Charles E. Van Zant (born November 24, 1943) is an American architect and

Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestantism in the United States, Pr ...

minister who served as a Republican member of 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 2012 to 2016, Van Zant represented the 19th District, which includes Bradford County, Putnam County, Union County, and southern

Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman: * Clay County, Alabama * Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County) * Clay County, Fl ...

. Van Zant previously represented the 21st District from 2008 to 2012.

History

Van Zant was born in

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

and attended

Stetson University Stetson University is a private university in DeLand, Florida, United States. Established in 1883 as DeLand Academy, it was later renamed John B. Stetson University in honor of John B. Stetson. The university's main campus in DeLand spans 175 ...

before graduating 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 degree in architecture in 1968. Upon graduation, he founded Van Zant Associates, an architecture firm, which he continues to own. Van Zant attended the

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in Louisville, Kentucky. The seminary was founded in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina, where it was at first housed on the campus of Furman University. The s ...

, where he received a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...

degree, and the Western Baptist Theological Seminary, where he received a

Doctorate of Theology Doctor of Theology (, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equivalent to the Doctor of ...

degree. In addition to working as an architect, he has served as the pastor of multiple churches, included the First Baptist Church of Keystone Heights and Trinity Baptist Church. Van Zant was appointed to the

School Board in 2007 by Governor

Charlie Crist Charles Joseph Crist Jr. ( ; born July 24, 1956) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 and as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. represen ...

, and served as its Vice-Chairman.

Florida House of Representatives

When incumbent

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

Joe Pickens was unable to seek re-election due to term limits, Van Zant ran to succeed him in the 21st District, which included a swath of territory in

North Florida North Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida comprising the northernmost part of the state. Along with South Florida and Central Florida, it is one of Florida's three most common "directional" regi ...

, specifically, southern Bradford County, southern

, northern Lake County, eastern Marion County, Putnam County, and northwestern

Volusia County Volusia County (, ) is a county located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2020 census, the county was home to 553,543 people, an increase of 11.9% from the 2 ...

. In the Republican primary, he emerged narrowly victorious over Christopher France and Patricia Freeman. Van Zant faced Linda Myers, a Putnam County Commissioner and the Democratic nominee, who identified as a conservative Democrat. Groups supporting Myers attacked Van Zant for tax evasion, and group supporting Van Zant attacked Myers for funding a "road to nowhere" and for tax increases; both candidates rejected each other's claims. Though they agreed on a number of issues, including the need to create jobs, allowing oil drilling off the coast of the state and replacing the

Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or the FCAT/FCAT 2.0, was the standardized test used in the primary and secondary public schools of Florida. First administered statewide in 1998, it replaced the State Student Assessment Test (SSAT) a ...

, they vehemently disagreed as to which of them was the most qualified to handle the issues of contention. Van Zant narrowly defeated Myers, winning by fewer than 2,000 votes, with 51.5% of the vote to Myers's 48.5%. Though Myers initially announced that she would seek a rematch with Van Zant in 2010, she ultimately declined to contest the seat, and he was re-elected without opposition. When the state legislative districts were redrawn in 2012, Van Zant was moved into the 19th District, which retained the

and Putnam County areas of the district, but added sections in Bradford County and Union County. In both the primary and general elections, Van Zant was elected unopposed. In 2014, Van Zant was re-elected unopposed to his fourth and final term in the House. At a 2014 event held by opponents of the

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, Van Zant announced that the

American Institutes for Research The American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan behavioral and social science research, evaluation, and technical assistance organization based in Arlington, Virginia. One of the world's largest social science research o ...

, the group that helped create the tests that would be used in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, would be promoting a homosexual lifestyle in children, declaring, "These people that will now receive $220 million from the state of Florida unless this is stopped will promote double mindedness in state education, and attract every one of your children to become as homosexual as they possibly can."

Church activities

Charles currently pastors a small church called Gospel Lighthouse. It is located in Gainesville, Florida. It is a non-denominational church with a Biblical worldview and a heart for service. It's been around for about 15 years and is slowly being built up.

References

External links

Florida House of Representatives - Charles Van ZantGospel Lighthouse
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Zant, Charles 1943 births Living people Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives Architects from Florida Southern Baptist ministers School board members in Florida People from Clay County, Florida University of Florida alumni Southern Baptist Theological Seminary alumni Politicians from Jacksonville, Florida 21st-century members of the Florida Legislature