BOMA Florida e-News
November 2008

Our BOMA Florida Annual Meeting was held in September at the Marco Island Marriott. Our new Officers for the state are Jack Goodrich – President, Lynn Vilmar – Vice President, Richard King – Secretary and Ron Macklin – Treasurer. Congratulations and thank you for serving.

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Despite Sen. Obama’s victory in Florida and despite the huge voter turnout, there were very few changes in the composition of Florida’s Congressional Delegation and in the political composition of the Florida Legislature. Interestingly, despite Congress’ low approval ratings, many of the incumbents won re-election by margins of 60% or higher. Outlined below is a summary of the results based on the latest available results. There will be several recounts in Legislative races and, therefore, the potential that these preliminary, unofficial results will change. But if there is change, it will have no impact on the big picture. The most amazing result is that in the State Legislature there was only one incumbent beaten during the general election- Tony Sasso in Brevard County.

Florida’s Congressional Delegation

The Democrats achieved a net gain of one, and therefore the composition of the Congressional Delegation changes from 16 Rs and 9 Ds to 15 Rs and 10 Ds. Three incumbents were beaten: Congressmen Feeney (Orlando), Keller (Orlando) and Mahoney ( West Palm Beach).

State Senate

The political composition of the State Senate remains the same: 26Rs and 14 Ds. Newcomers elected to the Senate include: Andy Gardiner (Orlando), Nancy Detert (Sarasota), Thad Altman ( Brevard County), Chris Smith ( Ft. Lauderdale), Eleanor Sobel ( Ft. Lauderdale) and Dan Gelber ( Miami-Dade). All of the newcomers have served in the House of Representatives and many of them have been strong hospital supporters.

State House

The political composition of the state house may change but, if so, only slightly: From 77Rs and 43Ds, the Democrats have picked up one net seat at this time but could lose that net change depending on the recount in Debbie Boyd’s seat. The seats that have changed party affiliation include the following:

District 10 (Leon County) Wil Kendrick (R) previous incumbent who was term limited. Seat won by Democrat Leondard Bembry.

District 32 ( Brevard County) Steve Crisafulli (R) defeats incumbent Democrat Tony Sasso.

District 81 ( St. Lucie County) Adam Fetterman (D) defeated his Republican opponent, seat was formerly held by Gayle Harrell (R).

So after spending tens of millions of dollars in Congressional and legislative races, basically nothing changed.

Sincerely, Lee Moffitt – BOMA Florida Lobbyist

Read more about Florida TaxWatch Releases Analysis of the Constitutional Tax Proposal known as Amendment 5 - http://www.floridataxwatch.org/resources/pdf/072308BriefingUncertaintyMakesAmendment5BadBet.pdf

Florida TaxWatch is a statewide, non-profit, non-partisan research institute that over its 29 year history has become widely recognized as the watchdog of citizens’ hard-earned tax dollars. Its mission is to provide the citizens of Florida and public officials with high quality, independent research and education on government revenues, expenditures, taxation, public policies and programs and to increase the productivity and accountability of Florida state and local government. Its support comes from homeowners and retirees, small and large businesses, philanthropic foundations, and professional associations. On the web at: www.FloridaTaxWatch.org