Lemon Law Attorney

In the crowded race to become the state’s top lawyer, Wednesday offered an opportunity to shine.

The result during a debate Wednesday at the Seminole campus of St. Petersburg College was lots of promises from four Democrats and three Republicans.

First, it was the Democrats, who pledged everything from a cleaner environment and tougher law enforcement to better deals on prescription drugs.

“If they can sell them for that price in Canada, why can’t they sell them (at that price) here,” asked Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox.

Then, it was time for the Republican candidates, who seemed to be courting the law enforcement vote.

“A thief is a thief whether you wear a white collar or a blue collar,” said state Sen. Locke Burt of Ormond Beach.

The seven candidates are running to replace Bob Butterworth, who, after 16 years, is leaving because of term limits.

The Democrats are Maddox, state Sen. Buddy Dyer of Orlando, and former deputy attorneys general Walter Dartland and George Sheldon. They went first in Wednesday’s debate, taking turns promising tougher enforcement of elder abuse laws, access to cheaper prescription drugs and prosecution of corporate crime.

The Republicans in the race are Burt, Education Commissioner Charlie Crist and Solicitor General Tom Warner. They debated for 30 minutes, vowing to stop identity theft, defend the state and, like the Democrats, get tough on corporate wrongdoing.

The Republicans’ polite exchanges were a break from recent ads that have attempted to chip away at Crist, the apparent front-runner. Burt and Warner have openly questioned Crist’s fitness for the position.

The attorney general is the people’s lawyer, who sues when mass refunds are in order, when companies conspire, or when citizens are treated unfairly because of their race or gender.

The office represents the state in most appeals arising from criminal convictions in state courts, opposes major challenges to Florida laws and issues formal legal opinions on state laws. The office also enforces antitrust and consumer protection laws and handles civil prosecution of criminal racketeering.

Among Democrats, Dyer is considered the front-runner, the only one of the four Democrats who has double-digit support, according to a recent St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald poll.

Still, about 70 percent of Democrats haven’t made up their minds yet on who they will vote for in the primary, the poll said, giving all four candidates reason to rev things up in the final week. The poll, part of a larger effort to assess the Democratic gubernatorial primary, didn’t ask about Republican candidates.

Dartland, a consumer advocate credited with establishing Florida’s Lemon Law, which protects used car buyers, explained why he has accepted neither campaign contributions nor donations. He is relying on word of mouth and mass e-mail to get his message out.

“The problem with money is once you start collecting it, when do you stop,” Dartland said. Polluting companies, firms that have business before the state Cabinet on which the attorney general sits, are giving the maximum allowed to his opponents’ campaigns, Dartland said.

“You can’t tell me they don’t expect something in return,” he added.