Jimmy Patronis | |
---|---|
4th Chief Financial Officer of Florida | |
Assumed office June 30, 2017 | |
Governor | Rick Scott Ron DeSantis |
Preceded by | Jeff Atwater |
Member of the Florida Public Service Commission | |
In office January 2,2015 [1] –June 25,2017 | |
Appointed by | Rick Scott |
Preceded by | Eduardo Balbis [2] |
Succeeded by | Gary Clark [3] |
Member of the FloridaHouseofRepresentatives from the 6th district | |
In office November 7,2006 –November 4,2014 | |
Preceded by | Allan Bense |
Succeeded by | Jay Trumbull |
Member of the Florida Elections Commission | |
In office 1998–2003 | |
Governor | Lawton Chiles Jeb Bush |
Personal details | |
Born | Panama City,Florida,U.S. | April 13,1972
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Katie Patronis |
Children | 2 |
Education | Gulf Coast State College (AS) Florida State University (BS) |
Jimmy Theo Patronis Jr. (born April 13,1972) is an American politician who has served as the fourth and current chief financial officer of Florida since 2017. He previously served as a member of the Florida Public Service Commission from 2015 to 2017;a member of the Florida House of Representatives representing the 6th district,which includes Panama City and other parts of southern Bay County,from 2006 to 2014;and as a member of the Florida Elections Commission from 1998 to 2003. [4] He is a member of the Republican Party.
Patronis is a candidate in the 2025 Florida's 1st congressional district special election. [a] [5] His candidacy has been endorsed by President Donald Trump. [6]
Patronis was born in Panama City,Florida on April 13,1972. Patronis attended Gulf Coast Community College,where he graduated with his associate degree in restaurant management in 1994,and Florida State University,where he graduated with his bachelor degree in political science in 1996. [7] While at Florida State University,Patronis worked as an intern in the Florida Senate and the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. [8]
After graduation,in 1998,he was appointed by Governor Lawton Chiles to the Florida Elections Commission and again in 2001 by Governor Jeb Bush where he served until 2003. Patronis also served as chairman of the Bay County Airport Authority from 2004 to 2006. [9]
Due to term limits,Allan Bense,the speaker of the Florida House of Representatives,could not seek re-election in 2006. Patronis ran to succeed him in the 6th District,which included Gulf County,southern Bay County,and western Franklin County. Patronis won the Republican primary with 39% of the vote,defeating Lee Sullivan,Cameron Floyd Skinner,and Bill Fisher. In the general election,Patronis defeated Democratic nominee Janice Lucas with 67% of the vote. He was re-elected without opposition in 2008. In 2010,he defeated Democratic nominee John McDonald with 78% of the vote.
In 2012,following the reconfiguration of districts,Patronis remained in the 6th District,but it swapped its portions in Franklin County and Gulf County for a further incursion into Bay County. He was unopposed in both the primary and general elections,and thus was re-elected again unopposed. Patronis could not run for the Florida House again after 2012 due to term limits.
In 2015,Patronis was appointed to the Florida Public Service Commission by Governor Rick Scott for a four-year term. [10] He resigned from the commission on June 25,2017,upon his announcement as Chief Financial Officer of Florida. [11]
On February 10,2017,Florida's chief financial officer,Jeff Atwater,announced that he would resign in order to take the position of CFO for Florida Atlantic University. [12] Governor Scott officially announced the appointment of Patronis on June 25,2017. Patronis was officially sworn in to complete Atwater's term on June 30,2017. [13]
Patronis ran for his first full term in the 2018 CFO election. Patronis was unopposed in the Republican primary. The Democratic nominee was former state senator Jeremy Ring of Broward County. Though Patronis and Ring did not debate on stage,the race was noted for its acrimony,with much attention being drawn to Ring's resume at Yahoo! and Patronis' close ties with Governor Scott. Despite Ring going into election day with a 5-point lead in polling,Patronis defeated Ring,receiving 52% of the vote to Ring's 48%. [14]
During the 2019 legislative session,Patronis worked to pass the firefighter cancer relief bill to provide protection and financial coverage to firefighters who are diagnosed with certain types of cancers. [15]
In response to former president Donald Trump's indictments,Patronis promoted a plan to provide up to $5 million in taxpayer funds to Trump to pay his legal bills. A bill was filed to enact this proposal by state senator Ileana Garcia,but was withdrawn after a veto threat by Governor Ron DeSantis. [16] [17] [18]
Due to Florida's resign-to-run law,after announcing his candidacy for Congress,Patronis submitted his resignation as chief financial officer of Florida effective March 31,2025. [19]
Upon the re-election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, Congressman Matt Gaetz was nominated to become United States Attorney General. [20] Gaetz resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives shortly after the announcement, triggering a special election in Florida's 1st congressional district. [21] On November 25, 2024, Patronis declared his candidacy for the United States Congress and was endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump. [22]
Patronis and his family have run Captain Anderson's, a historic seafood restaurant in Panama City, for over 50 years. He is currently a partner in the business.[ citation needed ]
Patronis met his wife Katie in 1998 when her uncle, a family friend, introduced them at Captain Anderson's. They were married in 2006 and have two children. She currently works as a real estate agent in Panama City. [23]
The chief financial officer of Florida is an elected statewide constitutional officer of Florida. The office was created in 2002 following the 1998 reforms of the Florida Cabinet. The CFO is a combination of the former offices of comptroller and treasurer/insurance commissioner/fire marshal. The office heads the Florida Department of Financial Services and is responsible for overseeing the state's finances, collecting revenue, paying state bills, auditing state agencies, regulating cemeteries and funerals, and handling fires and arsons. In addition, the CFO has administrative oversight over the offices which handles banking and insurance regulation. The CFO is a member of the Cabinet, and is third in the line of succession to the office of governor of Florida.
Jeffrey Hardee Atwater is an American financier who served as the 3rd Chief Financial Officer of Florida from 2011 to 2017, and currently serves as Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Chief Financial Officer at Florida Atlantic University. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Adelaide "Alex" Sink is an American former politician and financier. A member of the Democratic Party, Sink was the Chief Financial Officer for the state of Florida and treasurer on the board of trustees of the Florida State Board of Administration. She was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Florida and faced Republican nominee Rick Scott in the 2010 Florida gubernatorial election, losing to Scott by a 1% margin. Sink also ran as the Democratic nominee in the 2014 special election for Florida's 13th congressional district, losing to Republican David Jolly on March 11, 2014.
Jeremy Ring is an American Democratic politician and former tech startup executive from Florida. He served in the Florida Senate from 2006 to 2016, representing parts of Broward County. He was the Democratic nominee for Chief Financial Officer of Florida in the 2018 election.
Wilton Earl Simpson is an American politician who has served as the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture since 2023. From 2012 to 2022, he served as a member of the Florida Senate, representing areas around Citrus, Hernando, and Pasco Counties. He was elected Senate President for the 2020–2022 legislature.
Matthew Louis Gaetz II is an American politician and lawyer who served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 1st congressional district from 2017 until his resignation in 2024. His district included all of Escambia, Okaloosa, and Santa Rosa counties, and portions of Walton County. A member of the Republican Party and a self-described libertarian populist, Gaetz is widely regarded as a proponent of far-right politics as well as a staunch ally of Donald Trump. In October 2023, Gaetz filed a motion to vacate which led to the removal of Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The 2014 Florida Chief Financial Officer election took place on November 4, 2014, which resulted in the re-election of the Florida Chief Financial Officer. Incumbent Republican Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater ran for re-election to a second term in office.
The 2018 Florida Chief Financial Officer election took place on November 6, 2018. Incumbent Republican Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who was appointed in 2017, successfully ran for a full term, defeating Democratic nominee Jeremy Ring, a former state senator, in the general election.
The 2018 Florida Attorney General election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the Attorney General of Florida. Incumbent Republican attorney general Pam Bondi was term-limited and could not seek a third consecutive term.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Florida, on November 4, 2014.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Florida on November 6, 2018. All of Florida's executive officers were up for election as well as Florida's Class I Senate seat and all 27 seats in the United States House of Representatives. Primary elections were on August 28, 2018. The Republicans took control of the U.S. Senate seat held by three-term Democrat Bill Nelson in an upset while the Democrats picked up two House seats as well as the office of the Commissioner of Agriculture. The Republican gains in the state despite the trend towards Democrats nationwide were part of Florida's transition from a swing state to a red state.The Agriculture Commissioner race was the last time Democrats won a statewide race in Florida or indeed the last time a Democrat was elected to a state agriculture commissioner position in the US.
Adam Roger Hattersley is an American politician and author who was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 59th district in Hillsborough County from 2018 to 2020. He ran for Chief Financial Officer of Florida in the 2022 election.
The 2022 Florida Commissioner of Agriculture election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture. Incumbent Democratic Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried was eligible to run for a second term, but she instead ran for governor of Florida in 2022. Republican Wilton Simpson won the election with over 59% of the vote. Simpson's victory gave Republicans complete control of state government for the first time since Reconstruction.
Michelle Salzman is an American politician, businesswoman, and Army veteran currently serving as a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 1st District since November 2020. She defeated incumbent Mike Hill in the Republican primary and Democrat Franscine Mathis in the general election. She was re-elected in 2022 and 2024.
The 2022 Florida Chief Financial Officer election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the Chief Financial Officer of Florida. Incumbent Republican CFO Jimmy Patronis won re-election to a second term with over 59% of the vote and a margin of victory of 19 percentage points.
The 119th United States Congress is the current term of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened on January 3, 2025, during the final 17 days of Joe Biden's presidency, and will end in 2027. It will meet during the first two years of Donald Trump's second presidency.
The 2024 elections for the Florida Senate took place on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, to elect state senators from 20 of 40 districts. The Republican Party has held a Senate majority since 1995.
The 2025 Florida's 1st congressional district special election will be held on April 1, 2025 to fill a vacant seat in Florida's 1st congressional district previously occupied by Matt Gaetz, who resigned on November 13, 2024, after president-elect Donald Trump nominated him for attorney general of the United States. Gaetz later withdrew his nomination for attorney general on November 21. The following day, Gaetz announced he would not return to Congress. Primary elections will take place on January 28, 2025. It is considered a safely Republican district.
There are expected to be at least three special elections to the United States House of Representatives in 2025 during the 119th United States Congress. Additional special elections may take place if any other vacancies occur.
The 2026 United States state treasurer elections will be held on November 3, 2026, to elect the state treasurer and equivalents in twenty-seven states. The previous elections for this group of states took place in 2022. The treasurer of Vermont serves two-year terms and was last elected in 2024.