Anthony Frank Sabatini (born October 20, 1988) is an American politician, attorney, and

Florida Army National Guard The Florida Army National Guard is Florida's component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard. In the United States, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the federal army's available combat forces ...

officer serving as a Lake County commissioner since 2024; representing the 1st district. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...

from 2018 to 2022. Once a stong supporter of President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, Sabatini has been an outspoken critic of President Trump since his endorsement of

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the 14th and 19th United States Secretary of State, U.S. secretary o ...

over Sabatini in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. A native of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, Sabatini graduated from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

with a bachelor's degree and earned his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

Levin College of Law The University of Florida Levin College of Law (UF Law) is the law school of the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest operating public law school in Florida and second oldest overall in the stat ...

in 2017. After beginning his legal career, Sabatini was elected to the

city commission City commission government is a form of local government in the United States. In a city commission government, voters elect a small commission, typically of five to seven members, typically on a plurality-at-large voting basis. These commissio ...

Eustis, Florida Eustis is a city in Lake County, Florida, United States. It lies about 35 miles northwest of Orlando, Florida and is part of the Greater Orlando, Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population in the city ...

in 2016, where he served until his resignation to run for the Florida House of Representatives in 2018. In

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, he was an unsuccessful candidate in

Florida's 7th congressional district Florida's 7th congressional district is a congressional district in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. From 2003 to 2013, the district consisted of the suburban area between Orlando, Florida, Orlando and Daytona Beach, Flor ...

Republican primary, losing to

Cory Mills Cory Lee Mills (born July 13, 1980) is an American politician, businessman, and United States Army, Army veteran who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from since 2023. A member of the Republican Party ...

. In

, Sabatini was an unsuccessful candidate for

Florida's 11th congressional district Florida's 11th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Florida. It includes Sumter County, home to The Villages, and parts of Lake, Orange, and Polk counties. In the 2020 redistricting cycle, the district was ...

, withdrawing his candidacy after President Trump endorsed his opponent. That same day, he filed to run for Lake County Commission. In August 2024, Sabatini narrowly defeated incumbent Republican Doug Shields in the Lake County Commission's 1st district election and assumed office on November 5, 2024. Later that month, he briefly considered running for

Florida's 6th congressional district Florida's 6th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Florida. The district is located on the East Coast of the United States, Eastern Florida Coast and stretches from south of St. Augustine, Florida, Saint Augu ...

in the 2025 special election until President Trump endorsed state senator

Randy Fine Randall Adam Fine (born April 20, 1974) is an American politician and former gambling executive serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Florida's 6th congressional district since April 2025. A member of the ...

. In November 2024, Sabatini reaffirmed his intention to run for

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

in the future.

Early life and education

Sabatini was born in

Smithtown, New York Smithtown is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Suffolk County, New York, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. The population was 116,296 at the 2020 United ...

, in 1988 and moved with his family to Florida the following year. In a high school photo, Sabatini and a friend were pictured in

blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...

. In his freshman year of college, he was photographed in

brownface Brownface is a social phenomenon in which a white or light-skinned person attempts to portray themselves as a "brown" person of color, but less overtly and with a lighter complexion than traditional blackface. It is typically defined as a racis ...

. He earned bachelor's degrees in philosophy and history from the

in 2012 and a

from the

Fredric G. Levin College of Law The University of Florida Levin College of Law (UF Law) is the law school of the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest operating public law school in Florida and second oldest overall in the stat ...

in 2017.

Career

Sabatini is an infantry officer in the

. He was appointed to the City of Eustis Code Enforcement Board and later elected to the Eustis City Commission in 2016 and resigned from the office on April 30, 2018, to focus on his campaign for the Florida House of Representatives.

Florida House of Representatives (2018–2022)

Sabatini defeated Monica Wofford and Shannon Elswick, to win the August 28, 2018 Republican primary, winning 46.7% of the vote. In the November 6, 2018 general election, Sabatini defeated

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Cynthia Brown, taking 56.48% of the vote. In 2019, Sabatini proposed amendments to make the Swamp Restaurant in Gainesville a

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern-day use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures ...

to protect it from demolition. The restaurant was temporarily closed, but not demolished, and eventually returned. On January 13, 2020, Sabatini introduced HB 1365, which would have made it a felony for doctors to provide

hormone therapy Hormone therapy or hormonal therapy is the use of hormones in medical treatment. Treatment with hormone antagonists may also be referred to as hormonal therapy or antihormone therapy. The most general classes of hormone therapy are hormonal therap ...

gender reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their gender identity. The phrase is most often associated ...

for

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

minors. In 2020, Sabatini introduced legislation allowing Floridians with valid

concealed carry Concealed carry, or carrying a concealed weapon (CCW), is the practice of carrying a weapon (usually a sidearm such as a handgun), either in proximity to or on one's person or in public places in a manner that hides or conceals the weapon's pre ...

licensed to carry firearms on public colleges and universities. Sabatini has sponsored legislation to enshrine eight-year

term limits A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of Term of office, terms a Incumbent, person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in Presidential system, presidential and Semi-presidential republic, semi-president ...

for Florida's

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

s. Sabatini has introduced legislation to ban red light cameras in Florida.

2022 U.S. House campaign

On March 8, 2021, Sabatini announced that he would challenge incumbent Republican representative

for

. He later suggested he might not wind up running against Webster due to

redistricting Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

. On June 7, 2021, he announced he would challenge incumbent Democratic representative

Stephanie Murphy Stephanie Murphy (born September 16, 1978) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 7th congressional district from 2017 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she defeated incumbent Republican John ...

for

due to redistricting. Sabatini lost the 2022 Republican primary to

in August 2022.

2024 U.S House campaign

In April 2023, Sabatini declared his candidacy for the U.S House of Representatives, again challenging Daniel Webster for the Republican nomination for Florida's 11th congressional district. He withdrew from the race in June 2024 after

endorsed Webster.

Lake County Republican Party (2022–2024)

In December 2022, Sabatini was elected chair of the Lake County Republican Party. In December 2024, he stepped down as county party chair and endorsed Carey Baker for the position, who was defeated by Taylor Yarkosky. Following a February 2025 county party meeting in which

Florida Highway Patrol The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) is a division of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. It is Florida's highway patrol, highway State Police (United States), patrol and is the primary law enforcement agency charged with in ...

officers removed new county party members, Sabatini criticized Yarkosky's leadership and called for a new county party chair.

Lake County Commission (2024–present)

In August 2024, Sabatini was elected to the Lake County

Commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

, defeating incumbent Republican Doug Shields.

Political positions

Gun rights

Sabatini has supported

constitutional carry In the United States, the term constitutional carry, also called permitless carry, unrestricted carry, or Vermont carry, refers to the legal public carrying of a handgun, either openly or concealed, without a license or permit. The phrase does ...

legislation to allow Floridians to carry concealed firearms without first acquiring a permit. Sabatini described permit requirements as a requirement for persons "to beg government permission and pay money for the exercise of their fundamental God-given right." Sabatini introduced constitutional carry legislation in 2020, 2021, and 2022; the legislation was endorsed by Republican governor

Ron DeSantis Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician, attorney, and former United States Navy, naval officer serving as the 46th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Pa ...

but did not pass the Republican-controlled legislature; Sabatini criticized several fellow Republicans for failing to back the bill.

Black Lives Matter protests

In response to the

protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

following the

murder of George Floyd On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...

, Sabatini posted a tweet that suggested that protesters who unlawfully enter businesses would be met with an AR-15 rifle; he posted a similar suggestion on his

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page with the caption "Don't Tread on Me". The sentiment was widely condemned, with Florida State Representative

Cindy Polo Cindy Sofia Polo (born November 29, 1977) is a Democratic politician from Florida. She served one term in the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 103rd district in northwestern Miami-Dade and southwestern Broward Counties from 2 ...

deriding it as "clearly inflammatory" and "inciting violence".

Nikki Fried Nicole Heather Fried ( ; born December 13, 1977) is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and politician who has served as the chair of the Florida Democratic Party since 2023. Prior to her election as chair, she served as the 12th Florida Commissioner ...

, Florida Agriculture Commissioner, called for Sabatini to be reprimanded. House Speaker

José Oliva José Oliva (March 3, 1971 – December 22, 1997) was a Dominican professional baseball player who played in the Major Leagues primarily as a third baseman from 1994 to 1995. Oliva had three daughters, Laura Oliva, Tiana Oliva, and Yeika Oliva. ...

found no "direct or preemptive threat" in Sabatini's comments and did not take punitive actions. Sabatini also drew criticism from Florida state senator Shevrin Jones for referring to

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

protesters in Minneapolis as "disgusting, lawless thugs" in a tweet calling for their arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment. During the trial of

Kyle Rittenhouse Kyle Howard Rittenhouse (born January 3, 2003) is an American man who gained national attention at age 17 for shooting three men in Kenosha, Wisconsin, two fatally, in August 2020, amid protests following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. He ...

, following the shooting and death of three men in Kenosha, WI, Sabatini tweeted "KYLE RITTENHOUSE FOR CONGRESS."

"Cancel culture" and the media

Sabatini has made multiple critical statements of "

cancel culture Cancel culture is a cultural phenomenon in which an individual thought to have acted or spoken in an unacceptable manner is ostracized, boycotted, shunned or fired, often aided by social media. This shunning may extend to social or professio ...

", tweeting that, "If

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

was out philosophizing in American society today, he would be cancelled real quick". He has called for repealing

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act In the United States, Section 230 is a section of the Communications Act of 1934 that was enacted as part of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which is Title V of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and generally provides immunity for ...

, arguing that it allows online platforms to remove conservative perspectives.

COVID-19

Anthony Sabatini confers with members on the House floor

In July 2020, a Florida resident filed an ethics complaint against Sabatini in connection with his involvement in several mask mandate lawsuits. The complaint was in response to a press release about the lawsuit that printed Sabatini's official House email address as the press contact and alleged that this violates a Florida State Statute about misuse of public position. Sabatini has filed at least 14 lawsuits during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

challenging local ordinances requiring the use of face coverings. On September 2, 2020, he received his sixth loss from the filed suits that have so far been heard.

Donald Trump

Sabatini has proposed renaming the Florida section of

U.S. Route 27 U.S. Route 27 or U.S. Highway 27 (US 27) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway in the Southern and Midwestern U.S. The southern terminus is at US 1 in Miami, Florida. The northern terminus is at Interstate 69 (I ...

the "President

Donald J. Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021. ...

Highway". During Trump's reelection bid announcement in Orlando on June 18, 2019, a rally goer attacked an ''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...

'' reporter filming the event. The reporter

tweeted A tweet (officially known as a post since 2023) is a short status update on the social networking site Twitter (officially known as X since 2023) which can include images, videos, GIFs, straw polls, hashtags, mentions, and hyperlinks. Around ...

the encounter, to which Sabatini replied "

MAGA "Make America Great Again" (MAGA, ) is an American political slogan most recently popularized by Donald Trump during Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign, his successful presidential campaigns in 2016 and Donald Trump 2024 presidential cam ...

". for which he was again criticized for supporting violence. Sabatini has repeatedly supported Republican attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost to Democrat

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

. He has repeated disproven conspiracy theories about the election, and has called for audits of the results in Hillsborough County,

Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous coun ...

Broward County Broward County ( ) is a County (United States), county in Florida, United States, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the List of the most ...

Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's third-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and Broward County and the 24th-most populous in the United States, wi ...

, and Orange County. Following the FBI's August 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago, Sabatini said Florida should "sever all ties with DOJ immediately" and added that "any FBI agent conducting law enforcement functions outside the purview of our State should be arrested upon sight".

Supreme Court

Sabatini criticized President

's pledge to nominate a Black woman to the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

following Justice

Stephen Breyer Stephen Gerald Breyer ( ; born August 15, 1938) is an American lawyer and retired jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton, and r ...

's announcement that he would retire, tweeting, "Biden MUST be impeached for his anti-white racist exclusion of any white nominee to the Supreme Court".

Francisco Franco

In 2022, Sabatini quoted

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

dictator

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

on Twitter, tweeting that “I answer only to God and to History.” In response to criticism of Sabatini's tweet, Sabatini posted a picture of Franco with President

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

and stated that critics of his tweet were "extremely un-American."

Electoral history

Personal life

Sabatini is

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He is married to his wife Francheska, who unsuccessfully ran for

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

judge in 2024. They live in

Lake County, Florida Lake County is a county in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 383,956. Its county seat is Tavares, and its largest city is Clermont. Lake County is included in the Orlando–Kissimme ...

References

External links

Campaign websiteFlorida House of Representatives – Anthony Sabatini
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabatini, Anthony 1988 births American critics of Islam Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections Critics of Islamism Florida National Guard personnel Living people Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives People from Smithtown, New York University of Florida alumni 21st-century Florida politicians Candidates in the 2024 United States House of Representatives elections 21st-century members of the Florida Legislature