"Sit down, shut up, and vote as you’re told." That’s how it works in the Florida Legislature.

The words came from one who’s been there and didn’t do that. Oddly, the same words were used by her opponent as a reason not to back her. It’s a sad day when people who aspire to high office have so little good to say about it.

Nancy Detert wants to go back to Tallahassee. The quote is hers. She added a punchline you seldom hear anymore. "But eventually you need thinking people up there."

Detert is a well-known commodity in State Senate District 23. She won four terms as a state representative and spent her eight years in Tallahassee as either chairwoman or vice chair of committees on banking and international trade, tourism, children and family services, and commerce. In 2006 she came within a whisker of winning the Republican nomination for Congress in the 13th District.

We also need to mention that she served a term on the Sarasota County School Board, because she’s the only person in living memory who jumped from local to state elected office. City and county commissions seem to be dead-end jobs.

Detert made the jump successfully to higher office because, frankly, she’s good on the stump and good in the seat. Now she seeks to replace State Sen. Lisa Carlton, who was term-limited from seeking re-election. If past performance is any guide, Detert will go to Tallahassee and get busy immediately. A $3.5-billion deficit exists in the current budget, and next year’s "Florida checkbook" looks to be $7 billion in the red. If there’s something she doesn’t understand, she has a Rolodex as big as a Ferris wheel and isn’t afraid to use it.

Her opponent is simply overmatched, and it is a shame. Democrat Morgan Bentley would make a fine state senator. Normally this paper gives big points to political newcomers because democracy thrives on dialogue. In another year, against another candidate, Bentley would shine. But he picked a very lofty seat to run for, and he is short on specifics. We hope he will maintain a high profile and come back to the voters again.

This time, Detert holds all the cards: a successful stumper, an excellent schmoozer, a wily horse trader, and – when the chips are on the table – a tough negotiator. We’re lucky she wants this thankless, low-paying job.

The Pelican Press  recommends Nancy Detert for state Senate in District 23.