Tampabay.com
SEPTEMBER 13, 2009

Paula Dockery may take on Bill McCollum

Primaries can be expensive, bruising and divisive. So Attorney General Bill McCollum has to be relieved he won't face a serious Republican challenge for the gubernatorial nomination, right? Not so fast. State Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, says in a Political Connections interview today she is still seriously looking at challenging McCollum for the nomination. Most of the GOP leadership has united behind McCollum, but Dockery says voters are hungry for a break from typical establishment politicians.

"What I'm hearing from other people is, 'We don't think politicians in Tallahassee are listening to us, we don't think anyone's standing up to the special interests, and we love that you took on a battle — a battle that you weren't supposed to win,' " said Dockery, who inspired loads of grass roots enthusiasm this year for almost single-handedly killing the controversial SunRail commuter rail project criticized as a giveaway to CSX Corp.

In Tampa Bay Political Connections airs at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Bay News 9.

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