Between 1945 and 1962, a cohesive faction of Florida state senators known as the "Pork Chop Gang" controlled the upper chamber. This faction, composed primarily of senators from north Florida, resisted efforts to shift the balance of power in the legislature from the heavily Southern native, north Florida to the rapidly growing, largely non-Southern native, south Florida. Florida possessed the most severely malapportioned legislature at the time. By blocking efforts to reapportion the legislature, the "Porkchoppers" preserved control of Florida's legislature by the heavily Southern native, north Florida. / The work begins with general information on the dynamics of Florida politics in the first half of the twentieth century. The background and character of prominent "Porkchop" senators is reviewed. Regionalism in Florida and the 1945 legislative reapportionment are discussed. The political and social structures by which the "Porkchoppers" controlled the legislature are analyzed. The relationship between Governor Leroy Collins and the "Pork Chop Gang" is chronicled. The role of the pork choppers and Senator Charley Johns in Florida's desegregation crisis is addressed. Maps are analyzed which display regional voting patterns and their correlation to population growth. Finally the epilogue briefly discusses the rapid decline of the "Gang". / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-12, Section: A, page: 4915. / Major Professor: William W. Rogers. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77625 |
| Contributors | Klein, Kevin Norman., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 455 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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