To hear the insiders talk, one man is responsible for bringing havoc to Florida’s government.
It wasn’t the governor.
And it’s neither the Senate president nor the House speaker.
“Richard Corcoran is the most powerful person in Florida,” one veteran GOP political strategist said following the collapse of the state legislative session last week, when the House abruptly adjourned three days early. “He’s the smartest guy in the room.”
Another insider says the House walkout last week and the tension among state Republican Party leaders that has spurred significant GOP disunity pointed to one person: “Corcoran is really in control.”
On the surface, Corcoran, a Pasco County attorney, is just one of 120 state House members that few Floridians would recognize. But inside the Tallahassee power structure, Corcoran is the House budget chairman who controls the chamber’s spending and, as a designated future House speaker, has immense say over how the Republican Party spends money on campaigns statewide.