An old practitioner of politics who lives in Tallahassee told me Paul Renner clearly is the most qualified person to be governor but does not have a chance.
The reasons he cited: Renner’s lack of name recognition, plus the president’s endorsement of another candidate, and that candidate’s ability to attract gobs of money.
But I recall another election, when a guy from Jacksonville named Claude Kirk was running for governor in 1966 and pundits said he could not win.
Kirk was a Republican in what was then a stated dominated by Democrats. Before Kirk, no Republican had been elected governor since the death of Gen. George Custer.
Reporters covering Kirk’s campaign were not surprised. They saw the crowds that turned out to see him and noted their enthusiasm.
Some of the same spark was seen at an event for Renner held Friday at the Lakeshore Women’s Club. About 90-100 attended, and they oozed enthusiasm. It was one of four stops Renner made during a quick tour of the Gateway City.
Renner is a lawyer, a formal Navy officer and a former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.
He told the crowd four things in Florida were too costly – taxes, insurance, electricity and data centers – and that he would right to bring down all four. His beef with data centers is the amount of land and electricity they require.
He drew cheers when he promised to fight for a parental bill of rights in the state constitution. Another applause-getter was his promise to restrict both Chinese and Muslims from Florida. The Red Chinese are here to spy on America and Muslims are determined not to assimilate, which means they do not want to be Americans, he said.
Referring to the violence Europe has experienced since accepting hordes of Muslims, Renner said, “None of us need to take the risk of no longer being able to walk down the streets without being attacked.”
Renner also bucked the Republican Party status quo. Statewide it should be driven by grassroots policy, not top down, he said, and he chided GOP members of Congress for not acting to stop the insane spending. “What is wrong with them?” he said.
In a chat with Eye on Jacksonville after the rally, Renner said he did not consider the presidential endorsement of Byron Donalds damaging because it was made before Renner entered the race.
Renner is supported by Gov. Ron DeSantis and said he would deviate little from the path DeSantis has taken for the past eight years. Renner was speaker two of those years, before leaving the house in 2024 because of term limits.
As for property tax relief, the number one public issue currently, Renner said he would have done it differently, with less relief phased in over a longer period, to keep from disrupting the budgets of local governments. The proposal headed for the ballot in November would increase the homestead exemption by 400 percent in two years.
