appeals.

''It's inhumane, it's barbaric and it doesn't deter crime,'' said Logan of the death penalty.

Logan has other liberal positions: He supports affirmative action and believes in decriminalizing marijuana. He wants to keep abortion legal and wants to allow patients to sue their health maintenance organizations.

But Logan also supports positions advocated by Texas Gov. George W. Bush: He is in favor of a partial privatization of Social Security and says that U.S. forces should be used on a very limited basis in foreign countries.

His call for campaign finance reform — including more public financing of campaigns and banning unlimited contributions to political parties — earns him high marks from callers to a St. Augustine radio show.

''He's got all the right points,'' concedes Sandra Brogan, a Flagler County resident who is greeted by Logan when he is campaigning in St. Augustine. ''I'm a registered Republican, but I'm not opposed to voting independent at all.''

While Logan spent time last week talking on a station that caters to older white residents of St. Augustine, it's his visits to black churches and places such as Bethune-Cookman College that have fueled suspicion about his bid for office.

There are theories that his real goal is to hurt Nelson by reaching out to traditional Democratic voters. During a recent visit to the predominately black college in Daytona Beach, Logan has lashed out at Nelson.

Logan says he has visited about 100 churches during the last year, saying they are good place to meet voters ''one on one.'' But he bristles at the idea that he is in the race to help McCollum defeat Nelson.

''I am spending a fair amount of time reaching out to the people of the state of Florida,'' he said. ''I am not excluding myself from campaigning to the black community; that would be foolish. They are 10 percent of the voters.''

He also says it's ''insulting'' for anyone to question his sincerity.

''I wish someday someone would ask white candidates are they campaigning or they just trying to get white votes?'' said Logan. ''Every day I wake up and look in the mirror and recognize I am black," Logan said. "But to have to always face questions that I am only doing this to get black votes or take away black votes from someone else is wrong.''

WILLIE LOGAN
PARTY: no political affiliation

BORN: Feb. 16, 1957

RESIDENCE: Opa-locka

EDUCATION: University of Miami (B.S., M.B.A.)

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: Founded Opa-Locka Community Development Corp. in 1980 and is still president of the organization. Elected Mayor of Opa-Locka at age 23. Elected to Florida House in 1982. Served as chairman of Criminal Justice budget subcommittee and Finance and Tax committee. Selected House Democratic Leader in 1997, but was removed in early 1998 by colleagues.

FAMILY: Married. Three godchildren.

INTERESTS: Motorcycle riding, basketball, history

QUOTE: ''It is in the best interests of the people I represent to get out from under partisan political games, consider each issue on its own merits, and then do what it is right for the people of Florida, not what one political party or the other wants me to do.''