Thomas K. Frazer is the dean of marine science at the University of South Florida (USF). He served as Florida's first chief science officer, a position created by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who appointed Frazer.
He received his B.S. in Marine Fisheries from Humboldt State University, an M.S. in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences from University of Florida, and his Ph.D in Biological Sciences from University of California Santa Barbara. [1]
Frazer previously at the University of Florida directed its School of Natural Resources and Environment. [2] The creation of his state position and of a chief resilience officer was championed by environmentalists. [3] He was involved in task force and legislative discussions about water pollution issues during his tenure. [4] Frazer was succeeded in the office by Mark Rains. [5]
New College of Florida is a public liberal arts college in Sarasota, Florida. The college is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. In 2023, the state government of Florida overhauled its board of trustees in an attempt to transform the honors college into a conservative institution modeled on Hillsdale College. Since then, nearly 40% of faculty have resigned. New College has the smallest student enrollment in the State University System of Florida with 689 students as of 2022.
The Florida Cabinet is a body of the government of Florida comprising the attorney general, the commissioner of agriculture, and the chief financial officer that engages in the collective governance of the state.
The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is home to 14 colleges, offering more than 240 undergraduate, graduate, specialist, and doctoral-level degree programs. USF is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. USF is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and is designated by the Florida Board of Governors as one of three Preeminent State Research Universities.
Edward Rollins is an American political consultant and advisor who has worked on several high-profile Republican political campaigns in the United States. In 1983 and 1984, Rollins was national campaign director for the successful Reagan-Bush 1984 campaign. He is currently Chief Political Strategist at the pro-Ron DeSantis PAC Ready for Ron.
Jimmy Theo Patronis Jr. is an American politician serving as the chief financial officer of the state of Florida. He was previously 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.
The Florida Board of Education, also known as the State Board of Education (SBE), is a committee composed of members appointed by the Florida governor to guide and direct the public K-12, community college and state college education in the U.S. state of Florida.
Scott Douglas Makar is an American lawyer, college professor and Judge on Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeal, recommissioned from the First District Court of Appeal on January 1, 2023 by Governor Ron DeSantis. Previously he was the Florida Solicitor General serving from 2007 until 2012 and in that position, argued five cases before the United States Supreme Court.
Ronald Dion DeSantis is an American politician serving since 2019 as the 46th governor of Florida. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the U.S. Representative from Florida's 6th congressional district from 2013 to 2018. DeSantis was a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, withdrawing his candidacy in January 2024.
Gregory Scott Tony is an American law enforcement officer and serving since 2019 as the 17th Sheriff of Broward County, Florida.
The Florida State Guard (FSG) is the state defense force of the U.S. state of Florida. The FSG was created in 1941 to serve as a stateside replacement for the Florida National Guard while the National Guard was deployed abroad during World War II. The FSG is available to the governor of Florida whenever needed, but unlike the National Guard, the FSG is trained and funded by the state and therefore can not be federalized. The FSG was reactivated in 2022 after the Florida legislature appropriated US$10 million in funding.
Michael A. Calhoun is a retired Army National Guard major general who served as the Adjutant General of Florida. General Calhoun was appointed by Governor of Florida Rick Scott on March 29, 2015.
Carlos Genaro Muñiz is the chief justice on the Florida Supreme Court. He was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis on January 22, 2019. Previously, he was general Counsel of the United States Department of Education.
Jill Casey DeSantis is an American former news journalist, television show host, and the current first lady of Florida as the wife of Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
Robert Joshua Luck is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He was a justice of the Florida Supreme Court in 2019. A Miami native, he previously served as an assistant United States attorney and as a judge on the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida and then the Florida Third District Court of Appeal.
The 2022 Florida gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Florida, alongside other state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Governor Ron DeSantis won re-election in a landslide and defeated the Democratic Party nominee, Charlie Crist, who served as governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 as a Republican and later as an independent. No Democrat has been elected governor of Florida since 1994.
Julia Nesheiwat is an American academic and former government official who served as the 10th homeland security advisor in the Trump administration from 2020 to 2021. She also served in the Bush and Obama administrations.
Renatha Sian Francis is an American lawyer who has served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Florida since 2022. She previously served as a circuit judge in Palm Beach County from 2019 to 2022.
Jamal Allen Sowell is a business executive in the state of Florida, recognized by Florida Trend as one of the state’s 500 most influential business leaders. He served as the Florida Secretary of Commerce and as the Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Florida, Inc. (EFI), the state's primary economic development agency. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sowell was responsible for implementing the state’s economic development strategy throughout a tumultuous nationwide economic downturn. The DeSantis Administration called Sowell's efforts to support the state's recovery, "indispensable" in making Florida "the beacon of opportunity for the entire country." In recognizing Sowell, the administration stated, "He has done outstanding work as the president and CEO of Enterprise Florida since January 2019, leading EFI through the once-in-a-generation economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic." After serving as one of the administration's original cabinet members, Sowell resigned as Secretary of Commerce near the end of 2021 to attend military training for the United States Navy Reserve.
The political positions of Ron DeSantis have been recorded from his 2012 election to the United States House of Representatives and his tenure as representative, the 2016 United States Senate election in Florida, and during his tenure as governor of Florida. DeSantis is considered a conservative Republican.
Ron DeSantis has served as the 46th governor of Florida since January 8, 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he narrowly defeated Democratic challenger Andrew Gillum in the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election. As governor, DeSantis resisted taking many of the measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 that various other state governments implemented, such as face-mask mandates, stay-at-home orders, and vaccination requirements. During the pandemic, Florida experienced above-average economic growth. DeSantis cut state-government spending, which, combined with federal stimulus payments and high sales-tax revenue, led to the largest budget surplus in Florida history. He engaged in recovery efforts after Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole, and oversaw the passage of the controversial Parental Rights in Education Act. He was reelected in a landslide in the 2022 Florida gubernatorial election; his 19.4% margin of victory over Charlie Crist was the state's largest in 40 years. He has generally governed as a conservative.