Will McBride (candidate)
William Richard "Will" McBride (born August 15, 1972 in Tampa, Florida) is an immigration lawyer and a candidate for the 2006 Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Florida. McBride announced his candidacy on May 12, 2006, the last day to file as a candidate.
There is a rumor that he was hand-picked to challenge Harris for the seat by close family friend Karl Rove, however, it has not been confirmed.[1] Collins is among those who have criticized McBride for entering a race for such an important position without previous political experience. McBride is 33 years old and has practiced law for only a few years.
Biography
McBride's father is a Mexican-American immigrant and his mother Dominican-American. His father, a two-time Golden Gloves boxing champion, worked many jobs to support his family, including farm labor, before eventually finding his calling as a minister at Hillsdale Baptist Church in Tampa.
McBride attended Temple Heights Christian School and Leto High School in Tampa, Florida, where he was a quarterback. To put himself through college, McBride worked as a landscaper, orange picker, mechanic, and a high school football coach. McBride attended Florida State University--where he was a backup quarterback on the football team--and Pensacola Christian College. McBride also attended the University of Wyoming. After graduating from Florida State University, McBride worked as a youth minister, counselor and Christian youth camp director at Camp Grace in Wheatland, Wyoming and at The Wilds in Rosman, North Carolina.
McBride taught public school for three years, saving money to further his education. McBride attended law school at Pat Robertson's Regent University School of Law in Virginia. After receiving his law degree from Pepperdine University, McBride founded a successful law firm with offices in Orlando, Tampa, and Kissimmee. After graduating from law school, McBride bought a house from baseball player Orel Hershiser.[2].
McBride is an attorney. McBride also teaches English on Univision’s WTVN Channel 26, Orlando.
McBride and his wife Kristy Epperson McBride live in the Orlando area with their three sons, Will Jr., Watson, and Winston. The Epperson family is also a strong supporter of the Republican party, and run Salem Communications, the largest network of Christian radio stations across the country. This helps McBride in his primary run as he has had free reign to campaign on popular conservative host Hugh Hewitt's Salem radio talk show. McBride and his wife are members of the First Baptist Church of Windermere. His wife, an alumnus of Bob Jones University, is a former elementary teacher of the Bob Jones Academy, located on campus of Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C.
Candidacy
McBride political experience as of entering into the race for senator is limited to having campaigned for Governor Jeb Bush, Senator Mel Martinez and President George W. Bush. He is not related to the 2002 Florida gubernatorial candidate, Bill McBride - and claimed that he even had to add "Republican" under his name on his campaign bus to allay confusion with the former candidate.
Local media has labelled McBride as the most significant challenger to Harris:
- Although two other Republicans also filed late to challenge Harris for the GOP nomination, it was McBride, with deep pockets, a Latino political base and high-powered connections to the conservative Christian movement, who was considered a bona fide threat.[3]
Doug Giles has labeled McBride the best alternative the Republican party has to Katherine Harris.[4] However, McBride has been handicapped by his late entry into the race, low name recognition, and political inexperience. Because of these factors, and competition from other late entrants in the GOP primary, the Tampa Tribune has labeled McBride "at best a dark-horse against the famous Harris".[5]
McBride demanded an apology from the Harris campaign for an August 4, 2006 incident in which a Harris supporter asked "why he had changed his name from Rodriguez".[6] McBride, who has never changed his name responded with the following press release:
- The real implication of the planted question was that somehow I should be embarrassed about my Latino heritage. I am William Richard McBride and always have been. I am also a proud Latino and always will be, Katherine Harris and her campaign staff are the ones that should be ashamed. But more important than an apology to me, Katherine Harris should also apologize to every Rodriguez and every person of Latino descent for implying that somehow they should be embarrassed about who they are.[7]
The Harris campaign denied "planting" the questioner, but a Harris aide later acknowledged having discussed the issue of McBride's name with the questioner.[8]
Policy positions
McBride asserts that strong conservative values were instilled in him by his parents, Will and June McBride, and says he "feels very, very strongly about life issues."[9] The Tampa Tribune reports that McBride "favors a ban on gay marriage, and opposes abortion except in the case of a direct threat to the life of the mother, with no exceptions for rape, incest or other reasons."[10] Moreover, "he opposes not only gay marriage but also civil unions, and opposes federal funding for stem cell research."[11]
McBride and his wife are members of the Council for National Policy, described as an influential religious and social conservative group.[12] He is an active hunter and fisherman and a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association.
Trivia
References
- ^ Jog-By Campaign Brings Lawyer to Polk
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ Good Will McBride Hunting (editorial favoring McBride's candidacy over Harris)
- ^ Harris' Main Challenger Has Own Problems
- ^ Señor Rodriguez, er, McBride wants Harris apology, Miami Herald
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ [5]
- ^ [6]
- ^ Harris' Rivals Have Courage To Test The Odds
- ^ [7]
- ^ [8]