Bill Heller - Campaign and Election in 2006

Campaign and Election in 2006

Though party officials usually remain neutral in primaries, Dr. Heller was endorsed over Liz McCallum by several Pinellas Democrats in the contest to decide who would run to succeed Frank Farkas. These included County Commissioner Calvin Harris, State Representatives Charlie Justice and Frank Peterman, Jr. as well as St. Petersburg City Council members James Bennett, Rick Kriseman, and Rene Flowers, and School Board member Linda Lerner. County Commissioner Ken Welch remained neutral as he sat on the county canvassing board. McCallum had narrowly lost to Farkas in the 2004 election, by less than 3,000 votes. Despite McCallum's strong showing in 2004, Dr. Heller was encouraged to run by colleague Betty Castor, a former president of USF and former Florida Secretary of Education. He came into the race at a time when McCallum had been running about a year. He had remained active in the community after stepping down as head of the St. Petersburg campus, with membership on the boards of directors of Bayfront Medical Center, the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, Great Explorations museum, Florida International Museum and Pinellas Association of Retarded Children. He cited his education experience and ties to the community as important qualities.

His community connections allowed Dr. Heller to quickly overcome his late start in fundraising, and swamp McCallum's campaign efforts. While she was taking a traditional door-to-door approach, he was able to raise money by making phone calls to acquaintances he had made over the previous 14 years. The St. Petersburg Times endorsed Dr. Heller, citing his ability to solve problems through consensus building and his work to make USF St. Petersburg independent. It also praised his success at promoting a successful referendum to improve taxpayer funding of teacher's pay, and his leadership in saving Sunken Gardens. A PAC, Pinellas Democrats PAC, endorsed a slate of candidates and ran an ad attacking Dr. Heller. In return, a graphic designer who had done work for the Heller campaign accused the PAC of violating contribution laws based on a $5000 contribution it had received, and lashed out against the wrongness of Democrats attacking fellow democrats. The PAC representatives countered that the $500 limit per individual contributor does not apply to PAC's. The Florida Democratic Party protested the use of the word "Democrats" in its name. Dr. Heller narrowly defeated McCallum in the primary, to face Republican Angelo Cappelli, the chair of the St. Anthony Hospital Foundation in November.

Similar in some ways, Dr Heller and Cappelli differed in personality and their views on social issues. Cappelli was seen as taking an authoritarian approach, while Dr. Heller was more inclined to collaborate with others. Heller favored prosecuting crimes based on sexual orientation as hate crimes and supported same sex-unions. He said he would ban selling semi-automatic weapons, and advocated including contraceptive and safe sex information in sex education classes. Heller supported embryonic stem cell research and categorized himself as pro-choice. A local political analyst, Darryl Paulson, described their differences on social issues as irrelevant, with property insurance as the most important issue for voters. Dr. Heller said he would address cherry picking by auto and life insurance companies. Cappelli favored encouraging insurance companies to return to the Florida market by implementing a state catastrophe fund. Capelli was seen as appealing to the Republican base and received large contributions from individuals and from the Florida Republican Party, Dr. Heller's support was seen as going beyond the Democratic Party because of his long term civic activity and because he was seen as someone able to work across party lines. Dr. Heller again faced an attack campaign when Capielli approved a flier paid for by the Florida Republican party that described Heller as a "nutty professor." The ad misrepresented Heller's support of the teacher's pay referendum, which was overwhelmingly supported by the voters, as a pro tax increase stance. Dr. Heller again received the St. Petersburg Times endorsement. While praising him for an "impressive" resume, they described Capiella as having "regressive views on gay rights, sex education, gun control and . . . school funding," based on his responses to a questionnaire from the Christian Coalition. Once again, Dr. Heller's years with USF and his involvement with the community, and his ability to work with others were cited as essential qualities. Added to this was the position that his progressivism more closely reflected the interests and views of voters in District 52. Despite the attack campaign and a disadvantage in campaign contributions, Dr. Heller's popularity won him the election handily. His long term ties to the area included a friendship with Republican Governor Charlie Crist, who endorsed neither candidate.