Why is Okaloosa County so Republican?

In the fall of 1982, Shell Oil Co. was searching Okaloosa County for crude oil and natu-ral gas, and Laurel Hill had started its first police patrol.

At Santa Rosa Mall, "First Blood" and "Poltergeist" were showing at the movie theater, and toy stores were selling the Atari game system for $128. And in the world of politics?

Registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans 36,166 to 13,179.No, really.

From Milligan to Mary Esther, Okaloosa was a De-mocratic stronghold. A "blue" county, if you will.

Back then, many Republicans were forced to defect - at least on paper - just to cast a vote in local races.
"People who were Republi-can had registered Democrat just to be able to participate," recalls Pat Hollarn, Okaloosa County's supervisor of elec-tions. "It was still heavily Democrat."

Fast-forward 26 years, and the political landscape is vastly different. Republicans are the party in power, holding not only nearly every public office but major sway over public opinion.

AN AVALANCHE OF CHANGE
The political transforma-tion came slowly.
In Okaloosa, Republicans, for the most part, sat on the bench while the games played out.

"When I arrived here, you had to be a Democrat to get elected," says Bob Fischer, former chairman of the Oka-loosa County Republican Party, who moved to the area in 1982.

Yet by then, the first stir-rings of change could be felt at the national level.

"The party switch was more like an avalanche, and I would say we have Ronald Reagan to thank for it," says Wendell Griffith, a history professor at Okaloosa-Walton College. "Reagan eschewed pessimism and truly believed in America."
In Florida, the stage was set for a statewide party shift when Republican Bob Marti-nez was elected governor in 1986.
"When Martinez was elected and there were more Republicans elected to the Florida Legislature, that was when a lot of people decided to change parties," says Hol-larn, who ran as a Republican when she was elected in 1988. "It was a big thing."

Some observers say Okaloosa was something of a ground zero for the shift.

In 1989, four of the county's most influential Democrats in office - County Commis-sioner Ferrin Campbell Jr., Sheriff Larry Gilbert, Clerk of Courts Newman C. "Buddy" Brackin and Laurel Hill Mayor Gene Clary - jumped ship to the GOP.
"The next thing you know, it was not just a majority party, (Okaloosa) was over-whelmingly Republican," Fischer says. "We started helping out Santa Rosa ... then Escambia County. But it absolutely started here."

And once it started, the trend could not be curbed.
"It was the instigator for a lot of other Democrats across the South to do the same," Hollarn says. "It was a big thing."

For many longtime Democrats, such as Tom Rice, the national party simply was moving too far left, both so-cially and fiscally.

By the late 1980s, "the Democratic Party had certainly changed," recalls Rice, who is now an active Republican in Okaloosa County. "We were a very conservative group," says Rice, who had been an active student Democrat at Choctawhatchee High School. "It was a ‘help your neighbor but don't look to the government for a hand-out' type of thing."

By 1990, registered Republicans were gaining on De-mocrats by 30,230 to 31,620. In 1992, Republicans outnum-bered Democrats - even if only by six - for the first time in Okaloosa County's history.

The Okaloosa brand of Republican is unique, says Mary Esther Mayor Chuck Bolton, a staunch Republican.
"They all have a really strong common denomina-tor," he says. "They have a strong commitment to de-fense and a deep patriotism."

Hollarn recalls the late 1980s as busy days for her staff.
"We had a parade of people coming through the office," she says. "They did not like the national Democratic Party."

A RETURN TO EXCITEMENT
Many local Republicans remember ‘the big switch,' as it's now known, with fondness.

"It was quite enjoyable," Hollarn says. "There was something going on almost every night of the week.
"There were forums," Hollarn adds. "You could see it happening. All across North-west Florida, from Escambia County all the way to Bay County, people were changing party."

Griffith credits Reagan's leadership for the burst of political energy, even at the local level.

"He was a light after the darker days of Vietnam, Wa-tergate and the catastrophic administration of 1976-1980," he says. "The most exciting part was seeing the return of excitement to the political process."

Simply being in govern-ment was fun, Hollarn says.
"The Crestview courthouse was like the social gathering place," she says. "It was just a different time."

CONFUSION AND ANGER
Today, Republicans still lead the Panhandle; their names dominate local ballots.

But some people worry that the national backlash over the Iraq War and the sluggish economy could reach the local level by Election Day.

In fact, the fastest growing segment of people registering to vote are ones who claim no party affiliation, Hollarn says.

"That's a sign of confusion. They don't like either party," she notes.
People are dissatisfied, says local Democrat Charles Morgan.

"I think the fear mongering and the threats of this administration, I think they're finally falling on deaf ears," says Morgan, who owns Harbor Docks restaurant in Destin. "People are desperately tired of this. They're tired of this war."

Morgan predicts that the rising cost of living and doing business also will steer many voters away from the GOP.
"I think we're facing an election where car dealers are going to be voting for Democ-rats," he adds.

Okaloosa Democrat Toni Craig says the average middle-class American is tired of being ignored by conservative Republicans in Washington, D.C., and in the Florida House and Senate.

"People are ready for a change in the focus of our governmental efforts," says Craig, former chairwoman of the Okaloosa County Democratic Party. "We have to take care of Americans first."

Fischer, a loyal Republi-can, agrees that there is "going to be some slippage" in GOP support.

"No matter what (voters) say - they'll talk about the war - they're going to vote on their purses and the gas prices," Fischer says. "They're angry and I can't blame them."
But he does not blame President Bush for the party's problems.

"George Bush was the right guy to have in office when 9/11 happened, and for that period, his ratings were high," Fischer says. "Then somewhere along the line, we spoiled Americans got a little squeamish about the war.
"He made a mistake in be-lieving that we were the same country that fought World War II, and we're not."

A TURNING POINT?
While strategies and theories abound, one thing is clear: The 2008 presidential election will serve as a critical turning point.

"What we might see is a balancing, an evening out," Hollarn offers.

Others hope for something far more radical.

"It is my opinion that we are poised for our next political realignment," Craig says. "The Republicans are experiencing party disunity, and many conservative Republi-cans are standing absolute in their policies and not demon-strating flexibility."

But it could be a few more years before Democrats gain significant ground in Okaloosa, she says.

"It will take a really strong Democratic candidate to come out and make a really good run," Craig predicts. "Sticking your neck out there is really questionable."

Some reject the turning point idea altogether.

"Our area is conservative regardless of party affiliation, due to two factors," Griffith says. "First, there is the rural demographic model that still holds for half the county. We tend to be more endeared to the practices of personal sovereignty than ... the idea that government can handle our personal problems."

The second reason is the military's presence, he adds.
"Given all factors, I believe Okaloosa County will remain staunchly in the Republican camp," Griffith says. "There is no good reason to go over to the Democrats."

Craig argues that a suc-cessful first term for Barack Obama would encourage local moderate Republicans to return to the Democratic Party and some non-affiliated voters to join them.

Not all Republicans are opposed to having more balance between the parties.

"If there was only one restaurant in town, would you try very hard?" says Rice. "Competition always strengthens."
On a national level, that competition has some conser-vatives worried.

"Let's be honest, McCain was not our guy," Fischer says. "He's a great person, a war hero ... But he is not as conservative as the Republican Party would have liked."
Locally, that means sup-port for the GOP is likely to slip but not plummet.

"We're not going to hold the decisions that (George W.) Bush and the people who work for him made against John McCain," Rice predicts. "We won't do that."