Brown-Waite Runs A Confident Campaign

By CHRISTIAN M. WADE The Tampa Tribune

Published: Oct 9, 2006

She is cool, calculated and boasts of a reputation as an independent-minded lawmaker in the rough and tumble world of partisan politics.

Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite is running for her third term in the 5th District, and she couldn't be more confident.

With less than a month until Election Day, the 64-year-old Brooksville Republican is leading Democrat John Russell in money and support.

Unlike her previous campaigns, which enlisted help from President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, she is running a low-profile race this time and focusing on a list of accomplishments.

The district, which runs along Florida's Nature Coast, has one of the largest concentrations of elderly military veterans of any district in the country.

It's a demographic that has shaped her opinion of issues such as her support for the war in Iraq, health care reforms and national security.

Brown-Waite, a native of Albany, N.Y., was elected four years ago after defeating Democratic five-term incumbent Karen Thurman.

It was a narrow victory that followed the state Legislature's contentious redrawing of the district's boundaries, a move that gave the GOP a slight majority in what for years had been a Democratic stronghold.

Two years later, she consolidated her victory after fighting back a bid by Democrat Robert G. Whittel.

Although Brown-Waite's critics have labeled her as a rubber stamp for the GOP-controlled White House, she calls herself an independent.

"I'm not a sure vote," she says. "I'm an independent who stays in touch with her constituents. People know what they're getting."

She has opposed the president on major policy decisions: immigration changes, low-cost prescriptions for seniors and veterans benefit cutbacks.

Recently, she introduced a resolution repudiating the position of her political leader, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, declaring that congressional offices "may be subject to searches and seizures" during a criminal investigation of any member of the House of Representatives.

Still, Brown-Waite said she considers herself to be a loyal Republican who has received a 92 percent approval rating from the American Conservative Union and an "A" from the National Rifle Association.

She thinks voters want a conservative to represent the district.

"That's the message I get from my constituents," she says.

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (727) 815-1082 or cwade@tampatrib.com.