Michael Moline
Jacksonville House member Jay Fant announced for state Attorney General Tuesday, promising to fight for the Constitution — especially the First and Second amendments — and against “big government.”
Fant said during a kickoff news conference in the state Capitol that “fighting big government, fighting for the Constitution, and fighting for free enterprise” were what drove him to seek his House seat in 2014.
“My zeal for protecting property and people has not abated. Today, because if this, I am announcing my candidacy for attorney general of the state of Florida,” he said.
“I highlight the First and Second amendments because they are the bellwether for our freedoms. And when you attack those freedoms, you attack America, itself.”
The legislator, little known outside his Jacksonville hometown, planned to travel the state extensively to build name recognition. Following his Tallahassee opener, he scheduled campaign events in Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville.
“I will be on the road. I will be in great cities across the state, starting today, through the Panhandle and down south,” Fant said. “This will be a grassroots campaign. This will be a campaign where people know who Jay Fant is because they have met him.”
Fant is a graduate of Washington & Lee University and holds a law degree from the University of Florida. He and wife Lauren have four children, whom they home-school.
Fant was chairman and CEO of First Guaranty Bank & Trust Co. of Jacksonville when it failed in 2012. Now he’s chairman of Caroline Family Office, a financial services company.
The bank failure inspired him to seek office, he said.
“The federal government bailed out big banks and left little, small, community, mainstream banks like mine out in the cold. Our company couldn’t make it. Big government is not about Main Street. And I vowed to never let that happen to anybody else.”
As A.G., Fant would “root out corporate scams that prey on the elderly and vulnerable.”
“There are bad guys out there, but I will find them,” he said.
He praised Florida Supreme Court justices Charles Canady and Ricky Polston as non-activist jurists. C. Alan Lawson, elevated by Gov. Rick Scott to the state high court, and Eric Eisnaugle, a House member named this week as Lawson’s replacement on the 5th DCA, also meet that test, Fant said.
“The way to fight judicial activism is to appoint good judges,” he said. “So a note to all the rogue judges and rogue agencies who promulgate rules and make rulings outside the bounds of the separation of powers — your future attorney general will have a cadre of lawyers watching you. I am running because I believe so strongly in defending our constitutional rights and protecting Floridians from the excesses of the federal government. But that can only happen if we make sure government is on the side of the people.
“We will fight to keep our business climate free and fair so entrepreneurs can pursue their dreams and create jobs. We will stand by our law enforcement community that works so hard to keep us safe.”
He promised to follow through with sitting Attorney General Pam Bondi’s programs.
“I will continue Attorney General Bondi’s fight against prescription drug abuse, human trafficking, and predators who target seniors and children. I will keep pushing back against the federal overreach that chokes our small businesses,” Fant said. “And the most vulnerable members of our society can count on me.”
Asked about Bondi’s decision not to pursue her political ally Donald Trump over alleged fraud at Trump University, Fant declined to second-guess the incumbent.
“Whether that rose to the level of warranting their investigation in that office, I’m not privy to those discussions, and I’ll have to honor her decision on that.”
He praised Bondi’s legal challenges to Obama administration programs.
“As attorney general, I’ll defend our states’ rights every step of the way,” he said.
