From Yellow Dog Democrats to Red State Republicans : Florida and Its Politics Since 1940

“A masterful study of Florida politics.”—Gary R. Mormino, author of __Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams__ “In this sweeping overview of modern Florida politics, Colburn challenges the country’s preconceived notions of the Sunshine State’s political leanings. [It] is the result of a lifetime of observing and analyzing a once small and rural state that has transformed itself, in less than fifty years, into a political powerhouse and national weathervane.”—Governor Reubin O’D. Askew “A solid piece of scholarship and a comprehensive survey of state politics over the past sixty-five years deserving of a place on the bookshelf of any thoughtful Floridian, or non-Floridian, concerned about the past, present and future of the state.”—**__Florida Historical Quarterly__** “Places Florida’s gubernatorial politics since 1940 in the context of the state’s remarkable cultural, economic, and demographic transformation. Recommended.”—**__Choice__** “Concise, insightful, and readable.”—**__St. Petersburg Times__** “An insightful analysis of how the Democrats lost—and the GOP gained—the most important swing state in the nation.”—Cynthia Barnett, author of __Mirage__ Likely to raise hackles among Democrats and Republicans alike, this dynamic history of modern Florida argues that the Sunshine State has become the political and demographic future of the nation. David Colburn reveals how Florida gradually abandoned the traditions of race and personality that linked it to the Democratic Party. The book focuses particularly on the population growth and chaotic gubernatorial politics that altered the state from 1940, when it was a sleepy impoverished southern outpost, to the present and the emergence of a dominant Republican Party. In the twenty-first century, Colburn says, Florida is a dynamic, highly partisan, largely conservative state at the cultural, social, and economic intersection of the Western Hemisphere. But the transition hasn't been entirely felicitous. Allegations abound that the state is a "banana republic" favoring the wealthy, a piece of paradise that embraces "immigrants, natives, seniors, rednecks, evangelicals, and yes, flim-flam artists and mobile home salesmen. All of whom came to the state looking for ways to improve their lot in life." Colburn depicts the state's colorful governors at the center of every postwar development from Cracker to Sun Belt politics, from segregation to integration, from boosterism and modernization to economic and environmental crises. As the story of one of the most influential states in the nation, the book redefines Florida politics. David R. Colburn is professor of history and director of the Askew Institute at the University of Florida. Publisher's note “A masterful study of Florida politics.”—Gary R. Mormino, author of Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams “In this sweeping overview of modern Florida politics, Colburn challenges the country’s preconceived notions of the Sunshine State’s political leanings. [It] is the result of a lifetime of observing and analyzing a once small and rural state that has transformed itself, in less than fifty years, into a political powerhouse and national weathervane.”—Governor Reubin O’D. Askew “A solid piece of scholarship and a comprehensive survey of state politics over the past sixty-five years deserving of a place on the bookshelf of any thoughtful Floridian, or non-Floridian, concerned about the past, present and future of the state.”— Florida Historical Quarterly “Places Florida’s gubernatorial politics since 1940 in the context of the state’s remarkable cultural, economic, and demographic transformation. Recommended.”— Choice “Concise, insightful, and readable.”— St. Petersburg Times “An insightful analysis of how the Democrats lost—and the GOP gained—the most important swing state in the nation.”—Cynthia Barnett, author of Mirage This substantially revised new edition depicts the transformation of Florida, beginning with World War II and spanning Republican Rick Scott's first term as Governor of the state in 2012. Following a tortuous path that saw natives struggling with newcomers for political control of the state, whites and blacks doing battle over the future of segregation, Hispanic immigrants trying to adapt to a new culture that bore no resemblance to their own, retirees searching for paradise and the Fountain of Youth, and middle and lower-class families seeking new opportunities and with it the American Dream, Florida emerged dramatically onto the national political stage with a people and a culture that foretold the future of America. The story of Florida is the story of the nation with all its complexities in the period from World War II to 2012. During those seventy years, Florida was transformed from a biracial, rigidly segregated, illiberal, and rural society into a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, liberal, and urban state. Florida had become part of the nation and, in the process, helped transform it Cover 1 Contents 8 Introduction 10 1. From Darkness to Sunshine: World War II, Race, and the Emergence of Modern Florida 22 2. Moral, Simple Justice and the Emergence of Fault Lines in the Democratic Hegemony 52 3. Reubin Askew, Lawton Chiles, and the Reinvention of the Democratic Party 86 4. An Era of Political Transition 116 5. Migration of the Middle Class, the Search for Community, and the Emerging Hispanic Presence 134 6. Holding Back the Republican Tide, but for How Long? 156 7. From Blue to Red: The Era of Jeb Bush and Republican Hegemony 179 8. The Presidential Election of 2000: What Happened in Florida? 199 9. The Politics of the Twenty-First Century 223 Acknowledgments 256 Notes 260 Bibliography 276 Index 288 A 288 B 289 C 290 D 292 E 293 F 293 G 295 H 295 I 296 J 296 K 296 L 297 M 297 N 299 O 299 P 299 R 300 S 301 T 302 U 303 V 303 W 303 Y 303