Joe Henderson: Jack Latvala will bring a sensible GOP voice to a shrill campaign for governor

The official entry of Republican state Sen. Jack Latvala into the race for governor is welcome news to those hoping someone would come along to give them a reason not to cover their ears during the upcoming campaign. I think they just got their guy.

Whether his candidacy will attract enough support to grab his party’s nomination is an iffy proposition, but his chances might be better than you first think. If the electorate is looking for an alternative to the status quo, he could just be the “Hey, wait a minute …” candidate.

Start with the eyebrow-raising strategy employed so far by Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, the accepted front-runner. Putnam has the most money, name recognition, and he is just flat out folksy and likable when he isn’t trying to be a Donald Trump Mini-Me.

Sadly, Putnam has spent these early weeks of the campaign trying to show that, darn it, he can be just as obnoxious and shrill as the next Republican. He has proudly declared himself to be a National Rifle Association “shill” and stuff like that makes you want to put an arm around his shoulder and go, “Adam, dude … you are better than this.”

Latvala’s task will be to convince enough GOP primary voters that, no, Putnam isn’t better than that. Putnam’s hard-right rear-end smooch up to the almighty Republican base has left a wide stretch of highway open for Latvala’s moderate views to receive a thorough airing. At some point, if enough mud gets slung (and it will), that might sound refreshing.

That’s equally true if House Speaker Richard Corcoran gets into the race. While Corcoran and Putnam would be trying to outdo each other to convince voters that the other guy is horrible, Latvala – a plain-spoken ol’ cuss – could connect with the public by labeling his opponents as just more of the same Tallahassee nonsense.

Latvala certainly wouldn’t be more of the same. In 2014, for instance, he was out front in support of legislation to allow undocumented immigrants to receive cheaper in-state tuition at Florida universities. Nothing could be further from the ideals of the Republican base than that.

He also gets along well with labor unions. He was an outspoken opponent of Corcoran’s successful push to divert millions of public dollars to for-profit charter schools. Latvala also has been a political fixture for years and that’s not always a good thing these days. He does, however, have a reputation for working across the aisle to get things done, and people always like that – or at least say they do.

That could contrast nicely to Corcoran’s performance this year when he ruled the Florida House with a “my way or no way” type of approach.

Fundraising is one of Latvala’s strengths, so if his message resonates and he begins to rise in the polls, cash could start rolling in.

Latvala’s real challenge will be to get enough people to pay attention. Primary turnouts tend to be low and voters often go with the familiar names. But a guy named Rick Scott proved in 2010 when he beat GOP fixture Bill McCollum in the primary that conventional wisdom isn’t always wise.

Scott had the right message at the right time. We’ll know soon enough if that holds true for Latvala. If voters decide they’re ready for more solutions and less dogma, he might just be their guy.