Newspaper Names Fla. AG Pam Bondi 'Loser of the Year'

The Florida newspaper the Tampa Bay Times has awarded the state's Republican attorney general, Pam Bondi, with its "Loser of the Year 2014" award after her campaign to make sure that same-sex marriage is banned in the Sunshine State, Gay Star News points out.

The Tampa Bay Times called Bondi, who has been outspoken about the state's gay marriage ban, a "modern-day Anita Bryant."

"It's hard to imagine how someone who won re-election so handily (rival George Sheldon could not afford a single TV ad) could emerge from 2014 more wounded and diminished as our Republican attorney general," Tampa Bay Times' political editor, Adam C. Smith, wrote of Bondi. "Put aside the unseemly junkets funded by groups seeking to influence her. Bondi's clumsy communication skills and relentless defense of Florida's gay marriage ban have made her a modern-day Anita Bryant."

He added: "Antagonizing Florida's gay voters over same-sex marriage and Hispanic voters over immigration reform ensures Bondi has a bright political future ahead of her -- if she moves to Mississippi."

Though Bondi has tried her hardest to keep marriage equality from coming to Florida, her efforts were thwarted days before Christmas, when Tthe Supreme Court rejected her emergency request for a stay on a ruling to nix the state's ban on gay marriage. It should be noted that the ban will be lifted specifically in Florida's Washington County on Jan. 6, but it is unclear if same-sex couples in other areas of the state will also be able to legally tie the knot.

GSN points out that many may assume attorney general Bondi would offer guidance on the issue, but she has remained quiet.