Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has
been named “Loser of the Year” by the Tampa Bay Times for
her continued defense of Florida's gay marriage ban.
Bondi has racked up an unimpressive
record fighting numerous state and federal challenges to Florida's
2008 voter-approved constitutional amendment limiting marriage to
heterosexual unions.
Her latest – and so far greatest –
loss came when the Supreme Court refused to block implementation of a
federal judge's ruling striking down Florida's ban. Bondi insists
the decision, scheduled to take effect on January 6, only applies to
one county.
(Related: Target,
Amazon among companies asking court to strike down Florida's gay
marriage ban.)
“It's hard to imagine how someone who
won re-election so handily (rival George Sheldon could not afford a
single TV ad) could emerge from 2014 more wounded and diminished as
our Republican attorney general,” the paper
wrote in awarding Bondi her prize. “Put aside the unseemly
junkets funded by groups seeking to influence her. Bondi's clumsy
communication skills and relentless defense of Florida's gay marriage
ban have made her a modern-day Anita Bryant. Antagonizing Florida's
gay voters over same-sex marriage and Hispanic voters over
immigration reform ensures Bondi has a bright political future ahead
of her – if she moves to Mississippi.”
Bondi, a former Fox News legal
analyst, is also an unlikely spokesperson for marriage. She divorced
her first husband after 22 months. A second marriage to Scott
Fitzgerald fizzled after six years. In 2012, Bondi mysteriously
canceled a Cayman Islands wedding to Dr. Greg Henderson. She
later explained that she had flown roughly 70 guests to a luxury
resort to help her celebrate her upcoming nuptials.
Bondi has previously said that she has
many
gay friends and that she is simply doing
her job by defending the state's ban.