"LOGAN'S RUN: Independent Candidate Should Enliven Campaign"

October 31, 1999

by Tom Fiedler

When state Rep. Willie Logan faced voters for re-election a year ago, he was in much the same position as that proverbial fellow who gets all dressed up but has no place to go.

He coasted back into office in his Opa-locka district. But that road runs to a dead end next year as Mr. Logan hits Florida's eight-year limit on holding office. Also, he was anything but beloved in his Democratic Party, having endorsed Republican Jeb Bush for governor and then lined up with the House's GOP leadership. That's not the kind of thing that assures you of a bright future in Democratic politics.

But, if you're a person of faith--as Rep. Logan is--you believe that for every door that closes another opens.

And so it was that on the same ballot that Florida voters overwhelmingly passed more than a dozen amendments to the state constitution, the most sweeping overhaul of Florida's political structure in 30 years. Tucked among those changes, noted by few, was a provision that for the first time since Woodrow Wilson was President allowed someone to qualify as a candidate merely by meeting the same standards that apply to the Democratic and Republican Party candidates--which is to say, pay the filing fee of one-tenth the job's salary.

Four weeks ago, Rep. Logan announced that he would seek the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Connie Mack, who is retiring after 12 years. More to the point, he said he will do it as an independent candidate, becoming the first to take advantage of that constitutional change. No doubt he remains the longest of long shots facing veteran Democrat Bill Nelson and the winner of the GOP primary between U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum of Orlando and state Education Commissioner Tom Gallagher. Where each of the major parties stands ready to spend upwards of $10 million, Mr. Logan will count himself lucky to raise $2 million.

Still, Mr. Logan's presence in the race adds a quality that has been missing from Florida campaigns for too many years. In a word, he may make it interesting.

Pop quiz: Does anybody remember a single issue to emerge from Florida's last U.S. Senate race? Heck, does anyone even remember anything about that race including when it was?

Fact is, left to the Republican and Democratic candidates, little would be uttered that hadn't been poll-tested to a fare-thee-well to ensure utter blandness. We could sleep through the whole thing and hardly miss a new idea.

But now along comes Mr. Logan to say that we should stop putting drug users in jail; we should ban most assault rifles and license (after testing) all gun owners; we should subsidize first-time home buyers, and make kindergarten available for three-year-olds.

These may or may not be good ideas. But they are interesting and risky and worthy of debate. Take note, too, that Mr. Logan's media advisor is Bill Hillman, whose most recent client was Jesse Ventura--an independent.

The campaign, of course will determine who among the contenders should serve in the Senate. But by changing the constitution to open the way for mavericks like Mr. Logan, Florida voters can already count themselves as winners.