Nothing quite captures how much has changed in Florida’s Capitol as the phrase “Broward Mafia.”
That was the less-than-flattering term for the Democrats who brazenly flexed their muscle in the early 1990s. After years of being taken lightly or ignored by rural North Florida interests, they demanded their fair share — with a fair amount of political clumsiness.
In the early ’90s, Democrat Lawton Chiles was governor and his party still ran the Legislature. For the first time in decades, the House speaker was from Broward, too.
Steve Bousquet, Sun Sentinel columnist
Tom Gustafson of Fort Lauderdale, a hard-charging guy and a target of considerable ridicule, placed Broward lawmakers in key leadership posts. A Legislature historically controlled by back-slappin’ good ol’ boys wasn’t quite ready for it, and things didn’t always go well.
Early on, Broward sought to unload the new, debt-ridden Sawgrass Expressway toll road on the state in return for supporting a Republican plan to use tolls collected in South Florida for road projects upstate.
The unmistakable scent of a backroom deal offended other lawmakers and the term “Broward Mafia” was born. The Sawgrass was soon profitable and the Turnpike expansion plan fizzled.
As another legislative session begins Tuesday, the mind reels backward to past years and the many controversies that have defined and reshaped the state’s politics. This little journey will further underscore what a long, stange trip it’s been.
A major turning point came in 1996, when the GOP won a majority of House seats and Broward lawmakers were relegated to the back rows. Republicans have never looked back.
1997: It may be impossible to imagine in today’s era of sharply declining school enrollments, but there was a time when school overcrowding was a major crisis in Florida as cheaply made, ugly “portables” dotted school campuses. Newspapers devoted much attention to the problem and a special session marked by bipartisan cooperation brought more funding to build new schools, a few of which in Broward are now marked for closure.
2000: This year brought the greatest one-year upheaval in the modern era. Tens of thousands marched on the Capitol to oppose Gov. Jeb Bush’s “One Florida” plan to end affirmative action, and term limits produced massive turnover in the Capitol — much of it for the worse. Then came the unthinkable: a deadlocked presidential election in Florida, resolved by the Supreme Court.
On the last night of the 2004 session, two lobbyists wore plastic sheep masks, openly mocking then-House Speaker Johnnie Byrd.
2004: Dysfunction reigns, as the rocky two-year reign of House Speaker Johnnie Byrd comically staggers to an end. The Plant City Republican used the speakership to mount a disastrous bid for a U.S. Senate seat and offended colleagues by describing House members as “kind of like sheep” who want to be told how to vote (it wasn’t politically smart, but it was a harbinger). On the last night of the 2004 session, lobbyists wore plastic sheep masks, openly mocking the speaker outside his own chamber.
2008: Seven Republican senators showed their independence and joined Democrats to block an anti-abortion bill that would have required pregnant women to view ultrasound images of a fetus. A 20-20 tie dramatically defeated a priority of then-Sen. Daniel Webster, who was in his final year in Tallahassee. Those seven GOP senators included Mike Bennett from Bradenton, Lisa Carlton of Osprey, Paula Dockery of Lakeland, Dennis Jones of Seminole, Jim King of Jacksonville, Evelyn Lynn of Ormond Beach and Burt Saunders of Naples.
2012: The Republican repudiation of the party line continued as nine GOP senators flatly refused Gov. Rick Scott’s plan for the greatest privatization of prisons in the U.S. The ones who stood up to their own party again included Dockery, along with Sens. Charlie Dean of Inverness, Mike Fasano of New Port Richey and Jack Latvala of Palm Harbor. To this day, that 21-19 vote stands as a fading symbol of a true two-party system where lawmakers put their political ideals first and their party loyalty second — which is as it should be.
It is not like that any more, and it’s a tremendous loss for the people of Florida. But on we go, as another session begins.
Steve Bousquet is Opinion Editor of the Sun Sentinel and a columnist in Tallahassee and Fort Lauderdale. Contact him at sbousquet@sunsentinel.com or at (850) 567-2240.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2026/01/10/as-the-session-begins-a-long-look-back-steve-bousquet/
