By Chuck McCutcheon CQ Staff
A soft-spoken political insider George LeMieux is a loyal soldier to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist who has done a variety of jobs for him including deputy attorney general chief of staff and campaign guru.
As Crists choice to fill the Senate seat that the governor seeks to win in 2010 LeMieux will try to enhance Crists election prospects by mirroring his former boss carefully centrist approach to politics.
Crist announced Friday that he will appoint LeMieux (la-MYOO) as a placeholder to fill the seat of Republican Mel Martinez who had abruptly announced his intention not to serve the remaining 16 months of his Senate term.
LeMieux will not seek a full six-year term. The governor who picked his former aide from a field of eight GOP candidates said LeMieux has the proven strength of character and record of leadership Floridians can trust will serve our state well in the coming months."
LeMieux is open about his intention to emulate the governor-turned-Senate candidate. Id describe myself as a Charlie Crist Republican" he told reporters after his formal interview for the Senate seat. He promised to approach government as a problem solver. I believe in less government less spending less taxes more freedom." But he is likely to face questions about whether he can operate independently; Florida Democratic Party Chairman Karen Thurman blasted his appointment as a glaring example of political cronyism."
LeMieux has never held elected office but is well-known in Florida political circles as a knowledgeable strategist; Crist dubbed him as the maestro" for his work on the governors successful 2006 campaign. George LeMieux is extremely bright and is always 10 steps ahead ... He knows the demographic and political makeup of Florida better than most people" Shane Strum a Broward County Republican who also worked on the campaign told Gold Coast magazine in December 2007.
During the campaign LeMieux was seen as responsible for the decision not to have Crist appear with President George W. Bush whose popularity in Florida was on the wane at an election-eve rally. When Bushs chief political strategist Karl Rove was asked about Crists whereabouts Rove sourly responded Ask George LeMieux."
Unlike other Southern Republicans LeMieux is unlikely to be an automatic vote for conservatives who have largely sought to block President Obamas agenda.
People want someone whos going to fight for them on issues that are important LeMieux said in a July 2008 appearance on MSNBC citing education employment and health care. He said people did not want an ideologue not a Washingtonian who fights back and forth with partisan rancor."
During his state House race LeMieux told the Miami Herald that gay couples in Florida should be allowed to adopt children. He also said he favored domestic partnership laws to extend health care and other benefits enjoyed by married couples. Though he said at the time that he opposed gay marriage he said he was willing to let voters have the final say in a referendum.
But it remains unclear how far LeMieux might go in embracing Democratic initiatives such as a controversial cap and trade" system aimed at limiting greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming. Crist was among the leading Republican governors endorsing the concept of cap and trade but softened his stance after his potential GOP Senate primary opponent Marco Rubio blasted the system as an unfair tax."
LeMieux grew up in Coral Springs Fla. a well-to-do suburb southwest of Boca Raton that he has referred to as Gods country." He graduated in 1991 with a political science degree from Emory University having worked as an intern for Republican Florida Rep. E. Clay Shaw (1981-2007) and Sen. Connie Mack (1989-2001) and received a law degree three years later from Georgetown University. At his 10-year high school reunion in Coral Springs he met his former classmate Meike whom he had not dated at the time; she became his wife.
A Young Republican
After receiving his law degree LeMieux moved back to Fort Lauderdale to practice law.
He also became head of the Young Republicans Club in Broward County and met Crist who was then a state senator. They kept in touch over the years and after his unsuccessful state House race Crist helped LeMieux become the countys vice chairman and then chairman.
LeMieux left his law firm in 2003 to become a deputy for Crist who was elected attorney general. When Crist announced his candidacy for governor in 2006 he picked LeMieux as his chief of staff. In that job LeMieux hired staff members shaped Crists centrist message and made several key moves credited with helping his boss record a 30-percentage point primary win over Republican Tom Gallagher and a subsequent seven-point victory over Democratic opponent Jim Davis including damage control for Crist when a womans paternity claim surfaced.
LeMieux then became Crists chief of staff.
Hes smart hes funny hes honest and hes hard-working" Crist told the St. Petersburg Times in November 2006. I have great trust and confidence in his abilities."
In that job he worked with the governor to push through a tough anti-crime law requiring felony offenders who violate probation to return to jail until a court decides whether they are a danger to the community. He also worked with the Seminole Indian tribe as chief negotiator on a gambling license.
LeMieux left the chief of staff job in late 2007 to work as chairman and attorney with the Tallahassee law firm Gunster Yoakley & Stewart. But the St. Petersburg Times wrote in August 2009 that he never really stopped working for Crist" continuing to negotiate with the Seminoles on a pro-bono basis.
