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Buddy MacKay

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(Redirected from Buddy MacKay, Jr.) American politician (born 1933)
Buddy MacKay
Official portrait, 1991
United States Special Envoy for the Americas
In office
March 5, 1999 – January 20, 2001
PresidentBill Clinton
Preceded byMack McLarty
Succeeded byOtto Reich
42nd Governor of Florida
In office
December 12, 1998 – January 5, 1999
LieutenantVacant
Preceded byLawton Chiles
Succeeded byJeb Bush
14th Lieutenant Governor of Florida
In office
January 8, 1991 – December 12, 1998
GovernorLawton Chiles
Preceded byBobby Brantley
Succeeded byFrank Brogan
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 6th district
In office
January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1989
Preceded byBill Young
Succeeded byCliff Stearns
Member of the Florida Senate
from the 6th district
In office
November 5, 1974 – November 4, 1980
Preceded byJim Williams
Succeeded byGeorge G. Kirkpatrick Jr.
Member of the Florida House of Representatives
In office
November 5, 1968 – November 5, 1974
Preceded byBill Chappell
Succeeded byWayne C. McCall
Constituency30th district (1968–1972)
32nd district (1972–1974)
Personal details
BornKenneth Hood MacKay Jr.
(1933-03-22) March 22, 1933 (age 91)
Ocala, Florida, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse Anne Selph ​(m. 1960)​
Children4
EducationUniversity of Florida (BS, BA, LLB)
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Air Force
Years of service1955–1958
RankCaptain

Kenneth Hood "Buddy" MacKay Jr. (born March 22, 1933) is an American politician and diplomat who served as the 42nd governor of Florida from December 12, 1998, to January 5, 1999, upon the death of Lawton Chiles. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 14th lieutenant governor of Florida from 1991 to 1998. During his career, he also served as a state legislator and as a United States representative and special envoy. Following the death of Bob Graham in 2024, MacKay is the only living former Democratic governor of Florida.

Early life

MacKay was born to a citrus-farming family in Ocala, Florida, the son of Julia Elizabeth (Farnum) and Kenneth Hood MacKay. He served in the United States Air Force during the 1950s, and then attended the University of Florida, where he was tapped into Florida Blue Key and eventually received a law degree. MacKay was inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame (the most prestigious honor a student can receive from UF) and was a member of The Board. He married Anne Selph in 1960; the couple has four sons.

Political career

MacKay was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1968, and to the Florida Senate in 1974.

From 1983 to 1989 he served for three terms in the United States House of Representatives.

In 1988 he received the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate, but lost in a very close race for that office to Connie Mack III.

Lieutenant governorship

Lawton Chiles and MacKay at the Florida Democratic Party headquarters, 1991

MacKay won the 1990 Democratic primary for lieutenant governor on the ticket headed by former U.S. Senator Lawton Chiles, who had held the Senate seat MacKay had unsuccessfully sought two years earlier. They won the election and were re-elected in 1994, the latter campaign being a close contest against the Republican ticket headed by Jeb Bush.

As lieutenant governor, MacKay was co-chair of the Florida Commission on Education, Reform and Accountability. He was regarded as the most significant and powerful lieutenant governor in Florida's history.

MacKay was a strong supporter of the use of capital punishment, as was Chiles. When he was asked during the 1998 gubernatorial election campaign about his positions on use of the death penalty and electric chair in Florida, he replied: "I support the death penalty and support the use of the electric chair so long as it operates in a reliable fashion." However he suggested that Florida should change its mode of execution after Pedro Medina's botched execution, saying: "The last thing we want to do is generate sympathy for these killers."

Gubernatorial campaign

In 1998, MacKay sought to succeed the term-limited Chiles as governor, easily winning the Democratic nomination with his full support. However, MacKay secured only 44.7% of the vote, losing to Republican nominee Jeb Bush, who had narrowly lost the 1994 contest but secured 55.3% of the vote in 1998.

Governorship

MacKay taking the oath of office, 1998

Despite his defeat, MacKay became Chiles' successor when Chiles died unexpectedly on December 12, 1998. MacKay was at this time in Boston with his wife. When they returned to their hotel room, they found a message about Chiles' death, asking MacKay to get on a plane to Atlanta, where they were picked up by a state crew and flown through thick fog to Tallahassee. At 12.30 a.m. the next day, the 65-year-old MacKay was sworn in as Florida's 42nd governor at his Capitol office for the 24 days remaining in Chiles' term.

"There's no great pleasure in this," said MacKay about taking a job he had sought, but got for a short time after his political partner's death. He also stated how sorry he was that he would be unable because of the short time and lack of mandate to take care of such issues as education and health care.

Despite keeping a low public profile during his time as governor, MacKay made at least 56 appointments to various boards and to various offices, including two judgeships. He granted six pardons to female prisoners and was involved in such issues as the negotiation plan for the Everglades, and moderated some other disputes. Perhaps his most visible act as governor was signing Peggy Quince's nomination to the Florida Supreme Court. Quince was Chiles' last pick for the bench and it fell to MacKay, and then Bush, to sustain her nomination.

MacKay was succeeded by Bush on January 5, 1999.

Diplomacy and later life

Bob Graham with MacKay, 2008

After his governorship ended, MacKay retired from active politics. He, however, remains publicly active.

He was appointed by President Clinton as a special envoy for the Americas, being the second person to hold this position. During his tenure he traveled to 26 countries in the Americas, working on issues such as the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), hemispheric security, strengthening the rule of law, labor standards, environmental policies and human rights.

He attended a “Day with Florida Governors” symposium, organized by the University of Central Florida and Louis Frey Institute on March 27, 2006, with Governor Bush and former governors Claude Roy Kirk Jr., Reubin Askew, Bob Graham and Bob Martinez (Wayne Mixson, who served for three days after Graham's resignation, wasn't present).

MacKay's memoir about his political career, How Florida Happened, was published by the University Press of Florida in March 2010.

Electoral history

Official portrait, 2001

Florida Senate, 6th district (1974)

Florida Senate, 6th district (1978)

  • Buddy MacKay (D, Inc.) – elected unopposed

United States Senate election in Florida, 1980 (Democratic primary)

Florida's 6th congressional district, 1982

  • Buddy MacKay (D) – 85,825 (61.35%)
  • Ed Havill (R) – 54,059 (38.65%)

Florida's 6th congressional district, 1984

  • Buddy MacKay (D, Inc.) – 167,409 (99.30%)
  • Eric Tarnley (write-in) – 1,174 (0.70%)

Florida's 6th congressional district, 1986

  • Buddy MacKay (D, Inc.) – 143,598 (70.16%)
  • Larry Gallagher (R) – 61,069 (29.84%)

United States Senate election in Florida, 1988 (Democratic primary)

Florida United States Senate election, 1988 (Democratic runoff)

  • Buddy MacKay – 369,266 (52.00%)
  • Bill Gunter – 340,918 (48.00%)

Florida United States Senate election, 1988

Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, 1990

  • Buddy MacKay – 746,325 (69.49%)
  • Tom Gustafson – 327,731 (30.51%)

Florida gubernatorial election, 1990

Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, 1994

  • Buddy MacKay (Inc.) – 603,657 (72.17%)
  • James H. King – 232,757 (27.83%)

Florida gubernatorial election, 1994

  • Lawton Chiles/Buddy MacKay (D, Inc.) – 2,135,008 (50.75%)
  • Jeb Bush/Tom Feeney (R) – 2,071,068 (49.23%)

Florida gubernatorial election, 1998

  • Jeb Bush/Frank Brogan (R) – 2,191,105 (55.27%)
  • Buddy MacKay/Rick Dantzler (D) – 1,773,054 (44.72%)

Source: Our Campaigns – Candidate – Kenneth "Buddy" MacKay Jr.

References

  1. "Julia Farnum MacKay — Ocala, Fla".
  2. "Lieutenant Governor Kenneth Hood (Buddy) MacKay and his wife Anne Selph MacKay". Florida Memory. State Library and Archives of Florida.
  3. "Contents: This Time the People Won". Archived from the original on July 2, 2007.
  4. ^ "State: MacKay steps into awkward 23 days".
  5. "**Election '98: The road to November**".
  6. "WORLD Magazine - Today's News, Christian Views".
  7. "November 3, 1998 General Election". Florida Department of State. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
  8. Verhovek, Sam Howe (November 9, 1994). "THE 1994 ELECTIONS: THE NATION THE BUSHES; Texas Elects George W. While Florida Rejects Jeb". The New York Times.
  9. Dunkelberger, Lloyd (1 January 1999). "MacKay Term Short But Active". The Gainesville Sun. pp. 1B, 5B.
  10. "The Americas Group".
  11. Video on YouTube

External links

Florida House of Representatives
Preceded byBill Chappell Member of the Florida House of Representatives
from the 30th district
1968–1972 		Succeeded byGary R. Cunningham
Preceded byL. E. Brown Member of the Florida House of Representatives
from the 32nd district
1972–1974 		Succeeded byWayne C. McCall
Florida Senate
Preceded byJim Williams Member of the Florida Senate
from the 6th district
1974–1980 		Succeeded byGeorge G. Kirkpatrick Jr.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded byBill Young Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 6th congressional district
1983–1989 		Succeeded byCliff Stearns
Party political offices
Preceded byLawton Chiles Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Florida
(Class 1)
1988 		Succeeded byHugh Rodham
Preceded byFranklin B. Mann Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Florida
1990, 1994 		Succeeded byRick Dantzler
Preceded byLawton Chiles Democratic Party nominee for Governor of Florida
1998 		Succeeded byBill McBride
Political offices
Preceded byBobby Brantley Lieutenant Governor of Florida
1991–1998 		Succeeded byFrank Brogan
Preceded byLawton Chiles Governor of Florida
1998–1999 		Succeeded byJeb Bush
Diplomatic posts
Preceded byMack McLarty United States Special Envoy for the Americas
1999–2001 		Succeeded byOtto Reich
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byBob Martinezas Former Governor Order of precedence of the United States Succeeded byJeb Bushas Former Governor
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