Paula Dockery (born June 6, 1961) is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

politician from the U.S. state of Florida. She served as a member of the Florida Senate for ten years, representing parts of

Central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the ...

from 2002 to 2012 as a Republican. Previously, she served three terms in the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopt ...

, representing a Lakeland-based district from 1996 until her election to the Senate. In January 2017, she left the Republican Party and became an independent.

Early life

Dockery was born Paula Louise Bono in Queens, New York, on June 6, 1961. Her family moved to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

in 1968, and she graduated from Coral Springs High School in 1979. She earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in 1983. While at UF, she was a member of Student Senate, served on the O'Connell Center Board of Managers, Chaired the Affairs & Ethics Committee, and was a graduate teaching assistant. In 1985 she married Mark Fisher, an aide to United States Senator

Lawton Chiles Lawton Mainor Chiles Jr. (April 3, 1930 – December 12, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 41st governor of Florida from 1991 until his death in 1998. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a United State ...

, a Democrat, and in 1986 the couple moved to

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay area, Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa, Florida, Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,6 ...

. She finished her

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in mass communications during 1987, divorced her first husband in 1988, and decided to become active in Republican politics. She was introduced to and married C.C. (Doc) Dockery, a Lakeland businessman and GOP fundraiser, in November 1989. The family business was

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...

and

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

State legislature

Dockery was elected to the

in 1996, and served three terms. She served as majority whip from 1998 through 2000, and was the primary sponsor of the popular Florida Forever Act. In 2002, she ran for the

Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted in ...

, and was elected to a district encompassing northern Polk County and parts of surrounding

Osceola Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Asi-yahola in Muscogee language, Creek), named Billy Powell at birth in Alabama, became an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfather was a S ...

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

, Sumter, and Hernando Counties. She served as Majority Whip from 2002 until 2004. Dockery chaired the Environmental Protection Committee and the Criminal Justice Committee. She was

term limited A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potent ...

in 2012 and could not run for re-election.

2010 gubernatorial campaign

On June 1, 2009, there was a draft campaign to see Senator Dockery run for Governor of Florida. On November 4, 2009, Dockery entered the race for Florida governor, challenging Florida's

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Bill McCollum for the Republican Nomination. Dockery dropped out of the race when it became clear that she would be unable to run a competitive campaign against Rick Scott, who spent nearly $50 million of his own money to secure a bitterly fought Republican primary victory. After Scott's primary win, Dockery's name was floated as a potential running mate for Scott. On 30 August 2010, Dockery announced that she would not run for lieutenant governor at Scott's side.

Chronicle

Term limits prohibited Dockery from running for senate re-election in 2012, so when she was asked to write a column for the political discourse website ''Florida Voices'' to share her insights of Florida politics during her last year as a senator, she agreed.

Honors and awards

References

External links

Florida State Legislature - Senator Paula Dockery
official government website
People for Paula
official campaign website
Project Vote Smart - Senator Paula B. Dockery (FL)
profile *''Follow the Money'' – Paula Dockery
20062004200220001998
campaign contributions
- Draft Campaign Web Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dockery, Paula Florida state senators Members of the Florida House of Representatives 1961 births Living people Florida Republicans University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni Women state legislators in Florida Politicians from Queens, New York Florida Independents 21st-century American women