| | Goldner, Winifred, and their sons moved to St. Petersburg in 1947<ref name=ameacham/> or 1949.<ref name=hartzell/> He established a law practice in the Hall Building with [[William C. Cramer]], a native of [[Denver]], [[Colorado]], who had grown up in St. Petersburg with his birth family. A Republican, Goldner urged Cramer, then a Democrat, to switch parties. Until this period, Florida had been essentially a one-party, Democratic state for decades since the disenfranchising of most blacks at the turn of the century. Most whites were traditionally Democratic Party members. | | Goldner, Winifred, and their sons moved to St. Petersburg in 1947<ref name=ameacham/> or 1949.<ref name=hartzell/> He established a law practice in the Hall Building with [[William C. Cramer]], a native of [[Denver]], [[Colorado]], who had grown up in St. Petersburg with his birth family. A Republican, Goldner urged Cramer, then a Democrat, to switch parties. Until this period, Florida had been essentially a one-party, Democratic state for decades since the disenfranchising of most blacks at the turn of the century. Most whites were traditionally Democratic Party members. |
| − | Cramer joined Goldner in the [[Republican Party|GOP]] in 1949; the next year he was elected as a state representative.. In 1954, he was narrowly elected to Florida's 1st congressional district seat in the [[United States House of Representatives]].<ref>[http://www.jstor.org/stable/30150884?loginSuccess=true&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Billy Hathorn, "Cramer v. Kirk: The Florida Republican Schism of 1970"], ''Florida Historical Quarterly'' (April 1990), Vol. 68, No. 4, p. 404</ref><ref>[[Florida's 1st congressional district]], represented in 2016 by Republican [[Jeff Miller (Florida politician)|Jeff Miller]], now covers the Florida Panhandle as far west as the [[Alabama]] border.</ref> | + | Cramer joined Goldner in the [[Republican Party|GOP]] in 1949; the next year he was elected as a state representative.. In 1954, he was narrowly elected to Florida's 1st congressional district seat in the [[United States House of Representatives]].<ref>[http://www.jstor.org/stable/30150884?loginSuccess=true&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Billy Hathorn, "Cramer v. Kirk: The Florida Republican Schism of 1970"], ''Florida Historical Quarterly'' (April 1990), Vol. 68, No. 4, p. 404</ref><ref>Florida's 1st congressional district, represented in 2016 by Republican Jeff Miller, now covers the Florida Panhandle as far west as the [[Alabama]] state line.</ref> |
| | Cramer was a [[conservative]]. Goldner, then a [[Moderate Republican]], managed the 1960 Republican campaign in Pinellas County. In 1961, he was elected mayor by a wide margin. When told that his [[African-American]] supporters could not attend his inaugural ball because St. Petersburg at the time was a legally [[Segregation|segregated]] city, Goldner instead funded a private celebration to which all were invited. Mayor Goldner founded the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council and sought to consolidate various municipalities and unincorporated areas in south Pinellas County.<ref name=ameacham/> In 1965, while running for his third term, Mayor Goldner was hospitalized with a slipped disc for much of the campaign, and his victory by 4 percentage points depended on black support.<ref name=hartzell/> | | Cramer was a [[conservative]]. Goldner, then a [[Moderate Republican]], managed the 1960 Republican campaign in Pinellas County. In 1961, he was elected mayor by a wide margin. When told that his [[African-American]] supporters could not attend his inaugural ball because St. Petersburg at the time was a legally [[Segregation|segregated]] city, Goldner instead funded a private celebration to which all were invited. Mayor Goldner founded the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council and sought to consolidate various municipalities and unincorporated areas in south Pinellas County.<ref name=ameacham/> In 1965, while running for his third term, Mayor Goldner was hospitalized with a slipped disc for much of the campaign, and his victory by 4 percentage points depended on black support.<ref name=hartzell/> |