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Return Incumbents To U.S. House

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 16, 2008

With Congress facing its lowest approval rating in memory, the mantra in Washington is that change is coming to Capitol Hill, and our west-central Florida representatives know it.

Tampa Bay's incumbents are favored to win re-election on Nov. 4, though none feels assured of victory.

This region has been well-served by our congressmen and women, each of whom we know to be thoughtful, hard-working people doing their best to serve their districts. The Tribune recommends we stay the course and return U.S. Reps. Ginny Brown-Waite, Gus Bilirakis, Kathy Castor and Adam Putnam to Congress.

District 5

In a rematch of 2006, Ginny Brown-Waite of Brooksville is challenged by John Russell, a Dade City-area Democrat and acute-care nurse practitioner who is seeking the seat for a third time.

Voters have a clear-cut winner in Brown-Waite, who is seeking a fourth term.

Brown-Waite knows the district - which includes all or part of eight counties north of Tampa, including most of Pasco - like the back of her hand. She represented the area for 10 years as a state senator, working to protect drinking water resources through passage of the "local sources first" water law, among other achievements. Russell has never held elected office.

Brown-Waite is an independent thinker who votes her conscience and deplores the partisan nature of Washington politics. She voted against the bailout bill, pointing out that its "added sweeteners and earmarks" represented "business as usual as Washington." She watches out for taxpayers' interests, while fighting to improve health-care services for military veterans and the poor.

Brown-Waite also has pushed legislation to create a national catastrophe fund that would help Florida homeowners struggling with high property-insurance premiums. The push has met resistance in the Senate, but Brown-Waite's efforts show she understands the concerns of people on Main Street.

Russell, 52, is intelligent and knowledgeable about health care. He supports an income-based, single-payer insurance program, which he says could save Medicare. He also backs the establishment of a national catastrophe fund.

Russell's forceful nature has led to confrontations with ranking members of his party. He says he has changed his ways, but voters have every right to question whether he can work with others for the good of the district. By contrast, Brown-Waite excels in reaching across the aisle for the good of her constituents. She has worked hard at home and in Washington during her three terms.

The Tribune endorses the re-election of Ginny Brown-Waite to the U.S. House of Representatives, District 5.

District 9

Two years ago, Republican Gus Bilirakis, 45, succeeded his father, Mike, as the congressman from the 9th District, which stretches from coastal Pasco across parts of north Pinellas and into selected parts of east and north Hillsborough.

The younger Bilirakis, who lives in Palm Harbor, is being challenged by Democrat Bill Mitchell, a lawyer from Carrollwood, and three minor candidates.

Mitchell, who once worked on a Federal Trade Commission investigation of oil prices, is a sincere candidate and an adviser for the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay. A former naval officer, he wants to use his legal experience to simplify the tax code and strengthen health care. He is most animated when calling his opponent ineffective and criticizing him for slighting veterans.

But Mitchell is distorting the soft-spoken Bilirakis' record on working for veterans. The congressman is justifiably proud of his constituent services. He chose to be a member of the Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security committees precisely because his district is made up of more than 100,000 former and current members of the armed services.

Bilirakis, who served eight years in Florida's House of Representatives, is a genuinely humble politician willing to reach across the aisle to get things done. He is not a rubber stamp for his party or the Bush administration, having bucked both the president and his leadership in voting against the Wall Street rescue plan.

Bilirakis would limit oil and natural gas exploration to 100 miles off the Florida coast and voted against Republican attempts to allow drilling within 25 miles, though he would now support drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

Like Brown-Waite, Bilirakis decries the partisanship in Washington. "There needs to be a truce," he said, "a public handshaking" to put the country first.

He voted for an increase in the minimum wage and is proud of his work to pass a "Silver Alert" bill that would help local governments implement programs to locate confused seniors who have gone missing. He promises to continue working to improve security at the Port of Tampa.

The Tribune recommends returning Gus Bilirakis to Washington.

District 11

Incumbent Democrat Kathy Castor of Tampa, a former Hillsborough County commissioner, takes on Republican Eddie Adams Jr., an architect from Temple Terrace, for the second time in the race for District 11, which covers parts of Hillsborough, south Pinellas and north Manatee counties.

Adams, who has never held public office, has a good grasp of national issues, but he is no match for Castor, 41, who as a freshman lawmaker was given choice assignments after the Democrats took control of the House.

The Tampa lawyer sits on the powerful Rules Committee, which decides which bills can be brought to the House floor. She also sits on the House Armed Services Committee.

Castor has a special passion for education and health-care policy and has focused much of her energy on securing federal funding for the University of South Florida College of Medicine and the James A. Haley VA Hospital.

Castor voted against the federal bailout because she said it failed to protect the taxpayers, and she opposes drilling off the coast of Florida. She favors tax cuts for the middle class and wants to create more small business and manufacturing jobs.

Castor does her homework and responds thoughtfully to difficult challenges. The Tribune enthusiastically supports Kathy Castor in District 11.

District 12
Adam Putnam of Bartow holds his party's third highest position in the House as chairman of the Republican Conference. He is an articulate advocate for conservative policies and because of his leadership position has become a national figure in the last two years.

Putnam, 34, is being challenged by Democrat Doug Tudor of Riverview, a retired Master Chief Petty Officer and 20-year Navy veteran. In his last six years at U.S. Central Command, he served as administrative aide to Gen. Tommy Franks, Gen. John Abizaid and Admiral William Fallon.

Tudor is rightly proud of his military experience, and his familiarity with the world's hotspots. The Kentucky native criticizes Putnam for being submissive to party politics and failing to watch out for the working man. He makes the point that Putnam served on the House Financial Services Committee (along with Brown-Waite,) which oversees the nation's housing and financial services sectors.

Still, Putnam, who is seeking his fifth term, understands the complexities of the global financial markets and was among the architects of the Wall Street rescue plan.

Putnam's leadership role makes him appear excessively partisan at times, but we admire the way he can disagree with his colleagues without making it personal. He speaks with depth on issues that range from agriculture, to economics, to health care, to the war in Iraq. No one questions his hard work or sincerity.

For District 12, which covers east Hillsborough, most of Polk and west Osceola counties, the Tribune strongly recommends the re-election of Adam Putnam.

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