Former Florida Attorney General Robert Shevin dead at 71

Robert Shevin was a state legislator before getting elected as Attorney General in 1970. He served for 8 years in that position when Florida was a heavily Democratic state-wide.

How different Florida history would have been if not for the primary run-off rule. Up till recently if a candidate in a state-wide race didn't get a majority, a second run-0ff election would take place. In 1978 Robert Shevin led the primary election but didn't get a majority. So a run-off was held, and Shevin lost it to a then little known State Senator from Miami Lakes. His name was Bob Graham who would be Governor for two terms and US Senator for three terms.

On a personal note I remember the 1978 Governor's race but was unable to vote. I was 17 and a senior in high school then.

Shevin retired from politics after his defeat. He was a member of the US 3rd Circuit Court of appeals up till last year when cancer caused him to retire. Shevin had nominated to the bench by President Clinton. RIP. The Miami Herald article is below.

By LESLEY CLARK

Robert Shevin, who as Florida attorney general in the 1970s championed consumer rights and signed a pardon for two men wrongly convicted of murder, died late Monday from cancer of the esophagus, his daughter said. He was 71.

Gov. Jeb Bush said the flags will fly at half staff in his honor.

Shevin, who capped a long career in public service with a stint on the Third District Court of Appeal in Miami, stepped down from the bench in December.

A Miami native, Shevin graduated from the University of Florida in 1955, where he met ''the love of his life,'' his wife, Myrna. Two years later, he graduated magna cum laude from the University of Miami law school. He was elected to the Florida House of Representatives from Dade in 1964, moving up to the Senate in 1966.

He became attorney general in 1970, winning re-election four years later. He was a staunch supporter of open government. He ran for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1978, but lost in a primary runoff to Bob Graham.

The two patched up any differences and in 1982 Shevin served as Graham's South Florida campaign coordinator for re-election.