Weatherford leaves behind uneven legacy as House Speaker

As he looks ahead to an uncertain future, Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford wants to be remembered as a compassionate conservative who promoted the hopes of the working class with measures like lower auto tag fees for all and in-state tuition for undocumented children.

"This is a session that cut taxes for every Floridian," Weatherford said Friday night. "This is the session that created educational opportunities for more children."

Yet the Pasco County Republican may best be remembered for what he didn't do: expand Medicaid, leaving at least 750,000 Floridians without affordable health care.

His sunny, upbeat conservatism was supposed to be an antidote to the win-at-all-costs brinksmanship of his predecessor, Dean Cannon. But the publicly unflappable 34-year-old didn't hesitate to retaliate against those who got in his way.

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