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Sansom Resigns As GOP Leader

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By CATHERINE DOLINSKI

cdolinski@tampatrib.com

Published: February 3, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - House Republicans unanimously chose Rep. Larry Cretul as their new leader Monday night, setting the stage for him to replace Ray Sansom permanently as House speaker.

The action stripped Sansom of his role as speaker, which he will formally give up when the legislative session begins in March.

Monday night, 74 of the Republican Conference's 76 members were on hand to elect Cretul as their leader during a 9 p.m. caucus meeting in the House chamber. There were no other nominations. Sansom was among those in attendance, formally resigning as Republican leader and voting for Cretul to replace him.

According to the rules, Cretul will retain his current title of speaker pro tempore until his presumed election as House speaker in March. Sansom technically remains speaker until then, but Cretul takes over leadership duties immediately.

In a quiet, somber voice, Cretul kept his remarks brief. "I think it's probably fair to say that all of us would prefer to be somewhere else," he said, thanking his colleagues for their support and promising to do his best.

Sansom's dramatic departure from leadership follows a flurry of legal questions and negotiations that erupted after he attempted last Friday to recuse himself from his duties temporarily. Sansom had told members that he was handing over the gavel to Cretul, his next-in-command, while a grand jury probes Sansom's dealings with Northwest Florida State College.

A grand jury ordered Tallahassee-based State Attorney Willie Meggs last month to examine, among other things, Sansom's channeling of $35 million to the Niceville college and subsequent acceptance of an unadvertised $110,000 salaried vice presidency there. Sansom continues to insist he has done nothing wrong.

Within hours of Sansom's attempt at temporary recusal, members of both parties began questioning whether House rules permitted it. House Rules Chairman Bill Galvano responded over the weekend with a formal opinion that such action was not permitted.

Galvano, R-Bradenton, recommended instead that the House Republican Conference choose a new leader, and that the House elect a new speaker at the start of the next legislative session on March 3. House rules do not permit selection of its speaker when the Legislature is not in session.

The elected leader of the majority party becomes that party's nominee for speaker.

After the meeting, Rep. Rich Glorioso said he had hoped the controversy would not reach this point.

"My stomach's kind of churning right now; I feel like I've lost my best friend," said Glorioso, R-Plant City. "But it's something that had to be done - unfortunately, it had to be done. We had to make sure we had solid leadership in the House."

Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, said he thinks Sansom will be exonerated. However, the controversy had become a distraction, Weatherford said.

"The challenges we face are so great, we have to get focused on what the challenges are, and not the past," said Weatherford, who is expected to become speaker in four years. "We needed new leadership at the helm; I think that Speaker Cretul can do that."

Before Monday night's meeting, Cretul met with reporters to announce he had tapped former Republican lawmaker Dudley Goodlette as his new chief of staff.

He also took the opportunity to introduce himself in more personal terms: disclosing that he watches "American Idol" and "Dancing with the Stars" with his wife, and listing "The Art of War" and the Bible among the books he has been perusing recently.

His main reading material of late, he said, has been the shrinking state budget.

"Our immediate need now is to get back to the business of the Florida House, and also to the households of the state of Florida," he said.

Sansom, who will remain a House member, will play an as-yet-undetermined role in Cretul's administration, he said.

Rep. Jim Waldman, D-Coconut Creek, said that doesn't bother him.

As the ranking minority member of the Rules committee, Waldman was among those who had questioned the legality of Sansom's temporary recusal and asked Galvano for a formal opinion. Monday, Waldman said he's not worried about Sansom pulling the strings of a Cretul administration, noting Cretul has already chosen a new chief of staff.

"I feel that Speaker Cretul is going to set his own course at this point," Waldman said.

Reporter Catherine Dolinski can be reached at (850) 222-8382.

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