Candidates • George "G. G." Boone, self-employed carpenter (Independent) •
Jeb Bush, businessman, son of former
President of the United States George H. W. Bush and former Florida Secretary of Commerce (Republican) •
Lawton Chiles, incumbent
Governor of Florida (Democratic) • Calvin "C. C." Reed, former trucking and moving industry worker The final weeks of the campaign was described as "one of the nastiest in Florida political history." On October 18, a debate that was broadcast by 36 radio stations was held at
Walt Disney World in
Orlando. Bush and Chiles stood behind two lecterns decorated with
Mickey Mouse ears. Another debate between Bush and Chiles was conducted by the
League of Women Voters of Florida at
Tampa Performing Arts Center on November 1. Early in the debate, Chiles again criticized Bush's ad about the death penalty, stating that Bush had outdone his father's ad about
Willie Horton and saying "You knew [the ad] was false. You admitted it was false. And I am ashamed that you would use the loss of a mother in an ad like this." Later, during a discussion about school vouchers, Chiles quipped "My mama told me, 'sticks and stones will break my bones,' but names will never hurt me. But let me tell you one other thing about the old liberal. The old He-Coon walks just before the light of day." This referenced Chiles'
Florida cracker roots, and served as a deliberate contrast with the more urbane Bush. On the day before the election, a bloc of Chiles' campaign used get-out-the-vote phone calls to about 70,000 people. These calls alleged that Bush was a "tax cheat" and that his running mate
Tom Feeney planned to destroy Social Security. The information was falsely attributed to a "tax fairness" and a senior citizen advocacy organizations. Chiles denied authorizing the phone calls but still later apologized when the media discovered top officials in his campaign had authorized them. When the Florida legislature investigated the calls, Chiles claimed he was "out of the loop." Chiles' ultimate margin of victory in the election was less than 64,000 votes. Throughout the campaign, Bush raised approximately $7 million, more than half of which came from fundraisers featuring his parents and out-of-state fundraisers sponsored by his
family and friends. On each of
Barbara and George H. W. Bush's visits to Florida, they raked in about $1 million for the campaign. Chiles limited contributions to $100 per person and raised $6.23 million, which included $2 million in public money.
Polling ==Results==