Obama-machine casualty Chris Dorworth says goodbye to FL House he would have led

How the mighty fell amid the Obama machine.

A little while ago, Chris Dorworth sent an email to his Florida House colleagues saying goodbye. Dorworth, R-Lake Mary, was supposed to be House Speaker in just over two years. But he was knocked out by no-name Mike Clelland instead on Tuesday.

To my friends and colleagues in the Republican caucus of the Florida House:

 

Five years ago, I was given one of the greatest honors of my life when the voters of house district 34 elected me in a special election.  Two and a half years later, my classmates in the class of 2008 chose me to serve as the leader of their class.

 

The faith and confidence of the voters, and the friendship and loyalty of our membership are things that I will never forget.

 

As you have no doubt read or heard, I wound up on the down side of a thirty-seven vote deficit on Election Day. Yesterday, that deficit grew by eighty-six, so it does not appear that I will be a member of the Florida House any more.  The deficit is small - around 123 votes out of 73,000+ cast, which is a deficit of .16%.  

 

While there will be recounts, I’ve been around long enough to know that they rarely result in a difference of meaningful numbers of votes.  So while we will exercise our right to have these recounts, I do not anticipate that they will change the outcome of this race.  That said, due to the extraordinarily close nature of the race, I believe it is worth the time and energy to undertake a further review of all ballots to make sure that everything went as we believe it did.

 

I am extraordinarily proud of the work we have done over my five years in the legislature.  Having reflected on my tenure there, I believe there are only two votes in five years that I really regret – the tobacco tax vote of 2009 and our decision to increase fees on Floridians that same year.  The thousands of others were votes that I believe were in the best interest of the state, and would take them again without hesitation or reservation, regardless of consequence.

 

I want to thank our speaker, Will Weatherford, and the other men that I have had the privilege of serving under in my tenure.  Senator Marco Rubio is the future of the Republican Party, and I hope to visit his home on Pennsylvania Avenue some day.  Speaker Larry Cretul was a man of quiet and steely resolve who would jokingly refer to himself as an accidental speaker, but make no mistake about it – his leadership was born of providence and carried us through a dark time in the house.  Speaker Dean Cannon showed us what the house could do with discipline and strategy, and led us to unprecedented reform and change.

 

Will Weatherford has allowed me to ride shotgun throughout the reapportionment process and then through our reelection cycle.  That I will not be there on a daily basis to see the skills of such a great man; a true Christian conservative shape our state, is truly a regret of mine.

 

The men that will likely come later, my dear friends Richard Corcoran and Jose Oliva, have been refreshing examples of all that is right with government.  If I was picking a team to go in to battle with, they would be top draft choices.

 

I hope and pray that the members of the house will afford to my class, the class of 2008, the ability to elect a speaker from their own ranks.  While I do not have a vote in that matter, I would vote for my friend Steve Crisafulli if I did.   While he does not boast my good looks, I believe he has the perfect temperament and experience as a small businessman to guide the house with honor and integrity.  From all that I have read and heard, things are progressing towards the caucus uniting around him, and I believe that happening would lead to the best possible environment for the Florida House to tackle the challenges that lay ahead.

 

When I shared with my children that I would not be reelected, it was pretty obvious that they didn’t feel a pang of disappointment.  My nine year old son, Christopher, had asked me a couple of weeks ago what I would have done as speaker Weatherford’s majority leader.  I told him that I would help set the strategy for the house Republican caucus.  He pointed out to me yesterday that now that I am no longer in the Florida House, I will have much more time to help set strategy for his basketball and football teams.   Amen to that, Christopher.  Amen to that.

 

I am going to call all of you in the coming days to express my gratitude for your friendship and steadfast loyalty, often coming in the face of extreme scrutiny.

 

I have been blessed to have the best staff a member could ask for, and I will miss working with great people like Sharon Spratt, Carolyn Johnson, Chris Sileo and Kathy Gilland.  I’ve had the blessing of working with Senator Don Rubottom and Eric Miller in rulemaking and regulation, and Sanjay Thompson, who’s smiling face greeted me every day of committee weeks and session during the last two years in our suite.

 

I hope that all of you find your time in Tallahassee worthy of the sacrifice of the time away from your family, your career and your profession.  I will pray for Speaker Weatherford and for all of you on a daily basis because I understand how formidable the challenges that lay ahead, and how severe that the sacrifices you make, really are.  

 

The last thing you want or need is advice from me, but I’ll tell you this – what is right is not always what is popular and what is popular is not always right.  The nature of legislative service is that you have been made a steward of our state’s government for a two-year period.

 

I accept the results of this election because where it mattered – in the votes I took, in the bills I sponsored and in the legislation I steered as a committee chair – I held true to the principles that, at my core, govern my beliefs. I hope that when your legislative career ends, you feel the same way.  In my case, the voters have spoken, and assuming the recount confirms the outcome, I respect what they have said.

Thank you all, and may God Bless the state of Florida and the Florida House of Representatives.

 

Chris Dorworth

Comments

[Shirley Munoz]

The government is authorized by the people, when you limit the vote you do not deserve a place in government.

[ELVIS]

CHRIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A VERY GOOD SPEAKER!

[ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING]

"How the mighty fell amid the Obama machine."

Really? Dorworth had more to do with his own downfall than any other external force on the campaign. Of all the bloviating about morals, guidance and good intentions, the fact of the matter is that Chris Dorworth acted completely differently. So much so, that even fellow republicans credit him for having a negative impact on other races.

While I won't say that Mr. Dorworth cost Romney Florida's 29 electoral votes, he definitely contributed...

I am sure 101 in Tallahassee is changing business plans now that Mr. Dorworth won't be buying everyone drinks from his CCE.

[Can't take anymore]

Dorkworth faced the judgement of the voters and they threw him out of office. A lesson a number of the Republican elite in the Legislature better realize can (and will) happen to them in 2014. Many are likely to be so closely linked to the detested Rick Scott that will be voted out by insurgent primary campaigns or by reinvigorated Democrats.

[Wicked Tuna]

Chris Dorworth is simply Jim Greer with 20 more IQ points. Fat, corrupt, narcissistic, and self-delusional, he sees himself as a victim of a misguided electorate when in reality his political demise provides some much-welcome evidence that cosmic justice may actually exist.

See ya, Fat Boy. Don't forget to take your cigar butts with you.

[Chris]

Don't let the door hit you in on the back side. The voters got it correct!

[Independent FLoridian]

Seminole County is an extremely Republican county, just look at the electoral map of Florida. you ll see it is deep red. This is more to do with the way Chris , on the verge of bankruptcy, divorce, and other who knows what type of scandals, has , with his cohorts in Tallahassee, disenfranchised the people of Florida through voter suppression that was made painfully obvious on Tuesday. The voters do not enjoy hearing about Darden giving hundreds of thousands in campaign "donations" to this man while he is playing on an iPAD during townhall meetings. Enough is enough. Vote NO to Tea Party Republicans and bring sanity back to Florida. and that means NO to Marco Rubio 2016!!!

[Independent FLoridian]

2014 . Governor's House. its going down.

[Kh]

Bravo, Mr. Dorworth, on your very gracious bow-out. One day your son will read the letter you wrote to your House colleagues and be so proud of how you have handled defeat. You set an grand example for him, sir. With a father such you, he will one day grow up to become a man who is a good a leader as you. Good luck, sir, and God speed.

[Great Vicotry for Florida]

His defeat was was a great victory for Florida, let's take a few more of Florida's toxic leaders out. Scott should be next and maybe another future House Speaker and Senate President. Florida is in desperate need on new leadership that cares about our residents not just their friends.

[Aaron]

Chris "Doorknob" is an idiot. He was my state representative when I contacted his office for assistance in clearing a logjam holding up my unemployment benefits after I lost my position as a faculty member at the University of Central Florida. The fact that I could not make this obtuse man understand the catch-22 I was in makes me think that he is so dim he couldn't understand concepts such as levers and simple machines. My criticisms aren't partisan, either. My state senator, David Simmons, tows the party line for Rick Scott and whether or not he truly cared about my situation, at least he acted like he did, and more importantly, his staff got my unemployment issues fixed. I nicknamed Dorworth "Doorknob" after this incident because he possesses the cognitive ability of a doorknob. Good riddance. Why don't smart people run for office anymore?