Bud Chiles enters governor's race in volatile election year

In a volatile election year when political outsiders are scoring points with voters, the son of the late Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles, announced Thursday that he will enter the increasingly crowded race for governor as a no-party candidate.

Lawton "Bud" Chiles III is a Tallahassee businessman who has never before held office, though he has led advocacy campaigns on behalf of children. Thursday, he said that he will be the candidate for those without a voice in politics.

"I'm here to speak for millions of Floridians who, today, are out of work. For almost a million children who have no health insurance in this state. And for millions of Florida citizens like me, who believe that Florida can, and must, do better by its families and its communities," he said.

His announcement is the latest in what Susan MacManus, political scientist at the University of South Florida, called an unparalleled "year of unpredictability." That volatility, she said, reflects the profound, widespread disillusionment among voters with the political process and both mainstream parties.

A Democrat like his father, Chiles ran for governor in 2006 but dropped out when he ran afoul of state residency requirements. He first disclosed last month that he might jump into this year's race for governor, voicing dissatisfaction with lead Democratic candidate Alex Sink, the state's chief financial officer.

Sink has raised more than $6 million but continues to lag in the polls behind the GOP frontrunner, Attorney General Bill McCollum. Of all of the candidates in the race, Sink likely has the most to lose from Chiles' candidacy, since both will be looking to many of the same left-leaning constituencies for support.

Bypassing the Democratic primary, which ends Aug. 24, to run as a No Party Affiliated candidate gives Chiles more time to raise money and reach voters. Chiles said he will change his party registration to NPA as well, though it is not required to run as an NPA candidate.

Reacting to his decision, Sink remained upbeat. "I'm out there representing my case, and my vision for Florida to the people. There are many candidates in the race; I've been out there talking about the economy, and jobs, reforming government and removing the culture of corruption from Tallahassee."

She is not, she said, concerned about Chiles siphoning off her supporters. "I've been travelling around the state, talking to many of the core Democratic constituency groups, and I believe they'll be solidly behind me."

Already this year, Gov. Charlie Crist has left the GOP to run as an NPA candidate for U.S. Senate, as former House Speaker Marco Rubio has risen from relative obscurity to dominate the GOP primary.

Meanwhile, wealthy dark-horse candidates are challenging two party-establishment frontrunners. Billionaire Jeff Greene is running against U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, while millionaire Rick Scott is taking on McCollum.

Given the transient nature of Florida's population and the 12 years since Gov. Chiles' death, the Chiles name may carry limited weight now with voters, MacManus said.

But Chiles may benefit from being a fresh face, she said. "When you see this much instability and anger among the electorate, it's an anything-can-happen election year."

Thursday, Chiles blamed much of government's failure to solve key problems on the corruptive influence of money in politics, on both sides of the political aisle. That, he said, is largely why is running.

Chiles said that while Sink told him she plans to spend $30 million on her campaign, he will limit all contributions to his campaign to $250, and refuse donations from PACs and large corporations. Big campaign donations from special interests prevent candidates from speaking honestly or acting independently once they are in office, he said.

"That's his opinion," Sink said. "I don't happen to agree with it."

McCollum said that Chiles is a Democrat, whatever he says, and would work "in collaboration" with President Barack Obama's administration.

Inside political circles, the Chiles name still inspires fondness and nostalgia among Democrats for the late governor. Whether that translates into support for his son's candidacy remains unseen.

"It's a different scenario," said attorney Steve Yerrid of Tampa, who was a part of Gov. Chiles' legal team that won an $11-billion settlement from tobacco companies.

A Democrat, Yerrid called Bud Chiles "a very nice person," but not the right candidate for governor.

Yerrid said he does not support candidates based on party affiliation but is backing Sink because he believes she brings the right "skills set" to the job.

"In terms of name recognition, it's clearly beneficial to Bud," he said. "But in terms of a candidate, Lawton Chiles is not running; Bud Chiles is."

Chiles said that at present, his campaign staff consists primarily of family members. Asked how he will reach voters around Florida -- historically, an expensive state for campaigns, with many media markets - he said that his would be a grassroots, "bottom-up" campaign.

"It's going to be going to be going into local communities," he said. "I'm going to be walking, I'm going to be working, I am going to be calling groups together. There's a movement going on in this state. There are people that are passionate about the environment, there are people about improving schools, and I've seen it."