TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Former Florida Gov. Buddy MacKay, who lost to Jeb Bush in 1998 but still served 23 days in office after the sudden death of Gov. Lawton Chiles, has died.

Buddy MacKay, though, had served in the U.S. Air Force in the 1950s and attended the University of Florida, becoming part of the honorary Florida Blue Key and later earning a law degree.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Former Florida Gov. Buddy MacKay, who lost to Jeb Bush in 1998 but still served 23 days in office after the sudden death of Gov. Lawton Chiles, has died. He was 91. The ...

Buddy MacKay, Chiles' lieutenant governor for two terms, had been trounced by Bush in the 1998 gubernatorial election when Chiles died six weeks later on Dec. 12, 1998, at the governor's mansion.

FILE – Former Florida Gov. Buddy MacKay attends a Florida Law Review lecture series in Gainesville, Fla., on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin, File) ...

FILE – Former Florida Gov. Buddy MacKay attends a Florida Law Review lecture series in Gainesville, Fla., on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin, File) ...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Former Florida Gov. Buddy MacKay, who lost to Jeb Bush in 1998 but still served 23 days in office after the sudden death of Gov. Lawton Chiles, has died. He was 91.

Former Florida Gov. Buddy MacKay, who lost to Jeb Bush in 1998 but still served 23 days in office after the sudden death of Gov. Lawton Chiles, has died. He was 91.

Former Gov. Buddy MacKay, a long-time Florida politician who became governor for nearly a month following the abrupt death of Gov. Lawton Chiles in late 1998, died in his sleep on Tuesday ...

Former Florida Gov. Buddy MacKay, who lost to Jeb Bush in 1998 but still served 23 days in office after the sudden death of Gov. Lawton Chiles, has died. He was 91.