Louis A. Bafalis

Louis Arthur "Skip" Bafalis
Skip Bafalis in 1968
U. S. Representative from Florida's 10th congressional district
In office 1973–1983
Preceded by	J. Herbert Burke
Succeeded by	Andy Ireland
State Senator from Palm Beach, Florida
In office 1967–1973
State Representative from Palm Beach, Florida
In office 1965–1967
Personal details
Born	(1929-09-28) September 28, 1929 Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Political party	Republican GOP gubernatorial nominee, 1982
Spouse(s)	Charlotte Maria Bafalis
Children	Renee Louise Bafalis ___ Gregory Louis Bafalis and Joshua Evan Bafalis
Residence	Palm Beach, Florida Fairfax, Virginia
Alma mater	Manchester Central High School St. Anselm College
Profession	Businessman
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Rank	Captain

Louis Arthur Bafalis, usually known as L. A. "Skip" Bafalis (born September 28, 1929), is a retired American politician, who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Florida's 10th congressional district.^[1]

A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Bafalis graduated in 1948 from Manchester Central High School in Manchester, New Hampshire, then attended until 1952 Saint Anselm College in neighboring Goffstown, New Hampshire. He was in the United States Army from 1953 to 1956, having reached the rank of captain. After military service, he moved to Florida in 1955^[2] to work as an investment banker.

Bafalis was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1964 and then to the Florida Senate in 1966 and 1968. In 1970, he was an unsuccessful candidate for governor, having lost his party's nomination to Claude R. Kirk, Jr., the controversial incumbent. Kirk also defeated another Republican, Jack Eckerd of Clearwater, but he was then unseated by the Democrat Reubin Askew of Pensacola. In that same election, U.S. Representative William C. Cramer of St. Petersburg lost the U.S. Senate race to Democrat Lawton Chiles of Lakeland. The intraparty divisions stemming from the defeat of both Kirk and Cramer are believed to have damaged the prospects of Florida Republicans for at least a full decade.

In 1972, Bafalis was elected to the ninety-third United States Congress (1973–1975) to succeed fellow Republican J. Herbert Burke. He was also elected to the four succeeding congresses and served from January 3, 1975, to January 3, 1983.^[1]

During his time in Congress, Bafalis resided in Palm Beach.^[2]

He was not a candidate for re-election to the Ninety-eighth Congress in 1982, but was an unsuccessful gubernatorial nominee, having been defeated by the then incumbent Bob Graham, a Democrat from Miami.^[2] According to GovTrack, Bafalis missed 8 percent of the roll call votes during his years of service in Congress, but the percent of missed votes reached 80 percent in the second quarter of 1982 when he was campaigning for governor.^[3] After his congressional tenure, he worked as a governmental affairs consultant,^[4] though he ran unsuccessfully in 1988 in the Republican primary against Porter Goss for Congress in what was then Florida's 13th congressional district.

Bafalis resides outside Washington, D.C., in Fairfax, Virginia. He is a partner at the Arlington-based government affairs firm Alcalde & Fay.^[5][6][7]

Bafalis has three children, Renee Louise and Gregory Louis, and Joshua Evan Bafalis. His wife is Charlotte Maria Bafalis.^[2]

References

v t e Republican Party nominees for Governor of Florida (1953–) Swan Watson Washburne Petersen Holley Kirk Thomas Eckerd Bafalis Martinez Bush Crist Scott