Republican Jeff Kottkamp will attempt to do what no other Florida lieutenant governor has done in modern history: win another elected office.

But to be successful, his campaign for Florida attorney general will have to overcome the relative obscurity of his current office along with a constant barrage of questions about his use of the state plane.

Perhaps no Florida politician was affected more than Kottkamp by Gov. Charlie Crist’s decision to not seek re-election in 2010 and instead run for the U.S. Senate.

Crist’s announcement left Kottkamp without a running mate. But it also set off a wave of politicians scampering for offices newly opened in Crist’s wake, including the attorney general’s job.

Kottkamp so far is the only major Republican to announce for the attorney general’s seat, held now by Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum. Democrats hoping to succeed McCollum included state Sens. Dave Aronberg of Greenacres and Dan Gelber of Miami Beach.

Voters recreated the lieutenant governor position in 1968 (the post had been abolished in 1885). Of the eight lieutenant governors who preceded Kottkamp, three later sought another elected office, but none succeeded.

 Democrat Buddy MacKay, after eight years as lieutenant governor under Lawton Chiles, lost his gubernatorial bid in 1998 to Jeb Bush. Tom Adams, who served from 1971 to 1975 under fellow Democrat Reubin Askew, lost a campaign for state Senate in 1984. Askew’s second running mate, Jim Williams, ran for governor but lost badly.

MacKay did serve briefly as governor following Chiles’ death in December 1998. So did Lt. Gov. Wayne Mixson, who served as governor for three days after Bob Graham moved to the U.S. Senate in 1987.

“In the case of MacKay and Andrews, it was not the office they came from, but who their opponents were,” said Bobby Brantley, the lieutenant governor under Republican Gov. Bob Martinez who now works as a lobbyist in Tallahassee.

“Jeff will do well. He’s a personable guy and when people meet him, they like him.”

 Kottkamp will also face continued questions about his use of the state plane, including one instance in which the plane picked him up near his home in Fort Myers last year to attend a Florida State University football game in Tallahassee.

 But it may depend on whether Democrats can spend on television ads to convince voters that Kottkamp compromised his office, said former attorney general candidate Skip Campbell, a Democrat.

“Name recognition is critical,” Campbell said. “But a lot of people don’t remember the bad, they just remember the name.”

Kottkamp’s current position will enable him to keep his name in the news — he’s scheduled to be in West Palm Beach Tuesday for a Florida Sheriff’s Association conference. And he and Crist will travel the state on Wednesday to promote adoption.

 But Kottkamp is not scheduled to use the state plane either day.

 He’s facing an ethics complaint about whether his use of the state plane has been proper. But he shrugged off questions Monday about the impact on his campaign.

 “I feel that’s going to come out just fine,” he said.

This story was printed July 21 on page 4A of The Palm Beach Post.

Tags: Jeff Kottkamp

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