- Wayne Mixson
Infobox Governor
name=John Wayne Mixson
order=39th
office=Governor of Florida
term_start=January 3 ,1987
term_end=January 6 ,1987
lieutenant=None
predecessor=Bob Graham
successor=Bob Martinez
birth_date=birth date and age | 1922|06|16
birth_place=New Brockton, Alabama
death_date=
death_place=
party=Democrat
spouse=Margie Grace
profession=Business, Politician
religion=
order2= 12th
office2= Lieutenant Governor of Florida
term_start2=January 2 ,1979
term_end2=January 3 ,1987
governor2=Bob Graham
predecessor2=J.H. Williams
successor2=Bobby Brantley John Wayne Mixson, better known as Wayne Mixson (born
June 16 ,1922 ) was the thirty-ninth governor of theU.S. state ofFlorida . He assumed the office in January 1987 afterBob Graham stepped down to take his seat in theUnited States Senate , and served only three days until the governor-elect,Bob Martinez , was sworn in. He also served as a Special Ambassador toEcuador , being appointed to this post by PresidentJimmy Carter in 1979 [http://www.fl-ag.com/news/wayne-mixson.htm Gov. Wayne Mixson: Marketing Florida Agriculture ] ] .Born in
New Brockton, Alabama , immediately after graduating from high school he moved toJackson County, Florida . He served in theU.S. Navy duringWorld War II . Following the war, he attendedColumbia University and theUniversity of Pennsylvania . In 1947, he received a degree in Business Administration from theUniversity of Florida . Also in the same year, he married his wife, Margie Grace. His political career began with theFlorida House of Representatives , serving six consecutive terms. He chaired House Agriculture Committee for 8 years. Mixson was a full-time farmer during his tenure as state legislator and developed a reputation as pro-agruculture business legislator.Mixson decided against seeking re-election to the State House in order to run for Lieutenant Governor. He won the primary running on a ticket headed by gubernatorial nominee
Bob Graham . They were elected in 1978 and re-elected in 1982, which made Mixson the first Lieutenant Governor of Florida to be elected more than once to that position. During his second term, he also served as Florida's Secretary of Commerce, being appointed by Gov. Graham to this role.Mixson decided to retire from active political life with end of his term as Lt. Governor and did not seek to succeed Graham as Governor. State representativeSteve Pajcic became the Democratic nominee in 1986, but lost to RepublicanBob Martinez .Mixson would become Graham's successor after all, however briefly, after Graham was elected to the
United States Senate . Florida's "resign-to-run" law requires an incumbent office holder seeking another elective office to submit an irrevocable resignation from the office he or she currently holds unless that tenure would end anyway before he or she would assume the new position if elected. The candidate may designate the effective date of the resignation to be in the future, but it must be no later than the date that he or she would assume the new office he or she is seeking. For this reason, Graham was compelled to submit his resignation as Governor early in 1986 when he began to campaign for the U.S. Senate seat. He chose January 3, 1987 as the effective date of his resignation, as that was the date new Senators would be sworn in. The term as Governor to which he had been elected in 1982 would not end, however, until January 6, 1987.This sequence of events left Mixson to assume the office of Governor for just those three overlapping days. Even if Graham had lost the Senate race, his prior resignation as Governor could not have been withdrawn under Florida law, so Mixson would still have become Governor on
January 3 and served out the remaining days of the term to which Graham had been elected. By virtue of his holding office for three days, Mixson is (as of 2008) the oldest Governor of Florida who is still alive.Governor Mixson holds an
honorary doctorate from theFlorida Institute of Technology . He has served on several boards of directors, including Bankers Insurance Company and the First Community Bank inSt. Petersburg, Florida , where he serves as chairman, First Community Insurance Company ofRochester, New York , the Florida Economic Club, Florida Tax Watch, the University of Florida Foundation, and the North Florida Community Foundation.During the 2004 presidential election, Governor Mixson crossed party lines to endorse the re-election of President
George W. Bush , joiningZell Miller [ [http://board.jokeroo.com/debate/21538-mrs-kerry-3.html Mrs.Kerry - Page 3 - Jokeroo Community ] ] .As of 2005 Governor Mixson has decided to rejoin the Democratic column, endorsing State Senator Rod Smith (D-Alachua) in the Democratic primary forGovernor of Florida . Governor Mixson also agreed to serve as a Co-Chairman of Sen. Smith's campaign, which drew criticism from some leading Florida Democrats.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
