Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

Climbing the Hill

Republican Sen. George LeMieux has made himself at home in his office on the third floor of the Russell Senate Office Building. Among the assorted mementos and family pictures is a crayon drawing made by his son, Max, tacked to the wall behind his desk. Hanging near the fireplace is a framed sketch of LeMieux arguing a case before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the state of Florida.


LeMieux calls his senatorial stint "the best job I ever had."? [Photo: Katherine Lambert]
There's also something of more recent vintage, however — a framed copy of an official Senate vote tally on Amendment No. 3774. The amendment removed references to credit rating agencies from federal laws, eliminating the government's reliance on agencies like Moody's, Fitch and Standard & Poor's in determining the standards of creditworthiness. Hardly landmark legislation, but its passage (61-38) earlier this year represented a coup for LeMieux. Few freshmen senators accomplish even that little legislatively in their first year, let alone a freshman Republican lawmaker facing a Democratic majority in a highly partisan political climate.

"George stepped right in here and came up to speed quicker than any appointed senator in the time I've been here," says Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a 25-year veteran of the Senate.

A year ago, when Mel Martinez quit the Senate, Gov. Charlie Crist's appointment of LeMieux to that seat generated a combination of yawns and rolled eyes. Democrats and Republicans alike saw LeMieux, Crist's longtime friend, adviser and former chief of staff, as the ultimate safe choice — as the person least likely to do anything that would make Crist squirm politically, and the least likely to draw attention from Crist's own quest for the job. U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Ocala) scoffed that LeMieux was just a "placeholder" for Crist.

But even before Crist left the Republican Party, LeMieux had begun going about the job in a way that reflected independence from Crist — and increasingly reflects his own ambitions.

Legislatively, LeMieux became active within weeks of arriving in Washington. As the Senate grappled with healthcare reform, he introduced his first piece of legislation, the "Prevent Health Care Fraud Act of 2009." The bill aimed to crack down on Medicare and Medicaid fraud by using the same predictive modeling technology that credit card companies use to flag unusual transactions.

The bulk of LeMieux's
voting record has been predictably conservative. While he has reached across party lines, Democrats say he does little more than 'vote no' on their agenda.

The bill didn't get anywhere during the healthcare debate, but LeMieux was able to include the modeling provisions in a $30-billion small-business lending bill that the Senate took up in July.

Meanwhile, away from the Senate floor, the "placeholder" beefed up his visibility. In addition to the usual menu of helping senior citizens navigate the Social Security or Veterans Administration bureaucracies, LeMieux, a low-key type, embraced the rah-rah, retail-politics aspects of the job. He coupled appearances promoting local job fairs aimed at getting Floridians back to work with a move that turned a portion of his official Senate website into a one-stop, virtual shop for job seekers. That tactic got the attention of McConnell, who told other Republican lawmakers they ought to replicate his efforts.

Steven Kirchof
LeMieux keeps a hectic pace and has won praise from constituent groups for his accessibility. [Photo: Katherine Lambert]

Constituents give LeMieux high marks for accessibility. A cigar shop owner from Orlando told Trend that he and some industry lobbyists had tried unsuccessfully for years to get face time with Florida Sen. Bill Nelson to talk about some of his industry's regulatory concerns. Getting in LeMieux's office, he says, was a breeze.

LeMieux also maintains a breakneck pace calculated to raise his profile both in Washington and back in Florida. On a typical workday in June, he kicked off the morning at the Mayflower Hotel in northwest Washington, where he delivered a 20-minute speech to a group of central Florida business leaders in town to lobby in support of the region's modeling and simulation industry.

"Republicans are already talking about Bill Nelson, and they think that he will be a target when his seat comes up in 2012. It certainly doesn't strain credibility to see LeMieux's actions as setting the groundwork for a Senate run against Nelson."
— Stuart Rothenberg, political analyst, editor and publisher of the Rothenberg Political Report

Over the next several hours, he attended a confirmation hearing for two military commanders, taped a public service message, met with the CEO of CSX Corp., spoke with representatives of a Florida charity seeking help in getting a federal earmark, attended two luncheons — one with the Senate Republican Conference and another with members of the Florida congressional delegation — and tried to get his House colleagues to go to the floor to call for more action from the administration in dealing with the Gulf oil spill.

That afternoon, LeMieux hosted then-CentCom commander Gen. David Petraeus, who dropped by the office for an impromptu visit. Washington was still abuzz over Gen. Stanley McChrystal's dismissal, and LeMieux's position on the Senate Armed Services Committee gave him a small but important role to play in the controversy. Within the next several days, LeMieux and his colleagues would conduct confirmation hearings for Petraeus to succeed McChrystal as commander of the war in Afghanistan. LeMieux said he told Petraeus "that if he has any problems with the diplomatic corps over there, he should take it directly to the president." Exiting the meeting, LeMieux then raced down a marble hallway to the Capitol to vote on a bill that will impose new sanctions against Iran.

George LeMieux with Gov. Charlie Crist
LeMieux, Gov. Charlie Crist's former chief of staff, says it was "painful" for him to abandon his support for the governor once Crist decided to run as an unaffiliated candidate. He insists that despite his endorsement of Marco Rubio, his friendship with Crist is "fine." LeMieux's ties to Crist have given his foes political ammunition. [Photo: Phil Coale / AP]

Conservative record

The bulk of LeMieux's voting record and rhetoric has been predictably conservative. He opposed the Democratic-led healthcare reform bill, voted against the financial regulatory reform bill crafted by Democrats Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Chris Dodd, and opposed the extension of unemployment benefits because they weren't coupled with spending cuts. As a member of the Armed Service Committee, he voted against repealing the law that bars openly gay individuals from serving in the military.

Shortly after arriving on the Hill, he created a leadership PAC, he says, to help elect more Republicans to Congress. "I think this is a dire time for this government and what it means for the people of this country if the government can't figure out how to curb its spending. The only way that we're going to do that is by reversing the trends of recent years and bringing in more people to Washington who hold strongly conservative values," he says.

LeMieux hasn't been totally partisan. His credit agency amendment was crafted with the help of Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington. In April, he teamed up with Sen. Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island, to offer a bill that aims to provide teachers, principals and other school leaders with professional development and mentoring programs to strengthen their teaching and leadership skills. In July, he broke ranks with his party to help pass the Democrat-written amendment that establishes a $30-billion small-business lending fund. LeMieux won praise from both pro-business groups in Florida and Senate Democrats such as Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. "We couldn't get one vote from a single Republican to help small business through community banks. Thankfully, Sen. LeMieux has broken the ice," Whitehouse said on the Senate floor.

Back home, however, Democrats paint LeMieux as an "uber-partisan, ultra-Republican" obstructionist who does little more than "vote no" on the Democratic agenda. "By just saying no, he's not only said no to giving tax breaks to 200,000 small businesses in our state, he said no to closing the Medicare Part D doughnut hole to senior citizens and (by voting against healthcare reform), he said no to cutting the national deficit by a trillion dollars over the next 20 years," says Florida Democratic Party spokesman Eric Jotkoff.

George LeMieux with staff
LeMieux, shown here meeting with staffers, became active legislatively soon after arriving in Washington. He introduced his first piece of legislation as the Senate grappled with healthcare reform. But his profile among Floridians remains low.
[Photo: Katherine Lambert]

Campaign considerations

LeMieux is clearly enchanted with his senatorial stint, which he calls "the best job I ever had." The 41-year-old Broward County native is coy about any plans to run against Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012. "I haven't ruled anything in or out for the future," he says. But aides and others close to him indicate that he's clearly interested in coming back, and LeMieux acknowledges that he "would like the opportunity to do public service again."

A 2012 run by LeMieux is a long way from a slam dunk, however. One consideration is whether he is willing to put his young family through the rigors of Washington life on a long-term basis. "We have four young kids, and that's the most important thing to me, my wife and my kids. They're little, and they're not going to be little forever, and this is a time that's extremely important in their maturation," he says.

Another factor is LeMieux's inexperience as a campaigner. A skilled behind-the-scenes operative, he is credited with much of the success of Crist's campaign and general political strategy. But he's only run for office himself once, campaigning unsuccessfully in 1998 for a seat in the Florida Legislature. And for all his activity in Washington, his profile among voters remains low. A July 30 Quinnipiac University poll found that 54% of Florida voters surveyed said that they "didn't know" enough to say whether LeMieux was doing a good job as U.S. senator, whereas only 24% of Florida voters "didn't know" enough to issue an opinion on Nelson's job performance.

LeMieux shouldn't have trouble raising money. Stints as the chair of the tight-knit Republican Party in Broward County, Deputy Attorney General, Crist's chief of staff and chairman of the statewide law firm Gunster have acquainted him with many big-money donors he can reach out to. But it's unlikely that LeMieux could mount a successful campaign against Nelson, a Democrat — or would even attempt one — in 2012 if Jeb Bush decides to enter the race. With the GOP viewing Nelson as vulnerable, many Republicans will likely push hard for the former governor to run and take advantage of his star appeal. A Bush candidacy, many believe, would all but evaporate financial support for any Republican challengers.

The biggest unknown for LeMieux, however, may be the Charlie factor: First, whether Republican donors and voters accept LeMieux's repudiation of Crist after Crist left the GOP. LeMieux says the estrangement is political, not personal. As "painful" as it was for him, LeMieux says he couldn't support Crist once the governor decided to run as an unaffiliated candidate. LeMieux insists that despite his endorsement of Crist foe Marco Rubio, his friendship with the governor is "fine." LeMieux says he still talks to Crist "about state issues. We've been talking about this oil spill a lot. We may talk about something that doesn't have to do with politics. We don't talk about politics anymore, so it's a little awkward, but I think that our friendship is strong enough to survive this."

In addition to whether hard-partisan Republicans will tolerate that friendship, there's another question: If Crist wins the Senate race this year, will Florida voters in 2012 choose to have the state represented in the U.S. Senate by Crist and Crist's former chief of staff? LeMieux's ties to the governor have given his foes some political ammunition. When LeMieux left Crist's staff in 2007 to work as a private attorney for the Gunster law firm, some accused him of using his ties to Crist to secure lucrative contracts for the firm, including one with the Florida Department of Transportation. LeMieux has denied playing any role in securing the DOT contract, which was signed two weeks before he joined the law firm, but his Democratic opponents don't buy it. "He was essentially selling access to Charlie Crist as governor. That was his business plan," says Jotkoff.

Some high-profile Republicans have also come out swinging at LeMieux and his business dealings. As a state representative, Senate candidate Rubio criticized LeMieux's role in negotiating a gambling compact on behalf of the state of Florida with the Seminole Tribe of Florida while at the same time serving as a paid consultant to the Florida Republican Party. (The tribe donated $700,000 to the party during the negotiations.) "Whose interests were represented in those talks?" Rubio told the St. Petersburg Times. "Was it the people's? Or was it George LeMieux's or Charlie Crist's?"

Base of support

In the meantime, however, LeMieux's time in Washington has clearly won him the affections of several constituencies important to any 2012 campaign. For one, he has established himself as a reliable and consistent champion of the Florida business community. Barney Bishop, president and CEO of the influential business lobbying group Associated Industries of Florida, calls LeMieux an "extraordinarily good vote" for Florida business constituencies. "He meets with us, reaches out. He calls." In a veiled jab at Nelson, Bishop says, "that's something you don't often see with other elected officials."

Bishop is also among those who think LeMieux has put enough distance between himself and Crist to have his own distinct political identity. "George has life regardless of what happens to Charlie," he says.

LeMieux also has established himself among the Republican members of the nation's most exclusive club as a worthy colleague should he win election. The framed roll-call vote in LeMieux's office includes an inscribed message from McConnell: "To George, with high hopes for your speedy return to the U.S. Senate."

George LeMieux and family
"I haven't ruled anything in or out for the future," LeMieux says. But those close to him says he's clearly interested in returning to Capitol Hill. [Photo: Katherine Lambert]