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Dockery challenges McCollum

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By CATHERINE DOLINSKI and WILLIAM MARCH

cdolinski@tampatrib.com wmarch@tampatrib.com

Published: November 4, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - Republican state Sen. Paula Dockery jumped into the governor's race Tuesday, saying she's used to the role of underdog and winning.

Her decision means an unwelcomed primary challenge for Attorney General Bill McCollum, whose campaign raised $1.9 million by the end of September.

It's Dockery's first run for statewide office, and McCollum's fourth, meaning name recognition will pose serious challenges for her. By running, she also may incur the wrath of some influential members of her own party, because the state GOP had hoped to avoid a primary in the governor's race.

But Dockery of Lakeland said she already has about 800 volunteers ready to campaign for her around the state.

"I'm entering this challenge knowing that I'm the underdog, knowing that the party establishment wanted to clear the field," she said.

"But there seems to be a hunger for another candidate, and if the voters were satisfied with the candidate that they have, there wouldn't have been such a reaching out for me to get in the race."

Three Republicans senators accompanied her to file her candidacy papers Tuesday.

"She's right on all the issues: pro-life, pro-gun, pro-environment, education, health care," said state Sen. Durell Peaden Jr. of Crestview.

The GOP establishment

But much of the party establishment is arrayed against her. The state GOP has already established a joint campaign committee with McCollum and is providing his campaign around $100,000 a month. It's not clear whether such aid will be available to Dockery.

McCollum has been endorsed by all but two of the state's 15 Republican Congress members, eight state senators and more than 50 state House members. The state's most prominent non-elected Republican, former Gov. Jeb Bush, issued a statement immediately after Dockery's announcement endorsing McCollum.

This won't be the first time Dockery bucked the party line.

For the last two years, she has almost single-handedly defeated efforts by GOP leaders to build a Sunrail commuter rail line around Orlando.

In 2005, she was one of nine Republican senators who joined Democrats opposing Gov. Jeb Bush's efforts to reinsert a feeding tube into Terri Schiavo. The same group helped kill a 2008 bill forcing women seeking abortions to pay to have ultrasound scans.

Votes like that don't mean she's not conservative, Dockery said. "I think I'm extremely conservative ... Conservatives believe that there should be less government interference in your personal life."

The rail project had the support of Gov. Charlie Crist and top GOP legislative leaders. But Dockery, who describes herself as a "nerdy policy wonk," argued that its $640 million price tag was a horrific deal for Florida taxpayers, who would be liable for train accidents regardless of fault.

Conservative, or not?

With a moderate-conservative split roiling the Republican Party, opponents are already challenging her conservative credentials.

"You can't count on Paula Dockery," said Sally Bradshaw, former chief of staff and campaign manager for Jeb Bush, who is supporting McCollum. "As a conservative, she is inconsistent. One moment she's siding with trial lawyers on a medical malpractice bill; the next minute, she says she's for reform."

Dockery is married to C.C. "Doc" Dockery of Lakeland, 76, a long-time Republican activist who became wealthy after founding a workers compensation insurance company. He is willing to spend his own money on political causes, and has backed his wife's previous campaigns.

Asked whether she'll use personal money to narrow her fundraising gap, Dockery said she'll put some in to get started, but then, "Let's see how well I do at fundraising ... I want this to be a campaign for the people and by the people."

The GOP primary winner likely will face Democrat Alex Sink, Florida's chief financial officer, who has raised more than $4 million.

McCollum dismissed Dockery's bid, saying he still considers the race to be between himself and Sink.

He declined to compare his qualifications to the senator's, saying only that the next governor will need to transform Florida's economic climate. "I wouldn't be running if I didn't think I had the qualifications to do that job - by experience, and by example."

Asked whether Republican primaries in the races for U.S. Senate, governor and Cabinet positions indicate a dangerous rift in the party, McCollum said no. "We're having a great discussion within our party."

Dockery was more critical, saying her party was "very splintered" and "headed in the wrong direction." She ticked off a list of frustrations among some party members: fundraising scandals, GOP leaders' handling of party funds and credit cards, special-interest spending in the Legislature. "I think it's time to bring the party back together, and I think that I can do that."

Reporter Catherine Dolinski can be reached at (850) 222-8382. Reporter William March can be reached at (813) 259-7761.

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