The 1994 Florida gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1994. Democratic incumbent Lawton Chiles was narrowly re-elected to a second term over Republican former Florida commerce secretary Jeb Bush. This race was the second-closest gubernatorial election in Florida history, after the 1876 election, due to the strong Republican wave of 1994. As of , this is the last time a Democrat was elected governor of Florida.
Primary elections were held on September 8. Chiles dispatched a challenge from populist activist Jack Gargan to win the Democratic nomination. Bush won a plurality of the Republican primary vote, with particular strength in Dade County. Although Florida secretary of state James C. Smith finished second and was entitled to challenge Bush in a runoff election, he declined and Bush was certified as the Republican nominee.
Background Lawton Chiles was eligible to run for a second four-year term under the Constitution of Florida. In late 1991, Chiles's disapproval rating rose significantly after he cut funds for education in his first budget. Around 75 percent of Floridians gave him a fair or poor performance rating. The following year, Chiles's approval rating fell to only 22 percent after the perceptions that the state response to Hurricane Andrew was inadequate. His disapproval rating remained as high as 71 percent into 1993. As a result, some Democrats suggested that U.S. senator Bob Graham run for a third, non-consecutive term as governor.
Democratic primary Candidates Lawton Chiles, incumbent governor since 1991 Running mate: Buddy MacKay, incumbent lieutenant governor since 1991 Jack Gargan, retired financial consultant and founder of THRO Running mate: James H. King
Declined
Bob Butterworth, Florida Attorney General Betty Castor, Education Commissioner of Florida Bill Frederick, former mayor of Orlando Bob Graham, U.S. senator and former governor Buddy MacKay, incumbent lieutenant governor since 1991
Results
Republican primary Candidates Josephine A. Arnold, Seminole County osteopathic neurologist and candidate for State Senate in 1992 Running mate: Bob Brown
Bob Bell, Miami attorney Running mate: George Roller Jeb Bush, Miami businessman, son of former president George Bush and former Florida commerce secretary Running mate: Tom Feeney, state representative from Seminole County Kenneth L. Connor, attorney and former president of Florida Right to Life Running mate: Mel Martinez, Orlando attorney and former president of the Association of Florida Trial Lawyers Ander Crenshaw, state senator from Jacksonville, son-in-law of Claude R. Kirk, and candidate for U.S. Senate in 1980 Running mate: Chester Clem, former state representative from Vero Beach and candidate for governor in 1986 Tom Gallagher, Florida state treasurer and candidate for governor in 1982 and 1986 Running mate: Curt Kiser, state senator from Pinellas County Jim Smith, Florida secretary of state, former Florida attorney general and Democratic candidate for governor in 1986 Running mate: Barbara Sheen Todd, Pinellas County commissioner and president of the National Association of Counties
Campaign Ander Crenshaw was dogged by campaign finance issues after his announcement, beginning with a rumor that his campaign had asked donors to postdate checks by months.
Polling Poll sourceDate(s) administeredSample sizeMargin of errorJeb BushAnder CrenshawKen ConnorTom GallagherJim SmithUndecidedMason-DixonOctober 710, 1993301 (RV)± 5.5%19%4%1%27%10%2%
Results
A runoff primary election was scheduled to be held between leading candidate Jeb Bush and second-place candidate James C. Smith because no candidate received a majority of the vote. However, Smith dropped out of the race a few days later, leaving Bush as the Republican nominee for governor.
General election Candidates Jeb Bush, businessman, son of former President of the United States George H. W. Bush and former Florida Secretary of Commerce (Republican) Running mate: Tom Feeney, state representative from Seminole County Lawton Chiles, incumbent Governor of Florida (Democratic) Running mate: Buddy MacKay, incumbent lieutenant governor since 1991
Write-in candidates George "G. G." Boone, self-employed carpenter (Independent) Calvin "C. C." Reed, former trucking and moving industry worker (Independent)
Campaign Bush ran as a political conservative and tried to paint Chiles as beholden to liberal interests. At one point, when asked what he would do for African Americans, Bush responded, "It's time to strive for a society where there's equality of opportunity, not equality of results. So I'm going to answer your question by saying: probably nothing."
The final weeks of the campaign was described as "one of the nastiest in Florida political history."
On the day before the election, the Chiles campaign called about 70,000 Floridians in a get out the vote effort. Their calls alleged that Bush was a "tax cheat" and that his running mate Tom Feeney planned to destroy Social Security, and the callers falsely attributed these claims to "tax fairness" and senior citizen advocacy organizations. Chiles denied authorizing the phone calls but still later apologized when the media discovered top officials in his campaign had authorized them. When the Florida legislature investigated the calls, Chiles claimed he was "out of the loop."
Polling
Opinion poll source Date LawtonChiles (D) JebBush (R) Associated Industries of Florida Nov. 3-4, 1994 48% 43% Mason-Dixon Nov. 1-3, 1994 48% 45% The New York Times Oct. 30-Nov. 3, 1994 47% 41% Orlando Sentinel Nov. 1, 1994 48% 45% Associated Industries of Florida Oct. 30, 1994 45% 45% St. Petersburg Times Oct. 16, 1994 39% 49% Mason-Dixon Oct. 7, 1994 43% 48% Mason-Dixon Sep. 1-3, 1994 43% 48% Mason-Dixon Aug. 1-3, 1994 44% 41% Mason-Dixon July 1–3, 1994 46% 35% Mason-Dixon Feb. 1-3, 1994 42% 38% Mason-Dixon Oct. 1-3, 1993 41% 32%
Debates + 1994 Florida gubernatorial debatesDateHostModeratorLinkDemocraticRepublicanKey: Participant Absent Not invited Invited WithdrawnLawton ChilesJeb Bush1Oct. 4, 1994WLRN-TV Miami Herald Florida Economic Development CouncilDavid Lawrence John Anderson Jim Breitenseld Tom FielderC-SPAN2Oct. 18, 1994Politics in the ParkN/AC-SPAN3Nov. 1, 1994NBC Florida affiliates League of Women VotersTim RussertC-SPAN On October 18, a debate was broadcast by 36 radio stations from at Walt Disney World in Orlando. Bush and Chiles stood behind two lecterns decorated with Mickey Mouse ears.
On November 1, another debate between Bush and Chiles was conducted by the League of Women Voters of Florida at Tampa Performing Arts Center. Early in the debate, Chiles again criticized Bush's ad about the death penalty, stating that Bush had outdone his father's ad about Willie Horton and saying "You knew [the ad] was false. You admitted it was false. And I am ashamed that you would use the loss of a mother in an ad like this." Later, during a discussion about school vouchers, Chiles quipped "My mama told me, 'sticks and stones will break my bones,' but names will never hurt me. But let me tell you one other thing about the old liberal. The old He-Coon walks just before the light of day." This referenced Chiles' Florida cracker roots, and served as a deliberate contrast with the more urbane Bush.
Campaign finance Throughout the campaign, Bush raised approximately $7 million, more than half of which came from fundraisers featuring his parents and out-of-state fundraisers sponsored by his family and friends. On each of Barbara and George H. W. Bush's visits to Florida, they raked in about $1 million for the campaign. Chiles limited contributions to $100 per person and raised $6.23 million, which included $2 million in public money.
Results Chiles prevailed against Bush by about 1.52 percent of the vote. Amid the Republican Revolution of 1994, Chiles was one of two Democratic governors to win close races to hold their seat that night, along with Zell Miller of neighboring Georgia. However, Republicans gained control of the Florida Senate for the first time in over a century, U.S. senator Connie Mack III was reelected to a second term in a landslide, and Republicans won races for Secretary of State, Comptroller, and Commissioner of Education. A statewide ballot initiative to legalize casino gambling was defeated with only 38 percent of the vote.
In comparison with the 1990 election, Chiles performed significantly worse in North and Central Florida.
By county Chiles again won with a "Dixie–Dade strategy," winning both rural, conservative Dixie County and urban Dade County, home of Miami. Chiles also carried the other two major urban South Florida counties, Broward and Palm Beach. Although he lost several counties in the Panhandle which he had won in 1990, including his native Polk County, Chiles' largest margin of victory was in Gadsden County, the only plurality African American county in Florida.
Bush received his highest shares of the vote in several northern rural counties, especially Baker, Clay, and Union counties. County Chiles% Chiles# Bush% Bush# Others% Others# Total#Alachua61.8%35,030 38.2%21,624 0%756,661Baker 31.5%1,65468.5%3,600 0%05,254Bay 43.1%17,81656.9%23,498 0%241,316Bradford 37.1%2,64262.9%4,470 0%07,112Brevard 46.6%72,39353.4%82,878 0%6155,277Broward65.4%261,368 34.6%138,333 0%11399,712Calhoun50.5%1,811 49.5%1,775 0%03,586Charlotte 46.3%24,15953.7%27,965 0%052,124Citrus 49.3%20,09450.7%20,633 0%540,732Clay 29.1%9,98670.9%24,290 0%134,276Collier 38.6%22,86061.4%36,370 0%059,230Columbia 41.6%5,28858.3%7,408 0%012,696DeSoto 45.6%2,85654.4%3,407 0%06,263Dixie50.2%2,003 49.7%1,981 0%53,989Duval 42.5%80,94557.2%108,900 0%471190,316Escambia 42.2%33,21057.7%45,261 0%178,472Flagler52.6%7,954 47.4%7,160 0%015,114Franklin66.6%2,636 33.4%1,324 0%03,960Gadsden69.4%7,751 30.6%3,422 0%011,173Gilchrist 47.0%1,70153.0%1,922 0%03,623Glades51.4%1,387 48.6%1,310 0%02,697Gulf56.7%3,060 43.3%2,339 0%05,399Hamilton50.4%1,453 49.6%1,429 0%02,882Hardee50.4%2,695 49.6%2,649 0%15,345Hendry 44.2%2,62355.8%3,308 0%05,931Hernando50.8%25,331 49.2%24,532 0%049,863Highlands 45.7%12,32354.3%14,617 0%126,940Hillsborough 48.6%117,97451.4%124,561 0%11242,546Holmes 42.0%2,13458.0%2,942 0%05,076Indian River 44.3%16,41055.7%20,630 0%037,040Jackson 46.9%5,90753.1%6,698 0%012,605Jefferson61.3%2,575 38.7%1,625 0%04,200Lafayette 45.9%93654.1%1,105 0%02,041Lake 49.5%29,79750.5%30,394 0%060,191Lee 43.8%58,78556.2%75,365 0%0134,150Leon63.4%47,323 36.6%27,265 0%174,589Levy51.5%4,588 48.5%4,322 0%08,910Liberty 49.0%94751.0%985 0%01,932Madison54.3%2,564 45.7%2,161 0%14,726Manatee 49.1%40,47350.9%41,915 0%082,388Marion 44.7%31,34555.3%38,784 0%170,129Martin 45.1%20,70654.9%25,239 0%045,945Miami-Dade52.0%215,276 48.0%198,371 0%1413,648Monroe56.7%13,232 43.3%10,086 0%123,319Nassau 34.8%5,33165.2%9,968 0%015,299Okaloosa 34.3%16,45965.7%31,459 0%047,918Okeechobee 49.6%3,49250.4%3,545 0%07,037Orange 48.0%85,09852.0%92,096 0%0177,194Osceola 45.3%15,29254.7%18,437 0%133,730Palm Beach61.3%198,638 38.7%125,208 0%3323,849Pasco52.4%57,597 47.6%52,418 0%5110,020Pinellas51.0%166,858 49.0%160,115 0%7326,980Polk 47.9%58,36452.5%65,415 0%0123,779Putnam 39.8%9,65852.1%10,505 0%020,163Santa Rosa 36.6%11,72663.4%20,345 0%432,075Sarasota 47.4%60,77052.6%67,531 0%0128,301Seminole 44.3%39,32455.7%49,387 0%188,712St. Johns 36.7%12,79163.3%22,036 0%034,827St. Lucie50.5%27,956 49.5%27,436 0%055,392Sumter51.1%5,603 48.9%5,360 0%110,964Suwanee 43.7%3,93556.3%5,064 0%08,999Taylor 49.6%2,97950.4%3,024 0%06,003Union 28.2%79171.8%2,009 0%02,800Volusia53.2%66,614 46.8%58,632 0%34125,280Wakulla59.7%3,696 40.3%2,492 0%06,188Walton 43.8%5,06756.2%6,493 0%011,560Washington 47.8%2,96852.2%3,240 0%06,208
Aftermath
Phonegate