Wikipedia

Joel T. Daves III

Joel T. Daves III (July 14, 1928 – July 20, 2021) was an American politician and lawyer. He was appointed as the Palm Beach County solicitor in 1959 and won the election to that office in 1960. Daves declined to seek reelection in 1964, instead running for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives. He served two years as a Democratic state representative[4][5] before being defeated in 1966. Attempting a political comeback, Daves ran for the United States Senate in 1970 but placed last among the five Democratic primary candidates. After over two decades of not seeking a political office, he unsuccessfully ran for mayor of West Palm Beach in 1991. He was then elected city commissioner in 1992 and mayor of West Palm Beach in 1999. Daves lost to Lois Frankel in the 2003 mayoral election.

Joel T. Daves III
Daves in 1965
Member of the
Florida House of Representatives
from Palm Beach County
In office
1965–1966
Mayor of West Palm Beach, Florida
In office
March 25, 1999 – March 27, 2003
Preceded byNancy M. Graham
Succeeded byLois Frankel
Personal details
Born(1928-07-14)July 14, 1928
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
DiedJuly 20, 2021(2021-07-20) (aged 93)
Political partyDemocratic[1][2]
SpouseDarden Kettler[3]
Alma materSewanee: The University of the South
University of Florida Levin College of Law

Early life, education, and career

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Joel T. Daves III was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 14, 1928. In 1938, when Daves was 10, he and his family moved to West Palm Beach, Florida. As a boy, he was involved with the Boy Scouts of America, earning the rank of Eagle Scout. Daves worked a paper route and eventually became a car dealer. He also played football at Palm Beach High School and the University of the South. Daves studied law, earning a bachelor's degree at the University of the South and a J.D. at the University of Florida's Fredric G. Levin College of Law. After that, he served in the United States Marine Corps from 1953 to 1955. By 1955, Daves began working as an attorney, joining the law firm of B. F. Paty, his then-father-in-law.[3]

Daves entered public office on July 7, 1959, when Florida Governor LeRoy Collins appointed him to the office of Palm Beach County Solicitor, which was being vacated by the resignation of Charles A. Nugent on August 1.[6] In 1960, former FBI agent and assistant county solicitor John Hiatt challenged Daves for reelection in the Democratic primary.[7] On May 3, Daves defeated Hiatt by a vote of 17,183 to 14,686,[8] and then faced no opposition in the general election.[9] Notably, while serving as county solicitor, he filed charges against Richard Paul Pavlick on December 30, 1960. Pavlick was accused of plotting an assassination attempt against then-president-elect John F. Kennedy.[10] Charges were reduced to a misdemeanor charge for illegally transporting dynamite across state lines after federal judge Emett Clay Choate ruled on December 2, 1963, that Pavlick was legally insane.[11] Daves announced on January 2, 1964, that he would not seek another term as county solicitor.[12]

Florida House of Representatives and 1970 United States Senate election campaign

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Main article: 1970 United States Senate election in Florida

In 1965, Daves was elected to the Florida House of Representatives, serving until 1967.[4]

On June 10, 1970, Daves declared his candidacy in the Democratic primary for the United States Senate election held on September 8; incumbent Spessard Holland was retiring. He ran on an anti-Vietnam War platform, calling for "immediate and total withdrawal of all American troops from Vietnam".[13] He called the war "idiotic" and said it "defeats every constructive effort to restore our national sanity and heal our wounds".[14] Daves favored either making the draft universal or eliminating it altogether. He held no strong opinion on the Cuban airlift, but said, "I think we have to learn to live with Castro". Daves believed in refining foreign policy to change the mindset of viewing communism as an international conspiracy. He suggested that the issue of school desegregation be left in the hands of the courts.[15]

Daves's 1970 U.S. senate campaign gained little traction. By late August, he had raised only about $10,000, released no commercials, purchased no billboards, and opened only one campaign headquarters.[15] In the primary election, he placed last in the group of the five candidates, behind attorney Alcee Hastings, Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives Frederick H. Schultz, State Senator Lawton Chiles, and former Governor of Florida C. Farris Bryant. Daves received 33,939 votes, 4.65% of all votes cast. Bryant and Chiles advanced to a runoff election, which Chiles won.[16] Chiles defeated the Republican nominee, U.S. Representative William C. Cramer, in the November 3 general election.[17]

West Palm Beach government and later life

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After losing the 1970 U.S. Senate election, Daves served as an attorney with Sylvan Burdick from 1971 to 1989, before opening his own practice, which struggled financially. In 1991, he entered the West Palm Beach mayoral election,[18] the city's first direct, strong mayor election.[19] His campaign focused on crime reduction and efforts to stop downtown decay, but suggested no additional public money should be spent on improvements.[18] In the November 5 general election, Daves placed third, receiving 1,994 votes (24.3%) to Nancy M. Graham's 2,739 (33.4%) and Michael D. Hyman's 2,044 (24.9%). Graham and Hyman were both former city commissioners. Being only 50 votes (0.1%) behind Hyman in the initial tally, Daves requested a recount,[20] which yielded no additional votes for Daves and added two to Hyman's total.[21] Daves endorsed Graham in the subsequent runoff election.[22]

In February 1992, following the announcement of the retirement of Helen Wilkes, Daves declared his candidacy for her city commission seat, the 3rd district. His campaign called for revising the city charter – particularly in regard to the mayor's powers – reforming the police department, and promoting economic development.[22] Daves easily defeated his opponent, Ed Gonzalez, 63.0%–37.0%, in the March 10 election.[23]

Daves was mayor of West Palm Beach, Florida from 1999 to 2003.[3]

Daves died in July 2021, at the age of 93.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Joel Daves Gives Wings to Florida's 'Doves'". Pensacola News Journal. Pensacola, Florida. July 5, 1970. p. 13. Retrieved February 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  2. ^ "Daves Urges a 'Definable' Policy". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. July 23, 1970. p. 45. Retrieved February 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  3. ^ a b c d "Joel Davis Obituary (1928–2021)". The Palm Beach Post. July 22, 2021. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Ward, Robert (August 3, 2011). "Membership of the Florida House of Representatives by County 1845–2012" (PDF). Florida House of Representatives. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2023 – via Wayback Machine.
  5. ^ "The People of Lawmaking Florida 1822 – 2019" (PDF). Florida Legislature. February 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  6. ^ "Collins Selects Joel T. Daves, 3rd, County Solicitor to Replace Nugent". The Palm Beach Post. July 8, 1959. p. 1. Retrieved May 23, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.  
  7. ^ "Solicitor's Race Pits Daves Against Ex-FBI Man, Hiatt". The Palm Beach Post. May 2, 1960. p. 10. Retrieved November 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.  
  8. ^ "Kirk, Carpenter, Remsen Win Democrat Nomination". The Palm Beach Post. May 4, 1960. p. 1. Retrieved November 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.  
  9. ^ Record of General Election 1960 (PDF) (Report). Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections. 1960. p. 3. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  10. ^ "'Human Bomb' Case Local Charge Filed". The Palm Beach Post. December 31, 1960. p. 12. Retrieved April 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.  
  11. ^ "Charges Dropped in JFK Threat". Miami Herald. December 3, 1963. p. 2-A. Retrieved April 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.  
  12. ^ "Daves, Arnette Declare They Won't Run Again". The Palm Beach Post. January 3, 1964. p. 1. Retrieved November 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.  
  13. ^ Don Pride (June 10, 1970). "Daves Announces Senate Candidacy". The Palm Beach Post. p. 1. Retrieved March 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  14. ^ Don Pride (June 10, 1970). "Daves: Viet War 'Idiotic'". The Palm Beach Post. p. 4. Retrieved March 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  15. ^ a b Bill Douthat (August 28, 1970). "Daves: He's in the Race Because We're in the War". The Palm Beach Post. p. 12. Retrieved March 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  16. ^ "Tabulation of Official Votes, Florida Primary Election, Democratic and Republican, September 8, 1970 and September 29, 1970" (PDF). Florida Secretary of State. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  17. ^ "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1970" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. p. 7. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  18. ^ a b Angela Bradberry (October 28, 1991). "Backers: Daves' 'quiet strength' is asset". The Palm Beach Post. p. 2B. Retrieved March 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  19. ^ Angela Bradbery (November 20, 1991). "Graham wins mayor's race". The Palm Beach Post. p. 1A. Retrieved March 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  20. ^ Angela Bradbery (November 6, 1991). "Graham, Hyman face runoff". The Palm Beach Post. p. 1A. Retrieved March 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  21. ^ Angela Bradberry (November 7, 1991). "Vote By Precinct". The Palm Beach Post. p. 2C. Retrieved March 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  22. ^ a b "Daves runs for West Palm commission". The Palm Beach Post. February 11, 1992. p. 2B. Retrieved March 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  23. ^ Joel Engelhardt (March 11, 1992). "Daves, Koons win; District 1 goes to runoff". The Palm Beach Post. p. 3B. Retrieved March 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
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