Tim Canova

Academic career

Canova is a professor of Law and Public Finance at Nova Southeastern University's Shepard Broad College of Law. He previously held an endowed professorship as the inaugural Betty Hutton Williams Professor of International Economic Law at the Chapman University School of Law. He taught as a visiting law professor at the University of Miami School of Law, and the St. Thomas University School of Law. Before becoming a Florida resident, he was granted accelerated tenure as a law professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law. Prior to that he was a visiting law professor at the University of Arizona College of Law.

He has published several articles in journals in multiple languages, as well as book chapters and opinion pieces on law, labor, finance, banking and public policy. He predicted, many years in advance, the 2008 economic downturn precipitated by deregulation and the wide use of financial derivatives. Canova's work has been referenced by individuals such as Noam Chomsky, who has quoted Canova in books and magazine articles on politics, banking, and economics.

Canova has practiced law in New York City with the international law firms of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdon.

Political career

In the 1980s, Canova served as an aide to U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas. In 1995, he became the executive director of the National Jobs for All Coalition. During the 1990s, he criticized the policies of the Federal Reserve Bank under Alan Greenspan, warning that "corporate earnings could fall too far to sustain the current stock prices" and lead to an economic bubble-burst.

In October 2011, he was appointed by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders to an advisory committee on Federal Reserve reform. The committee's work focused on potential paths to restructuring the Fed and tightening rules on conflicts of interest. Canova vocally supported the efforts to pass the amendment to the 2009 Dodd-Frank bill authored by former Congressman Ron Paul, (R-TX) and Representative Alan Grayson, (D-FL) that would have mandated auditing of emergency spending by the Federal Reserve.

While a professor at the University of New Mexico, Canova worked with Libertarian Republicans, including former New Mexico Governor and 2016 Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson, to eliminate felony disenfranchisement.

2016 Congressional campaign

Canova challenged incumbent former Democratic National Committee chair, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz in the August 30, 2016 Florida Democratic Party's primary election. He focused on Wasserman Schultz's legislative record, which, according to Canova, includes blocking the SEC and IRS from disclosing corporate political spending (part of December 2015's omnibus spending bill), preventing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from regulating discrimination in auto lending, opposing its rules cracking down on payday lending, and supporting "fast track" authority for trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

On issues of Florida specifically, Canova denounced Wasserman Schultz's opposition to a medical marijuana ballot measure that, according to polls, had the support of 58 percent of Florida voters.

The Florida Democratic party initially refused access to its voter database to the Canova campaign. Following complaints by the Florida Progressive Democratic Caucus and the Canova campaign, the Florida Democratic party leadership, in March 2016, reversed its position. However, Florida Democratic Party executive director Scott Arceneaux specified that the exception would only apply to the contest between Canova and Wasserman Schultz, because of "the truly unique factors." Canova commented, "I hate to be critical at a moment when I am thankful, but I think that is bad policy."

On May 21, 2016, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders endorsed Canova telling CNN's Jake Tapper "Clearly, I favor [Wasserman Schultz's] opponent." Earlier in the year President Obama had endorsed Wasserman Schultz. Wasserman Schultz was later endorsed by many members of the Democratic party including Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Representative John Lewis, and former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, many of whom made fundraising and campaign appearances.

Canova criticized Wasserman Schultz for taking corporate money, citing his large base of small-dollar donors. In a fundraising email the Wasserman-Schultz campaign argued that, despite Canova's many donors, "90% of his cash is flowing in from donors outside of Florida." Of the only 10% of his donations that come from within Florida, Canova was unable to disclose what fraction came from within the 23rd District.

On August 30, Canova lost the Congressional primary election with 43.2% of the vote to Wasserman Schultz's 56.8%.

2016 DNC leaks and the Canova campaign

After Wikileaks released hacked Democratic National Committee emails that confirmed that some DNC staffers had insulted the Bernie Sanders campaign, Wasserman Schultz tendered her resignation as the Chair of the DNC, effective as of the close of the nomination convention in Philadelphia. They showed Wasserman Schultz had clashed with fellow Democrats in Congress and the White House. She disparaged a top party contributor in Florida, John Morgan, who became a Wasserman Schultz foe after she opposed his Florida ballot initiative to legalize medical marijuana. Morgan said, “The Sanders people have a right to be angry because these emails convey their worst suspicions — that Wasserman Schultz is to Democratic dirty tricks what Richard Nixon was for Republican dirty tricks.” On Monday, August 8, 2016, the complaint was formally filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Political positions