Bondi wants to 'win back Florida'

Pam Bondi, a candidate for the Republican nomination for state Attorney General, was the guest speaker at the Feb. 12 meeting of the Republican Club of Longboat Key held at the Chart House.

For 18 years, Bondi has been a Hillsborough County Assistant State Attorney.

Bondi told club members that her goal is to “win back Florida.”

“I am not running for a political career,” she said. “Two terms in office and then it’s back home.”

She is a fourth-generation Floridian, and her family has a home on Longboat Key.

“I’ve spent summers here for 40 years,” she said.

Bondi spoke of the effect of the recession on the court system.

“It is jammed (with) foreclosures and mortgage frauds,” she said. “Crime goes up during a recession, as does domestic violence.”

She also stressed her conservative views.

“Government doesn’t have to be bigger to be better,” she said.

Citing Ronald Reagan and Jeb Bush as her heroes, Bondi said, “We can’t afford failed leadership. We’re the party of Reagan and Lincoln, and we need to start acting like it.”

A graduate of the University of Florida and Stetson Law School, Bondi has been honored for her work as a prosecutor and lawyer.

During the business portion of the meeting, the members voted unanimously to oppose the Sarasota County election ballot question on continuing the 1-mill, school-district tax.

Club President Jim Whitman presented a scrapbook from immediate past president, the late Claudia Fuller.

“Today we are celebrating our 15th anniversary and this scrapbook includes a story and photos of the very first meeting held at Barbara Conrad’s home,” Whitman said.

Conrad was present and spent a few minutes leafing through the book.

Three Town Commission candidates, District 1 candidate Lynn Larson, at-large candidate Philip Younger and District 3 candidate David Brenner, were introduced at the meeting.