Bondi’s love of Longboat Key

Attorney general candidate Pam Bondi and family cherish lifetime of Longboat memories

STEVE REID
Editor & Publisher
sreid@lbknews.com

Republican candidate for attorney general, Pam Bondi, has a lot to celebrate and said she hopes to celebrate even more on Longboat Key, her life-long vacation getaway, in November when she hopes to emerge the race victorious.

And while Bondi has become a mainstay of current political culture following her many appearances on Fox TV as a legal analyst and her recent endorsement by Sarah Palin, few are aware that she and her family have spent every summer on Longboat Key since her birth 44 years ago.

“I have been coming to Longboat since I was born, and in fact there are pictures of my mom pregnant with me walking the beaches. Longboat Key is the most beautiful beach in the world; it’s unspoiled and not overdeveloped like other beach communities,” said Bondi.

This past summer is the only one Bondi can remember where she did not take in the sun and relax on Longboat’s beaches. She has been working 21-hour days in her effort to secure the Republican nomination for attorney general. Bondi said she is new to politics and is not nor will not become a career politician. One of her edicts is to not run a dirty or smear campaign.

“I will not be outworked nor outlawyered,” said Bondi, a former Hillsborough County prosecutor. “I knew when I entered this race that we can change and show we can change politics. We can prove someone who is qualified can run a clean and not negative campaign. If I win, I win with integrity or lose with integrity.”

And on the rainy Election Day evening last Tuesday, Bondi stood under an umbrella in Tampa in a final push for votes, and she said to herself that she could not have done any more or acted with more integrity and that she could accept whatever the voters decided.

Not a stepping-stone position
Bondi said that while everyone sees the position of Attorney General as a stepping-stone, she is adamant in her mind it is an end in itself. She says she does not want to be governor nor whisked away in some appointment.

One of Bondi’s themes in her approach to politics is to instill the values she was taught by her parents to act with complete honesty and integrity in all her undertakings. Her father, Joe Bondi, is a retired professor of education at the University of South Florida. Her mother, Patsy, was a kindergarten teacher.

“With Pam what you see is what you get. She is a highly moral person, an old-fashioned girl. Her campaign strategy has been to travel the state and meet face-to-face with voters. She is good on her feet and sincere. That’s what people identify with,” said Mr. Bondi.

Bondi is full of memories and affection for Longboat Key. She said she absolutely loves Harry’s Continental Kitchen as well as Euphemia Haye, both literally across Gulf of Mexico Drive from their family-owned condo at Sea Club III.

Bondi said her family used to rent one of three cottages that were situated on the gulf across from Euphemia Haye, but the quaint buildings long ago succumbed to swankier redevelopment. She also grew up watching Jackie the dolphin, the long-time pet and dining entertainment at Moore’s Stone Crab Restaurant. She said she loves the peacocks and supports their protection.

When it comes to national politics and media issues, she is part of Sean Hannity’s Great American Panel and is a Fox News legal expert. Bondi says that she is not paid to appear on Fox, but she has enjoyed her role of being their practicing prosecutor and being able to offer her opinion on hot-button issues.

Sarah Palin surprise
At first Bondi was in disbelief when her campaign team texted her and said that Palin, former governor of Alaska and former candidate for vice president, just endorsed her.

Palin and Bondi met at a breakfast in Washington hosted by the Susan B. Anthony List, which supports women candidates who are pro-life. Bondi said the two had a common bond: their personal experiences with Down syndrome, which affects Palin’s son and Bondi’s niece.

And while Palin’s endorsement certainly is very helpful in the political arena, Bondi’s strongest core of support touchingly comes from close to home.

“Pam was a terrific prosecutor. I watched her; she’s good in the courtroom. She is a law and order candidate with strong family values. She believes in protecting the constitution of the state and U.S. government. She’s a good girl who won a hard, tough race. She’ll win in November,” said Mr. Bondi.

Bondi faces off against the Democratic nominee for attorney general, Dan Gelber, in November.