Louis Arthur "Skip" Bafalis (born September 28, 1929) is an American businessman and former politician who served as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for

Florida's 10th congressional district Florida's 10th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Florida. It was reassigned in 2012, effective January 3, 2013, from the Gulf Coast to inland Central Florida. Before 2017, the district included parts of w ...

from 1973 to 1983. A member of the Republican Party, he was the party's nominee in the

1982 Florida gubernatorial election The 1982 Florida gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1982. Incumbent Democratic Governor Bob Graham was re-elected, defeating Republican nominee Skip Bafalis with 64.70% of the vote. Bafalis was the last Florida Republican gubernat ...

, and previously represented district 33 in the

Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

from 1966 to 1970.

Early life

Bafalis was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, his father was an immigrant from

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

and his maternal grandparents came from Sweden. He graduated in 1948 from

Manchester Central High School Manchester High School Central is the oldest public high school in the state of New Hampshire. Located in the heart of Manchester, New Hampshire, approximately 1,200 students attend from communities such as Hooksett and Manchester, and it form ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

, then attended until 1952

Saint Anselm College Saint Anselm College is a private Benedictine liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Founded in 1889, it is the third-oldest Catholic college in New England. Named for Saint Anselm of Canterbury ( Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to ...

in neighboring Goffstown, New Hampshire. He was in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

from 1953 to 1956, having reached the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. After military service, he moved to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

in 1955Bafalis bio page
Florida House of Representatives ''myfloridahouse.gov'' website. Retrieved 2011-07-22. to work as an

investment banker Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated wit ...

Political career

Bafalis was elected to the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopte ...

in 1964 and then to the

in 1966 and 1968. In 1970, he was an unsuccessful candidate for

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, having lost his party's nomination to Claude R. Kirk, Jr., the controversial incumbent. Kirk was subsequently unseated by the Democrat

Reubin Askew Reubin O'Donovan Askew (September 11, 1928 – March 13, 2014) was an American politician, who served as the 37th governor of Florida from 1971 to 1979. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 7th U.S. Trade representative from 1979 ...

Pensacola Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

. In that same election, U.S. Representative William C. Cramer of

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

lost the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

race to Democrat

Lawton Chiles Lawton Mainor Chiles Jr. (April 3, 1930 – December 12, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 41st governor of Florida from 1991 until his death in 1998. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a United States ...

of Lakeland. The intraparty divisions stemming from the defeats of both Kirk and Cramer set back the projected growth of the

Florida Republican Party The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Florida. It is currently the state's favored party, controlling the majority of Florida's U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, supermajor ...

. In 1972, Bafalis was elected to the ninety-third

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washi ...

(1973–1975) from a newly created district stretching from the Palm Beaches to

Fort Myers Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in ...

. He was also elected to the four succeeding congresses and served from January 3, 1975, to January 3, 1983. During his time in Congress, Bafalis resided in

Fort Myers Beach Fort Myers Beach is a town located on the North end of Estero Island in Lee County, Florida, United States. The town is on the Gulf of Mexico and is accessed from the mainland by a bridge over Estero Bay. The population was 5,582 at the 2020 ce ...

and Palm Beach. He was not a candidate for re-election to the Ninety-eighth Congress in 1982, but was an unsuccessful gubernatorial nominee, having been defeated by the then incumbent

Bob Graham Daniel Robert "Bob" Graham (born November 9, 1936) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 38th governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States senator from Florida from 1987 to 2005. He is a member of the Dem ...

, a Democrat from

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

. According to GovTrack, Bafalis missed 8 percent of the roll call votes during his years of service in Congress, but the percent of missed votes reached 80 percent in the second quarter of 1982 when he was campaigning for governor. After his congressional tenure, he worked as a governmental affairs consultant. He tried to make a comeback in 1988 when he ran in the Republican primary for

Florida's 13th congressional district Florida's 13th congressional district is an electoral district for the U.S. Congress on Florida's Gulf Coast, reassigned in 2012, effective January 2013, to Pinellas County. See whole Florida state map for 2013, with the 13th district cov ...

. Bafalis had represented much of the territory in this new district, including Fort Myers, during his initial stint in Congress. He lost in the primary runoff, however, to Lee County Commissioner

Porter Goss Porter Johnston Goss (; born November 26, 1938) is an American politician and government official who served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1989 until 2004, when he became the last Director of Central Intellig ...

Personal life

As of 2011, Bafalis resides outside

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, in

Fairfax Fairfax may refer to: Places United States * Fairfax, California * Fairfax Avenue, a major thoroughfare in Los Angeles, California * Fairfax District, Los Angeles, California, centered on Fairfax Avenue * Fairfax, Georgia * Fairfax, Indiana * Fa ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

. He is a partner at the Arlington-based government affairs firm Alcalde & Fay.L.A. Skip Bafalis
bio, Alcalde & Fay website. Retrieved 2011-06-30. Bafalis has three children, Renee Louise Bafalis, Gregory Louis Bafalis, and Joshua Evan Bafalis. His wife is Charlotte Maria Bafalis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bafalis, Skip 1929 births Living people 20th-century American politicians American investment bankers American people of Greek descent American people of Swedish descent Businesspeople from Florida Florida state senators Manchester Central High School alumni Members of the Florida House of Representatives Military personnel from Massachusetts People from Palm Beach, Florida Politicians from Boston Politicians from Fairfax, Virginia Politicians from Manchester, New Hampshire Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida Saint Anselm College alumni United States Army officers Virginia Republicans Members of Congress who became lobbyists