Glades County is a county located in the Florida Heartland region of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,126, making it the fourth-least populous county in Florida. Its county seat is Moore Haven.
Okeechobee County is a county located in the Florida Heartland region of the state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,644. The county seat is Okeechobee.
The Florida Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. State of Florida. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article III, Section 1 of the Florida Constitution, adopted in 1968, defines the role of the legislature and how it is to be constituted. The legislature is composed of 160 state legislators. The primary purpose of the legislature is to enact new laws and amend or repeal existing laws. It meets in the Florida State Capitol building in Tallahassee.
Florida's 17th congressional district is an electoral district for the U.S. Congress, located in Southwest Florida. In the 2020 redistricting cycle, the district was shrunk to only include the coastal counties of Sarasota and Charlotte as well as northeastern Lee County, including most of Lehigh Acres. Other inland counties which were previously in the district were instead redistricted into the new 18th district.
John David Alexander, known as J. D. Alexander or JD Alexander is a businessman and former Florida Republican politician from Lake Wales. From 2002–2012, he served in the Florida Senate, representing almost 500,000 residents of the 17th district, which included all of Hardee and Highlands and parts of DeSoto, Glades, Okeechobee, Polk, and St. Lucie counties. Previously, he was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1998 to 2002. Alexander has also been the CEO of Atlantic Blue Group and Alico.
The Florida Heartland is a region of Florida located to the north and west of Lake Okeechobee, composed of six inland, non-metropolitan counties—DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, and Okeechobee. In 2000, The US Census Bureau recorded the population of the region at 229,509. In 2010, The US Census Bureau recorded the population of the region at 253,399, a growth rate of 11.0%. The most populous county in the region is Highlands County, and the region's largest cities are Avon Park and Sebring, both with slightly more than 10,000 people. Unlike the coastal areas to the east and west, the rural nature of the Florida Heartland is culturally closer to the Deep South than the rest of South Florida and has traditionally been inhabited by Americans of predominantly English ancestry. While located in Palm Beach County, the nearby rural cities of South Bay, Belle Glade and Pahokee as well as the census-designated place of Lake Harbor, located on the southeastern shore of Lake Okeechobee, are more associated with the Florida Heartland than the remainder of South Florida. The same could also apply to the Collier County communities of Immokalee, Ave Maria and Harker as well as to the Martin County community of Port Mayaca. Occasionally included are the southern Polk County communities of Fort Meade, Frostproof and River Ranch as well as Yeehaw Junction in Osceola County.
Ken Pruitt is an American politician who served as a member of the Florida Senate. A Republican, he represented the 28th District from 2000 to 2009, which included portions of Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, Palm Beach and St. Lucie Counties. He was previously a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1990 through 2000.
Dennis K. Baxley is a state legislator in Florida who has served in the Florida Senate since 2016. A Republican, he represents the 12th district including Sumter County and parts of Lake County and Marion County in Central Florida. He previously served in the Florida House of Representatives, representing parts of Marion County from 2000 to 2007 and again from 2010 until his election to the Senate. He served on the Belleview City Commission and as its mayor.
The 2004 United States Senate election in Florida took place on November 2, 2004 alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Graham decided to retire instead of seeking a fourth term. Graham made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. The primary elections were held on August 31, 2004. Republican Mel Martínez won the open seat with 49.4% of the vote to Democratic nominee Betty Castor's 48.3%. With a margin of 1.1%, this election was the closest race of the 2004 Senate election cycle. This was the first open-seat United States Senate election in Florida for this seat since 1974.
Darren Michael Soto is an American attorney and Democratic politician from Kissimmee, Florida, who is the U.S. representative for Florida's 9th district.
Denise Grimsley is a Republican member of the Florida State Senate, representing parts of Central and Southwest Florida since 2012. She has represented the 26th district, which includes Highlands, Okeechobee, Glades, DeSoto, Hardee, southern Polk, eastern Charlotte, and northern Lee Counties, since 2016, after being redistricted from the 21st district. She served four terms in the Florida House of Representatives, representing the Highlands County-based 77th district from 2004 to 2012.
Kevin Rader is an American politician from Florida. A Democrat, he represented parts of northern Broward and southern Palm Beach Counties in the Florida House from 2008 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2016. He was elected to one term in the Florida Senate, serving from 2016 until he retired in 2020.
The 2012 United States Senate election in Florida was held on November 6, 2012, alongside a presidential election, other elections to the House and Senate, as well as various state and local elections. The primary election was held August 14, 2012. Incumbent Senator Bill Nelson won reelection to a third term, defeating Republican U.S. Representative Connie Mack IV by 13%, winning 55% to 42%. Nelson defeated Mack by over 1 million votes. This is the last time Democrats won a U.S. Senate race in Florida.
William Gregory Steube is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 17th congressional district since 2019. His district is based in Sarasota. A member of the Republican Party, Steube served three terms in the Florida House of Representatives, representing the Sarasota-Manatee area from 2010 to 2016, as well as two years in the Florida Senate until 2018, representing Sarasota County and the western part of Charlotte County.
Richard Michael Corcoran is an American politician who served as speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. A Republican, Corcoran represented the 37th district, which includes central Pasco County, from 2012 to 2018, and previously represented the 45th district from 2010 to 2012. From 2019 to 2022, Corcoran served as the state's education commissioner. In 2023, he became president of the New College of Florida.
The 2018 Florida Commissioner of Agriculture election occurred on November 6, 2018, to elect the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture. Incumbent Republican Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam was term-limited and could not seek a third consecutive term. Democrat Nikki Fried narrowly defeated Republican Matt Caldwell. Fried became the only statewide elected Democrat in Florida, as U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, who had held Florida's Class I U.S. Senate seat since 2000, lost reelection. As of 2023, this remains the last time that a Democrat has won a statewide election in Florida, and the only time since 2012.This is also the last time they won the job of Florida Agriculture Commisioner as well Nikki Fried is the last Democrat to hold any elected state Agriculture Commissioner office in the US.
The 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, to elect the 27 U.S. representatives from the state of Florida, one from each of the state's 27 congressional districts. The elections coincided with the elections of other offices, including a gubernatorial election, other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate, and various state and local elections. The party primaries were held on August 28, 2018.
In the elections to the Florida State Senate that were held on November 6, 2018, 20 of the 40 seats were contested in regular elections and two seats in special elections. The winners of the 20 regular elections will serve four year terms from November 6, 2018, to November 6, 2022, and the winners of the two special elections will serve two year terms from November 6, 2018, to November 6, 2020.
The 2018 Florida House of Representatives election was held in the U.S. state of Florida on November 6, 2018, to elect members to the House of Representatives. The election coincided with the election for governor, and other elections. The Republicans won 73 seats and losing only 2, maintaining their control since 1997, while the Democrats gained 6 seats. Four vacant seats, all won by Republicans in 2016, were picked up by Democrats.
The 2022 elections for the Florida State Senate took place on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, to elect state senators from all 40 districts. Although on ordinary years, 20 senators are elected at a time on a staggered basis, races following redistricting elect all 40 members to ensure that each member represents an equal number of constituents. The Republican Party expanded their Senate majority from 24 to 28, gaining a supermajority in the Senate. The concurrently held House elections also resulted in a supermajority, giving Republicans supermajority control of the legislature.
