Lieutenant governors in Florida haven't historically gotten a lot of attention or responsibility. But the late Buddy MacKay stands out as one of the most accomplished occupants of that office.
MacKay, who died on Tuesday at the age of 91, played an unusually active role as lieutenant governor under Lawton Chiles in the 1990’s, according to William March, a longtime political reporter and analyst in the Tampa Bay area.
“Florida lieutenant governors generally have little to do and don't do much except sit and wait and make sure the governor doesn't die. MacKay on the other hand was Chiles' troubleshooter,” said March. “When major problems arose during the Chiles administration, Chiles typically assigned Buddy MacKay to deal with them.”
Those include overseeing recovery efforts from the catastrophic Hurricane Andrew in 1992. MacKay also helped respond to a financial crisis in Miami and he was tasked with leading what was then called the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services following a scandal.
March describes MacKay as a “policy wonk” who was skilled in tackling bureaucratic problems and advancing government reform.
“But in the process of making those hard decisions, that did not help MacKay's political popularity,” said March, who added MacKay was rather soft-spoken when it came to engaging with the public.
That may have contributed to MacKay’s overwhelming defeat in his own bid for governor against Republican Jeb Bush in 1998.
Still, MacKay ended up serving in the role for 23 days after Chiles died in December that year, before his term was up.
"It was considered by a lot of his friends and supporters very tragic that he actually became governor, but only for a few weeks because of the death of Lawton Chiles," said March. "And as governor, he served only to transition to the administration of Jeb Bush."
MacKay was the last Democrat to hold serve in the governor's office.
“Buddy MacKay was among the last of a generation of Democratic good government reformers typified by LeRoy Collins and Reubin Askew, who introduced reforms into Florida government, including open records, transparency in government and systems for non-political, merit-based appointment of officials like judges and university trustees," said March. "A lot of those reforms have now been undone over the last two or three decades.”
Following MacKay's death, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis posted on X on Thursday that as "a U.S. Air Force veteran and lifelong public servant, MacKay was dedicated to our country and our state. May he rest in peace."
MacKay’s time in the governor’s office was only a brief part of his long political career in Florida. You can read more about his life and legacy here.
