TALLAHASSEE, FL - Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi could be headed toward a second four-year term Tuesday despite a steady stream of low key attacks over her management of the office.
Bondi enjoyed far more campaign money and higher name recognition than her challengers, Democrat George Sheldon and Libertarian Bill Wohlsifer, whose messages have been mostly drowned out by the tumult of ads from the governor's race and the fight over Amendment 2, the proposal to legalize medical marijuana.
Still, that gubernatorial race could have a big say in the outcome of the attorney-general contest, said Susan MacManus, a political-science professor at the University of South Florida.
"Research is showing that more and more people, because of an increasing political polarization, are voting a straight ticket than used too," MacManus said. "Now we have some Cabinet races where that will kind of be a test to that."
Bondi, who raised more than twice the money as her competitors and hasn't been shy about standing with Gov. Rick Scott this past week, campaigned Monday in Tampa with former Gov. Jeb Bush and planned an election night reception at the TPepin Hospitality Centre in Tampa.
"We are excited and optimistic," Bondi's spokesman Trey Stapleton said in an email Tuesday afternoon.
Sheldon, 67, a former state lawmaker who ran unsuccessfully for education commissioner in 2000, has tried to portray the 48-year-old former assistant state attorney from Hillsborough County as backing Scott, corporate lobbyists and right-wing ideology over the rights of all Floridians.
But without resources, Sheldon hasn't able to get a sustained message out to the state's 10 media markets.
After voting Tuesday morning in Tallahassee, Sheldon told reporters he was proud of his campaign and that the race was "now in the hands of the voters."
"I've tried to stay true to the principles that I've tried to stay true to my whole life," Sheldon said. "And I think we've clearly laid out the differences between the attorney general and myself."
The relatively low-key nature of the race has allowed Bondi to avoid some of her opponents' biggest criticisms, which include Bondi getting Scott to delay an execution last year because it was scheduled for the same day as her campaign kickoff.
Any derision aimed at Bondi during the campaign's the lone debate garnered little attention as the one-hour event was televised only in the Tampa and Orlando markets.
Sheldon's limited resources also often limited his campaigning to Tallahassee and Tampa, where he argued that Bondi has failed Floridians through her opposition to same-sex marriage, medical marijuana, automatic restoration of rights for felons and the Affordable Care Act, while doing little to assist utility ratepayers.
Sheldon also tried to score points in the final days of the race by calling attention to a New York Times report last week that focused on the ties between corporate lobbyists and attorneys general. Bondi was prominently featured in the Times report.
Bondi, who four years ago rode a Republican wave into the statewide office, has dismissed most of the criticism while campaigning about her efforts to crack down on pills mills, synthetic drugs and human trafficking.
Bondi, who appeared at numerous campaign stops with her 175-pound St. Bernard Luke, also commands a substantial advantage in name recognition as a frequent guest on cable news and for helping head the legal battle against the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.
Bondi raised $2.29 million, including $325,905 in state matching funds, while also getting more than $1.4 million through in-kind assistance mostly from the Republican Party of Florida for campaign costs such as staffing and travel.
Sheldon drew $855,037 in contributions, of which $275,215 was in state matching funds.
