Bense open to invite to be Crist's running mate

House Speaker Allan Bense said Friday that he's not "out shopping my name around'' to be considered a running mate to Attorney General Charlie Crist in the governor's race, but added that "if my country or state asks me, I'll never turn them down.'' Bense surprised many supporters of Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher two weeks ago when he came forward to endorse Crist.

On Friday morning, Bense told an audience of his Republican colleagues and Tallahassee lobbyists at the 100 Ideas Summit in Orlando that when he returned back to work full-time this summer after an eight-year focus on his legislative career, things had changed at his Panama City company.

The "pups'' he'd left in charge of his development and road building operation, he said, had grown to feisty German shepherds and he, the old German shepherd, returned "a little heavier and with a little mange.''

Bense said he's prepared for the financial scrutiny that will come if he should be selected to be a running mate. He said his net worth has grown considerably over the past few years for one simple reason: His real estate holdings have ballooned in value, as property values in Florida have soared. "I'll just line my partners up and one by one they'll testify to the fact that I've done nothing,'' he joked.

Comments

[trugop]

Bill Galvano would be a better choice.