his advisers Garry Smith and Steve Hull. However, after Mixson made the statement Graham held a ninety-minute meeting to discuss Mixson's complaints, and on June 24, Mixson stated that "I think Bob Graham's the greatest governor Florida has ever had, I'm very rewarded to be a part of his team" and that he would still seek reelection. Mixson was the first lieutenant governor of Florida to win reelection to a second term. Tenure On January 2, 1979, Mixson was inaugurated as the 12th Lieutenant Governor of Florida by Chief Justice Arthur J. England Jr. of the Supreme Court of Florida. On January 22, Mixson led a 37-member delegation, as Governor Graham was unable, to Guatemala City, Guatemala, for the state's fourth trade mission called the "Intercambio Comercial", with the past three being to Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela, meant to increase trade between Florida and Central and South America. The trade mission was the first overseas trip sponsored by Graham's gubernatorial administration. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter appointed Mixson as special ambassador to Ecuador. During the 1980 presidential election Mixson supported President Carter. At the state Democratic convention Mixson was selected to serve as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in support of Carter alongside Graham, James C. Smith, Doyle Conner, Claude Pepper, Hazel Talley Evans, and Phyllis Miller. From February 10 to 16, 1980, Mixson was meant to lead a 35-member delegation, which included Agriculture Commissioner Doyle Conner, state House Speaker J. Hyatt Brown, and Commerce Secretary Sidney Levin, during Florida's fifth Intercambio Comercial to Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador. However, he was unable to lead the delegation as he had been selected to replace Ronnie Book as the head of Graham's legislative lobbying staff and had to lobby for Graham's 1980 tax reform legislation. In April 1980, Mixson was criticized for his intervening to prevent the suspension of Marianna Circuit Court Clerk Raymond Bruner. The Florida Ethics Commission voted four to one, with Mixson being the only vote against, in favor of recommending the suspension of Bruner for allegations that he had used his position as clerk to sexually harass fourteen employees. Mixson later sent a letter to Graham written by Bruner's lawyers alleging that Bruner was the victim of a political conspiracy. On June 27, Graham signed an executive order to suspend Bruner with the order stating that "these women were subjected to improper sexual advances