by Glenn Tschimpke
Staff Writer
They’ve been wined and dined and probably promised the moon by two candidates looking to ascend to one of Florida’s most powerful elected positions in the Republican controlled House of Representatives. But Duval County’s delegation has chosen neither — yet.
Republican representatives Gaston Cantens of Miami and Allan Bense of Panama City have been politicking overtime among their fellow house members since early this year to influence their fellow legislators to elect them as speaker of the House in 2004. In a show of solidarity, Duval County’s six Republican representatives have decided to vote as a bloc.
“We, as a delegation, decided several months ago that we’re going to stick together as a delegation,” said Rep. Don Davis.
The strategy in voting as a group is that if the “Duval Six,” Stan Jordan, Aaron Bean, Dick Kravitz, Mike Hogan, Mark Mahon and Davis, stick together and their candidate goes on to win the speakership, they could potentially leverage that support into increased legislative clout for Northeast Florida.
“It ought to put us in pretty good stead with the speaker,” affirmed Davis.
Added Bean: “Voting as a bloc really strengthens our weight in the House. It’s a numbers game and this is all about numbers.”
Davis said they plan to meet within the next few weeks to determine who will ultimately get their support when they cast their vote next spring. The problem is who. During the spring legislative session, both Cantens and Bense were interviewed and both “came out great,” according to Bean.
The delegation will have to wrestle with the question of who will likely serve as the better ally in Tallahassee.
“There’s two ways to look at it,” said Jordan. “If we vote for the guy from North Florida, he can appreciate North Florida problems. If we vote for the guy from South Florida, he might be able to get his South Florida guys together and help us straighten out our problems.”
Davis, Kravitz and Bean appear to lean toward Bense. Jordan won’t say and Mahon and Hogan couldn’t be reached for comment.
“I think I’m basically leaning toward Bense,” said Kravitz. “It’s probably in our best interest to have someone in Northeast or North Florida as the speaker.”
Jordan was hesitant to commit to a name.
“Half of my friends are for Allan and half of my friends are for Gaston,” he said. “I tell people I’m going to vote for my friends.”