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J.D.Alexander Wins Re-Election to Senate in District 17
Lakeland Ledger – November 5, 2008
WINTER HAVEN | Incumbent J.D. Alexander of Lake Wales spent a record-breaking $935,000 to win re-election Tuesday to the Florida Senate, a job that pays $30,336 annually.
Alexander took 59 percent of the vote in the seven-county District 17 race to challenger Scott Thompson’s 41 percent.
Tuesday’s vote returns Alexander, 49, to a final four-year term in the state Senate, and he broke Polk County’s record for campaign contributions in the process.
Until now, the most any Polk County candidate had spent on a state election was $418,000, when John Laurent ran for his state Senate seat in 1998.
Alexander could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.
Alexander, 49, a rancher and citrus grower, defeated real-estate agent and first-time candidate Scott Thompson of Winter Haven, who spent $70,098 in his campaign.
“I really was surprised at Polk and Highlands counties,” Thompson said. “I thought I’d do better in those two counties.”
Thompson, 42, said he would consider another run for a statewide office.
“I meant what I said when I said we must do better in our Legislature in bridging that disconnect between the legislators and the communities,” he said.
District 17 sweeps through the southern half of Polk County, all of Hardee and Highlands counties, and takes in the bulk of Glades, Okeechobee, St. Lucie and DeSoto counties.
Alexander carried six of the seven counties, losing only Glades County with 863 votes to Thompson’s 978.
Thompson lost DeSoto County by only 64 votes, with 3,869 to Alexander’s 3,933 votes.
In Polk County, with 79 of 80 precincts reporting, Alexander received 60,802 for 59 percent of the vote, while Thompas received 42,290 for 41 percent.
Okeechobee County brought 4,257 votes for Alexander and 3,285 for Thompson, and St. Lucie voters cast 811 ballots for Alexander and 639 for Thompson. Hardee County voters overwhelming supported Alexander with 4,516 votes to Thompson’s 2,462.
During the campaign, Thompson said Alexander had lost touch with those living in the seven-county district, having become more concerned about special interests than his constituents.
Thompson, whose grandfather founded the Thompson Fruit Co. in Winter Haven, said a review of Alexander’s campaign contributions illustrated his ties with lobbyists.
Of the $935,000 in contributions, an estimated $150,000 came from political groups and lobbyists, not including the $210,000 from the state’s Republican Party.
By comparison, the state’s Democratic Party gave Thompson $48,500, with an estimated $40,000 of that coming in the last two weeks of October. He accepted one contribution from a political organization – the Lake Wales Democratic Club gave him $100.
Thompson spent about $23,200 through the end of October, mostly on direct mail.
Alexander pulled $676,250 from his campaign war chest, spending $385,000 on media production and air time, and $120,000 on direct mail.
Alexander declined to comment on his contributions, but campaign spokeswoman Sarah Bascom said the political groups that contributed to his re-election bid often share the concerns of those living in District 17. She also said it’s not uncommon for incumbent candidates like Alexander to receive strong support from lobbyists.
Alexander, grandson of the late Ben Hill Griffin Jr., a Frostproof citrus baron, has served in the state Senate since he ran unopposed in 2002. The state then redrew the district boundaries, forcing him to run again in 2004. He easily won re-election to a four-year term against a write-in candidate.
Alexander served in the state’s House of Representatives for four years before joining the Senate. Term limits will force him to leave the Senate when this term concludes in 2012.
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