Former State Sen. Paula Dockery may be enjoying her retirement from public service after 16 years in elected office — but some of her Lakeland neighbors and business leaders wish she’d reenter the fray and run for mayor.
The mayor of Lakeland is a nonpartisan office, and currently there are two Republicans in the race: Mayor Gow Fields and City Commissioner Howard Wiggs.ย If Dockery were to ramp up a campaign it would be a refreshing diversion from Fields’ and Wiggs’ back-and-forth with each other.ย ย In the words of Bill Rufty of the Lakeland Ledger, Fields and Wiggs continue to”slug it out for the Nov. 5 city election and argue over high attorney fees to keep a grand jury presentment from being made public.”
Dockery confirmed that she has been asked to run but said she will not do so.
Her nearly two decades in the Florida House and Senate were notable for her leadership on environmental, budgetary, and criminal justice issues.
She served as Majority Whip in the Florida Senate from 2003 to 2004, and in the Florida House from 1998 through 2000. Dockery was the primary sponsor of the Florida Forever Act.
Dockery has been awarded with Legislator of the Year by associations including the National Audubon Society, Florida Dental Hygiene Association, American Water Works Association, Midwives Association of Florida, Florida Farm Bureau, Florida Parks and Recreation Association, and the Florida Cattlemen’s Association.ย
She even has a trail named after her in Lakeland’s Lake Wales Ridge State Forest.
Dockery ran a brief campaign for governor in 2010 in the primary against Bill McCollum, but then exited the race and threw her support and energies toward seeing Gov. Rick Scott elected.
