Bill McBride (candidate)

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Bill McBride (born May 10, 1945) is a lawyer and politician who unsuccessfully ran for governor of Florida in 2002. His loss allowed Jeb Bush to serve a second term, making him the first Republican governor of Florida to do so. The vote was Bush: 2,856,845 (56.0 Percent); McBride: 2,201,427 (43.2 percent). He had defeated former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno in the Democratic primary earlier that year.

McBride was born in Belleville, Illinois, and grew up in Leesburg, Florida. He graduated from the University of Florida in 1967. While at UF, McBride served as Treasurer of Florida Blue Key and was inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame.

McBride served in the Marines from 1968 to 1971. McBride earned a Bronze Star complete with a "V" for excellent service in combat. Upon his return to the states, McBride taught at the Marine Corps officers school in Quantico, Va.

Upon completion of his service in the Marine Corps, McBride enrolled in the University of Florida law school. While studying law he fell under the tutelage of Chesterfield Smith, a powerful and politically-connected Florida attorney and then president of the American Bar Association. McBride left law school for a time to serve as Smith's assistant at the ABA. After graduation, he joined Smith's Tampa law firm, Holland & Knight, where he rose in the ranks until becoming managing partner in 1992. McBride's tenure at the helm of Holland & Knight has been the source of some controversy. He is credited with expanding the firm's size and power -- by the time he retired it was the seventh largest firm in the country with a staff of "1,400 attorneys and offices across the globe," says his official biography from the Holland & Knight firm. "By the time McBride retired from Holland & Knight in 2001, the firm ranked seventh in the number of lawyers it employed, and 21st in terms of revenue -- but 98th in terms of profit-per-partner. It became known as a reputable, but flabby, operation, long on underproductive partners and comparatively short on workhorse associates," said a Washington Post report on Oct. 16, 2002.[1]

McBride is a father of two children with his wife, Adelaide "Alex" Sink, a former Florida Statewide President for Nationsbank (now Bank of America). A Democrat, Sink was elected in 2006 as Chief Financial Officer of Florida, a member of the Florida Cabinet.

Since 2003 Bill McBride has been a partner with the law firm of Barnett, Bolt, Kirkwood, Long & McBride in Tampa. He is also Chair of the Board of the investment banking firm Hyde Park Capital Partners, LLC with offices in Tampa, Florida, and Charlotte, N.C., is a member of the American Law Institute, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Warrington College of Business Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Florida.

Preceded by 1998 Buddy MacKay (lost)

Florida Democratic Gubernatorial Nominee 2002

Succeeded by 2006 Jim Davis