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Senate Budget Chief Weighs Gubernatorial Bid

Clearwater Republican Jack Latvala, the irascible Senate budget chief who is mulling a run for governor, is already spicing up the race.

On a recent stop in Miami, Latvala told CBS’s “Facing South Florida” that he would make a better governor than Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.

A wealthy rancher and former legislator and congressman, Putnam is the GOP front runner. 

“I’ve been in business all these years while Adam’s been in elected office, since he was 22 years old. The last 18 years, he’s been in full-time elected office, 10 of those years in Washington. And I don’t think we need to make Tallahassee like Washington.”

Latvala called another potential rival, House Speaker Richard Corcoran, a trial lawyer at heart.

Latvala says he’ll wait until August to decide whether he’s in the race.

A Miami native, former WFSU reporter Jim Ash is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years of experience, most of it in print. He has been a member of the Florida Capital Press Corps since 1992.