State House District 5!

The St. Pete Times is running a story about Sheriff Johnny Mac from Jackson County. He is running to replace Rep. Don Brown, and I think he will win!

Here is the text of the article...


Can a Democratic sheriff break into a Republican stronghold?
By Steve Bousquet
Published July 16, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - For the past decade, Republicans have solidified their power in Florida by offering Panhandle voters a steady diet of conservative candidates.
As a result, what was once the bastion of such Democratic giants as Gov. Reubin Askew, Sen. Dempsey Barron and U.S. Rep. Bob Sikes has become their political Siberia.
Panhandle voters long ago rejected what they saw as a liberal national Democratic Party. Local Democratic candidates faced a brutal choice: Switch parties or face certain defeat. Many switched.
But now a sprawling rural legislative district west of the Apalachicola River poses a test of whether Democrats can break the Republicans' monopoly in this close-knit region of hunting, fishing and white-steepled churches.
The Democrats' possible savior is John McDaniel, who for nearly three decades has been sheriff of Jackson County.
"Johnny Mac," as he is known, is running for the District 5 House seat being vacated by Don Brown, a feisty Republican from DeFuniak Springs, who will be term-limited out of office in 2008.
McDaniel, 66, said he had made up his mind to run for the Legislature before the horrific day last January when his wife Mellie was shot to death outside their home by a rampaging murder suspect who also killed a sheriff's deputy.
"I've got 28 years in this business and I feel I've got something to offer," McDaniel said. "I want to do good for my people."
A proud Democrat and lifelong resident of Marianna, McDaniel says he would never switch parties. But he twice endorsed Republican Gov. Jeb Bush.
The district is more than 100 miles long and stretches from Marianna on the east to Fort Walton Beach on the west, past two giant military bases and through such towns as Bonifay, Chipley and Two Egg.
It's the only legislative district that borders two states: Georgia and Alabama. Along here, on U.S. 90, a young Lawton Chiles set out on his "walking campaign" through Mossy Head, Cottondale and Ponce de Leon that took him to the U.S. Senate in 1970.
The district, bisected by I-10, is home to about 5,000 more Democrats than Republicans. But it votes distinctly Republican in state and national races.
So far, three Republicans are running for Brown's seat: Brad Drake, who served as Brown's legislative aide; Sherry Campbell, an Okaloosa County commissioner and an accountant; and Andrew Dwyer, owner of a janitorial company.
Former House Speaker Allan Bense of Panama City, a Republican, said he advised McDaniel not to run for the seat because there's simply too much history on the Republicans' side.
"Johnny Mac is a great guy and I've known him a long time, but I think he faces an uphill battle in that district," Bense said.
But Democrats say McDaniel's deep roots in the area and his law-and-order profile make him a strong candidate.
Thom Eldon, a Democratic pollster, said McDaniel is the rare Democratic candidate who will make voters reconsider their partisan preferences.
"Any Democrat who wears a gun on his hip is going to be popular in the district," Eldon said.
"Authentic" is the description used by Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, the House minority leader, to describe McDaniel.
Brown, also a McDaniel admirer, said the sheriff's biggest challenge is not political, but geographical: doing the hard travel and investing the time to make himself known in the western part of the district.
"I wouldn't be so presumptuous as to say it's a safe Republican seat," Brown said. "Historically, the district has performed Republican, but in these times I don't think anybody would be well-advised to take anything for granted."
McDaniel spent the Fourth of July shaking hands in DeFuniak Springs in the central part of the district, and said he was surprised that people recognized him from local TV news. His GOP rivals have already begun walking neighborhoods and knocking on doors.
After his wife's death, McDaniel said he prayed about what to do next in his life. He wants to change the way the FCAT is used to grade students, emphasize vocational education more and improve mental health programs for jail inmates.
"The door seemed to be opening up for me to run for this job."
Times staff writer Alex Leary and researcher Angie Drobnic Holan contributed to this report. Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com or 850 224-7263.
[Last modified July 16, 2007, 19:06:11]

Run Johnny, Run!