Senate primary brimming with intrigue Former Gov. Jeb Bush goes to bat for Thrasher in four-candidate race

JACKSONVILLE — It has been a decade since former Gov. Jeb Bush joined forces with then-House Speaker John Thrasher to reduce taxes, legalize school vouchers and generally make life miserable for Florida’s mostly liberal trial lawyers.

Now, having capitalized on that success by earning millions as a high-powered lobbyist, Thrasher wants to return to the political arena, and Bush is the key. He stars in pro-Thrasher TV ads that blast the lawyers who are now aggressively trying to defeat Thrasher.

With no Democrats running, the Sept. 15 primary for a state Senate seat is winner-take-all where anything can happen because voter turnout is expected to be low. That means a short, intense campaign heavy on advertising.

The result is a titanic and very expensive clash of powerful forces, the Republican old guard vs. trial lawyers. The outcome could have implications in Florida for years.

“John Thrasher had the courage to help me rein in frivolous lawsuits some lawyers depend on,” Bush says in the new ad, calling a sustained advertising attack on Thrasher’s integrity “wrong.”

Because of those attacks, Thrasher’s return to the Legislature is anything but assured. He’s one of four Republicans running for the Senate District 8 seat vacated by the death of Sen. Jim King on July 26.

The other candidates are Art Graham, a Jacksonville City Council member; Stan Jordan, a Duval County School Board member and former legislator; and Dan Quiggle, an anti-tax crusader and owner of a title company in Ponte Vedra Beach.

The dark horse contender is Quiggle, and some polls show him pulling away.

The battleground is an elongated vertical slice of Northeast Florida that stretches across five counties, anchored by the city of Jacksonville, from the Georgia border south to Daytona Beach. The solidly Republican district has a sizable military presence: John McCain got 60 percent of the presidential vote here in 2008.

This election will show the power of a Bush endorsement in a strongly Republican region. It is likewise a test of the influence of the trial bar, which has maintained its clout in Tallahassee in recent years largely by supporting moderate Republican senators like King and Ken Pruitt, of Port St. Lucie, who resigned his seat this summer.

While in office, Thrasher and Bush threatened to cost trial lawyers a lot of money by capping their fees and making it harder for them to sue businesses.

A Thrasher win would be bad news for trial lawyers because it would put the ex-speaker on the fast track to a leadership post in the Republican-controlled Senate, including as a possible future Senate president.

A Thrasher defeat would strengthen the trial bar’s clout and raise new questions about the value of a high-profile push from Bush.

The airwaves across Jacksonville are resounding with ads, most of them for or against Thrasher. One TV ad was paid for by Conservative Citizens for Justice, whose president, Tom Edwards, is the immediate past president of the Florida Justice Association, the lobbying arm of the trial bar.