After two days and eight-plus hours of debate, the House's 78-40 vote for a property tax joint resolution Wednesday wasn't a clean party line split.
Two fairly prominent Republicans – Reps. Gayle Harrell of Stuart and Andy Gardiner of Orlando – voted against it. Harrell is planning to run for Congress against U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney next year and said yesterday she couldn't support the sales tax hike in the plan. Harrell later praised a separate tax rollback plan on the House floor that doesn't include the sales tax. Gardiner was the majority leader under House Speaker Allan Bense.
But the slight peeling of support was negated by three Democrats casting votes against their caucus – Reps. Ed Bullard of Miami, Luis Garcia of Miami Beach, and Michael Scionti of Tampa.
House leaders have acted like the vote outcome was never in real doubt.
But Rep. Stan Mayfield, a Vero Beach Republican diagnosed with throat cancer last month, did make the trip back to Tallahassee to vote for the bill.