Bronson Endorses McCollum for Governor

Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson today endorsed Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum as the Republican candidate for Governor of the State of Florida for the 2010 Election.

Please see the text of the Commissioner’s endorsement letter below, or click here to download a printable version of the letter.

Dear Republican Leaders,

I am writing you today to discuss matters that I feel are important to us as a Party and ultimately, our great state.

As many of you may have heard, I recently announced that, while I gave it much consideration, I have decided against running for Governor in 2010. I came to this decision after a great deal of discussion with my friends, family and supporters and wanted to let you, as leaders of our Party, in on my decision making process.

I have always believed that primary campaigns are a healthy part of the Republican Party.
Primaries foster healthy policy discussions, energize both the volunteer and donor corps and strengthen candidates for the General election. While I do believe in all of these things, I also believed that in making my decision to run for Governor, I needed to take a long look at the particular circumstances that our Party faces in the upcoming election.

Upon taking inventory of the current environment, I concluded that running for Governor was not the appropriate thing for me to do at this time. I came to this conclusion because the Democrat Party has clearly solidified behind their candidate for Governor. In tough economic times like these, the last thing our Party needs is a protracted Primary battle where we spend all of our resources fighting with each other, rather than focusing on the General election. Now is the time to be united behind our nominee and to that end, I enthusiastically endorse Attorney General Bill McCollum.

Bill is a friend, a guardian for consumers and our children, a steady, experienced hand and he is the solid leader that is needed to guide us out of the tough economic times that we are facing. I know Bill is the strongest candidate that the Republican Party could nominate for Governor and I know that he will make a great Governor. I hope you will stand with me, over the next 17 months, as I focus on doing whatever is needed to ensure that Bill McCollum is elected as the next Governor of our beautiful state.

With kind regards,
Charlie Bronson