Recently, we sat down with Attorney General candidate Jay Fant to get his thoughts on his place in the upcoming race. He also shared his thoughts on how Florida should lead in the future and what issue he finds important to tackle should he be elected.
As a politician, Fant has the image of an "outsider," which proved to be an image America warmly received in the 2016 Presidential election. He explained that he "entered politics as an outsider, which was very well received in 2014. I’ve been in the legislature. I never joined the establishment, which is unfortunately what many of the members do. I have a record to prove that. And political supporters recognize that."
One supporter who has recognized that also contributed to his campaign.
Fant detailed that "Yesterday, I have an investor in Jacksonville who wrote me a check for $100,000 simply because he likes that I’m not a part of the establishment. And I say what I mean and mean what I say."
And what is that money going to be used for?
Well, he outlined an important topic he wants to tackle should he be elected Attorney General, and it's an issue he explains will greatly improve the sunshine state.
“One of the issues of the day we have is that Florida is the 5th worst state in the country for litigation. It’s a litigation hell hole. That makes it hard for businesses to stay up and going. And we gotta do something about that cause there are some crooked lawyers who certainly make the rest of the lawyers look bad. And nobody does anything about it.”
He added that what sets him apart from the rest of the candidates is that "My primary competitor is heavily funded by tv lawyers." What this entails is that it "won’t let her do any reform when she’s in office. And I come from a different perspective. Mine is that if you’re a bad egg, every industry is at play. And the legal industry is an industry. And the guys that exploit and break the rules and stuff their own pockets with money need to be dealt with by the attorney general’s office. I think that’s gonna be a major contrast in this race going forward."
In hindsight, Fant mentioned how his time in the legislature opened his eyes to what needs to be done. He commented that he "saw how strong the trial bar lobby is. I had to go against them all the time just to make sure that the free market had a fair shake. But, ultimately, if there’s if one percent of the lawyers in Florida that are truly crooked. Why don’t we go after them? The BAR doesn’t do an effective job of that unless there’s account mismanagement."
Ultimately, Fant admitted that tackling this issue would change Florida's image and perspective. He said that "these are the things we forget are the nuts and bolts of how the state works. If Florida can solve its litigation issue, Then, I think, Florida becomes as potentially fast moving and prosperous as any state in the country. Passing Texas and other states where people want to come here and say if you’re an entrepreneur, Florida’s the place to be."
