He-Coon III is Running for Governor of Florida

Lawton "Bud" Chiles III has announced that he is going to run for Governor of Florida in 2006. His father, Lawton Chiles, Jr., who was Governor for eight years before Jeb! was widely popular.

It looked like Bush was going to defeat him in 1994 until Chiles declared himself a "he-coon" -- the wiliest raccoon in the forest -- during their final debate

"The old 'he-coon' walks just before the light of day," Chiles said.

I don't quite understand this he-coon stuff, but hopefully the rest of the voters in Florida get it.

He says:
"The primary reason I'm running in this campaign is because I feel like people's access to government is limited by money, power and politics," said Chiles. "The average Joe citizen is pretty much disenfranchised from the system."

Chiles III has never held an elected office before, but....

Chiles, 51, lives in Orlando and runs a coastal development company. He returned to Florida almost two years ago after working as a vice president for Hope Worldwide, a charity that provides education and medical services for poor families on six continents. Before that, he owned a Tallahassee communications company.

Others considering a bid for Governor in 2006 are U.S. Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa, Florida Democratic Party Chairman Scott Maddox, state Sen. Rod Smith, state Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, Attorney General Charlie Crist and Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings.

It will be interesting to see if he's wiley enough to stand up to the competition.