Less than seven months later, though, former State Senator Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, quietly ended his bid for Florida governor late last week.
His downfall began last autumn, when multiple women accused Latvala, who was then chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, of sexual misconduct. The list of accusations, many of which were corroborated in a doozy of a judge's report released in December of last year, included everything from groping to trying to exchange votes for sexual favors.
Immediately following that report's release, Latvala resigned from his senate seat.
Then, the question remained over whether — or, really, when — he would shutter his gubernatorial bid.
As News Service of Florida noted, it happened to be a particularly busy news day at the Florida Capitol when Latvala finally filed the paperwork to effectively end his campaign.
Florida lawmakers were in the final throes of a busy legislative session, and news headlines seemed to focus on Governor Scott's signing of the controversial school safety bill.
Latvala's campaign as well as his PAC, Florida Leadership Committee, had been making money hand over fist before the scandal broke. Since, he has given back campaign donations (it's unclear how many at this point) but his PAC money — all $3.9 million of it — may still be in play.
That could be bad news for his political rivals, including the Republican gubernatorial primary contestants who likely saw an advantage in his downfall.
Republicans currently running for governor are Agriculture Secretary Adam Putnam and Congressman Ron DeSantis (R-Palm Coast).
Rumored to be jumping into the race any minute now is Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran (R-Lutz).
Prominent candidates on the Dem side include former Panhandle Congresswoman Gwen Graham, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and businessman Chris King, a newcomer.
This article appears in Mar 8-15, 2018.
