Tampa Tribune - Davis' "Quiet" Diligence

Tampa Tribune: Davis' 'Quiet' Diligence

Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Jim Davis says he has always seen himself as 'a voice for regular people.'

By MICHAEL FECHTER

Indiana U.S. Rep. Tim Roemer took to the House floor in 1996 to complain about the way Congress scheduled its business. It was nearly impossible, he complained, for a parent to fulfill his duties to his office and to his family.

Roemer received a telephone call a few days later from a young Florida legislator. Florida State Rep. Jim Davis was thinking about a run for Congress and had similar concerns for his 4- and 6-year-old sons.

Davis did run and succeeded in replacing Sam Gibbons representing District 11, which then covered much of Tampa.

The call struck a chord with Roemer, who was impressed to find someone else who "wants to be public servant, but wants to be good father and good husband."

There's an idealism about Davis that's unusual for someone with an 18-year political career. He's described as a diligent worker, not flashy, someone thoughtful and reserved.

His strengths also may create his greatest challenge as Davis fights for his party's nomination to replace Jeb Bush as governor. Some Democrats see Davis as uninspiring or hesitant and fear he'll meet the same fate as Buddy MacKay and Bill McBride. Like Davis, they were respected for their thoughtful approaches. Each lost to Bush.

"I am what I am," Davis said. "I think Floridians are looking for a strong leader they can trust to stand up for them, and a strong leader who makes sure their voice is heard. I'm proud of my record doing that in my way."

"My way" sometimes flies in the face of political convention.

Davis, 48, said he rejected repeated invitations to appear on national television last year after rebelling against House leaders' efforts to pass legislation aimed at keeping Terri Schiavo alive through the use of a feeding tube after courts ruled the support should be removed.

Cable television chat shows are akin to a food fight, he said.

"I don't think it does anything to help the folks I represent or advance the country. So I do what I need to do and I move on to the next job," Davis said.

It's a reflection of the values Davis' grandfather instilled in the family, said Davis' younger brother Cody Fowler Davis.

"There were expectations put on us," said Davis, 46, a lawyer and writer in Tampa who was named for his grandfather Cody Fowler. "You need to study hard, give back and take on causes you think are right even if they aren't popular."

Influence Of A Vanguard

Jim Davis invokes his grandfather in most stump speeches. Cody Fowler was at the forefront of Tampa's civil rights movement in the 1950s.

He also was an inspiration to his grandchildren. For Davis, life came into focus at 15, after a trip to Washington with his grandfather. Cody Fowler had led the American Bar Association and was able to introduce Davis to four U.S. Supreme Court justices, including then-Chief Justice Warren E. Burger.

"These were people who seemed to me like regular people. They weren't, but they seemed to be," Davis said. "They were humble. They were caring. They were committed. I came back home and said I could do that, too. Why not me?"

This came after a turbulent period in his life. His parents had divorced two years earlier and, as the oldest of three children, he felt a need to look after Cody and their sister Kim, who was then 3.

"I had to grow up real quickly," he said.

He and Cody played a lot of tennis and each attracted interest from colleges. Davis played one year at Washington and Lee University in Virginia.

"I did reasonably well," he said, "but it was Division III."

He doesn't have much time for tennis these days but still tries to run three miles several times a week.

He earned his law degree at the University of Florida in 1982 and went to work at Tampa's Carlton, Fields law firm. He became a partner at Bush, Ross a few years later and ran for the Florida House in 1988.

He married Peggy Bessent in 1986, and their sons Peter and William are 16 and 14 respectively. Peggy Davis has served as PTA president at her sons' school, which Davis said means "I did my share of shoveling mulch" in school yards. "That's what every parent should do."

To supporters, Davis is cut from the same mold of some of Florida's Democratic icons. Rhea Chiles, widow of Gov. Lawton Chiles, endorsed Davis and gave him a pair of walking boots that made her husband famous in state politics.

The campaign's biggest supporter, retired U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, said Davis impressed him in 1999 when they worked together on legislation protecting nursing home patients from being evicted if they fall into Medicaid. Davis stood over President Clinton's shoulder when the bill was signed.

"I was impressed with his mind and his heart," Graham said.

"Floridians haven't tended to elect neon candidates," he said earlier this year. "They tend to elect people who are a little more down-to-earth."

Davis is "quiet but effective," said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, "but he knows when swinging from the chandelier is necessary."

Schiavo Issue

The debate over extending Terri Schiavo's life with a feeding tube was a chandelier swinger. Party leaders cautioned it might be a political mistake to take on the Republicans on a moral issue, but Davis and Wasserman Schultz agreed a hard line needed to be drawn.

Davis was among a group of Democrats called back to Washington during Easter weekend. He pushed then-Speaker Tom DeLay for a public debate on the proposed legislation, then demanded it be held during prime time so the public could watch.

Davis prefers to work behind the scenes, Wasserman Schultz said.

She has seen him do it on education issues in the Florida House when the two served there during the 1990s and in fighting in Congress to block oil drilling off the Florida coast.

"You don't hear about that because he's not a grandstander," she said. "He's a workhorse."

He worked Roemer that way on a bill Davis drafted in 1999 to offer grants for people in midcareer who want to become teachers. Roemer served on the House's education committee.

"Every time I'd walk on the floor, Jim Davis would seek me out like a missile and talk to me about transition to teaching program," Roemer said. "He'd say, 'Here's what I learned in Florida about people in midcareer - scientists, and others - and the obstacles to let them teach.' He's not even a member of our committee."

Davis was the incoming state House majority leader in 1994 when he bucked fellow Democrat and Speaker Bo Johnson on an Everglades restoration bill, said Eric Draper, now policy director for Audubon of Florida.

Draper worked for Davis in the majority leader's office at the time. The Everglades Forever Bill was supposed to pass without amendments, but Davis balked after learning the bill would allow tomato farm runoff to continue polluting Florida Bay.

He worked the floor until he enlisted enough votes to overcome the speaker's objections and pass an amendment to buy up the land and stop the polluted runoff.

'Voice For Regular People'

He has held elected office since 1988, but Davis is running as the outsider in the governor's race. Rod Smith, his Democratic primary rival, has been in the Florida Senate since 2000. Republicans Charlie Crist and Tom Gallagher have held statewide office for a decade or longer.

"I have always seen myself as somebody who is a voice for regular people, for people who can't afford a lobbyist," Davis said.

His campaign focuses on an array of state problems either ignored or mishandled by "the politicians in Tallahassee." He's not campaigning to put a Democrat in office, goes an oft-repeated line in his stump speech, he says he's trying to "restore democracy" to state government.

He was criticized in February when he likened the state's political climate to Cuba. State workers are afraid to speak out for fear of their jobs, he said.

"I've had the same conversations with other people - in Havana," he said at the time.

Davis had to clarify the remark, saying he didn't mean to compare state leaders to Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. He stands by his broader argument, however.

"Judge the culture for yourself up there," he said Thursday. "I think we have an unhealthy obsession with control in Tallahassee. I think too much power in the hands of one political party is not healthy."

He also should expect continued criticism on his congressional voting record. During this term, Davis has missed the second-highest amount of votes in the U.S. House. Most came as he campaigned in Florida for the governor's seat. According to a Washington Post database, he never missed more than 4.5 percent of the votes in his previous four terms.

He missed one day of votes in March to attend Bush's State of the State address in Tallahassee. Davis met with reporters to offer his own critique of Florida's needs.

State politics never strayed from Davis' mind, said Draper, his former Florida House staff member. It was a constant topic during their conversations in recent years.

"There's something that happened with Jim. He's very focused on what was going on in Tallahassee and what was going on in the state of Florida as though it was his responsibility to do something about it," Draper said.

Davis could have quit politics and enjoyed a lucrative legal career. He could have held on to a safe congressional seat for as long as he wanted it.

He and Peggy live in the same 1,640-square-foot Davis Islands house they bought in 1989 for $152,000. It's two blocks from where Davis grew up.

"Because I have, in many ways, lived the same life I lived when I started in politics," he said, "I'm still the same person."

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