While in the state legislature, he was one of the leaders in the legislative work necessary to bring Walt Disney World to Florida.[6]
Congress
In 1972, Bafalis was elected to the ninety-third United States Congress (1973–1975) from a newly created district stretching from the Palm Beaches to Fort Myers. He was also elected to the four succeeding congresses and served from January 3, 1975, to January 3, 1983.[2] During his time in Congress, Bafalis resided in Fort Myers Beach and Palm Beach.[4][7]
Bafalis 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, a Democrat from Miami.[4] 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.[8] After his congressional tenure, he worked as a lobbyist and governmental affairs consultant.[9] He tried to make a comeback in 1988 when he ran in the Republican primary for Florida's 13th congressional district when incumbent Connie Mack III gave it up to run for Senate. Bafalis had represented much of this district, including Fort Myers, during his initial stint in Congress. He lost in the primary runoff, however, to Lee County Commissioner Porter Goss.
Personal life and death
As of 2011, Bafalis resided outside Washington, D.C., in Fairfax, Virginia. He was a partner at the Arlington-based government affairs firm Alcalde & Fay.[10][11][12] Bafalis had three children, Renee Louise Bafalis, Gregory Louis Bafalis, and Joshua Evan Bafalis. His wife was Charlotte Maria Bafalis.[4]
^ abcdBafalis bio page, Florida House of Representatives myfloridahouse.gov website. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
^Billy Hathorn, "Cramer v. Kirk: The Florida Republican Schism of 1970," The Florida Historical Quarterly, LXVII, No. 4 (April 1990), p. 414-415, 425-426