Christopher Joseph Sprowls (born January 14, 1984) is an American attorney and Republican politician from

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 ...

. He served as speaker 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 ...

for the 2020–22 legislative term and represented the 65th District, which included Clearwater,

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

, and

Tarpon Springs Tarpon Springs is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. Downtown Tarpon Springs has long been a focal point and underwent beautification in 2010. It is part of the Tampa Bay area. The population was 25,117 at the 2020 census. As of ...

in northern

Pinellas County Pinellas County (, ) is located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 959,107, making it the seventh-most populous county in the state. It is also the most d ...

, from 2014–22.

History

Sprowls was born in

Newburgh, New York Newburgh is a City (New York), city in Orange County, New York, United States. With a population of 28,856 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is a principal city of the Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan area. ...

, and moved to the state of

in his childhood. During his time in high school, he was diagnosed with

Hodgkin's lymphoma Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

, which he survived. After Sprowls graduated from high school Genesis Preparatory in 2002, he attended the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

, graduating with his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in 2006, and then the

Stetson University College of Law The Stetson University College of Law (branded as Stetson Law) is the law school of Stetson University. The law school occupies a historic 1920s resort hotel, the Rolyat Hotel, designed by Richard Kiehnel. The College of Law is accredited by the ...

, receiving 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 ...

in 2009. He then served as an Assistant State Attorney for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, which is located in

Pasco County Pasco County is a county located on the west central coast in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2024, the population of the county is 656,851, making it the tenth-most populous county in the state. Its county seat is Dade City, and its largest c ...

and

. In 2013, Sprowls tried William Hurst, who was ultimately convicted of murdering his wife thirty years prior and was put on trial after the body was found in 2011. He then worked within the State Attorney's Office as a special prosecutor in the Gang Unit and as the Director of the Veterans Treatment Court.

Florida House of Representatives

In 2014, 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 ...

Carl Zimmermann, a

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 ...

, ran for re-election in the 65th District, so Sprowls ran against him. He faced fellow attorney Debbie Ann Faulkner in the Republican primary. The ''

Tampa Tribune ''The Tampa Tribune'' was a daily newspaper published in Tampa, Florida. Along with the competing ''Tampa Bay Times'', the ''Tampa Tribune'' was one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area. The newspaper also published a ''St. P ...

'' endorsed Sprowls over Faulkner, which noted that, though "both candidates bring intelligence and passion to the race," Sprowls "is the more polished candidate and appears ready to serve on day one if elected." Sprowls ended up defeating Faulkner by a wide margin, winning 65% of the vote, and advanced to the general election, where he faced Zimmermann. Sprowls campaigned on his opposition to

Medicaid Medicaid is a government program in the United States that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by U.S. state, state governments, which also h ...

expansion provided for under the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...

, his support for charter schools, and his opposition to abortion. Ultimately, owing to the tendency of the district to vote for Republican candidates, Sprowls unseated Zimmermann, winning his first term in the legislature with 52% of the vote. On September 17, 2019, Sprowls was chosen by his Republican colleagues to be the speaker of the Florida House for the 2020–2022 legislative term. The full House formally elected him speaker on November 17, 2020, after the

2020 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...

. During the 2020 elections, amid 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 ...

, he participated in indoors

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 ...

campaign events where attendees and participants did not wear masks or socially distance. In 2021, Sprowls praised Florida 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 ...

for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. After Florida voters voted in favor of a referendum to restore the voting rights of felons, Sprowls and other Republicans restricted this so that felons who had outstanding fines would not regain their voting rights. Sprowls argued that this restriction did not amount to a "

poll tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. ''Poll'' is an archaic term for "head" or "top of the head". The sen ...

", arguing that poll taxes had racial implications.

References

External links

Florida House of Representatives – Chris SprowlsChris Sprowls for State Representative
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sprowls, Chris 1984 births 2020 United States presidential electors Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives Living people People from Pinellas County, Florida Politicians from Newburgh, New York Speakers of the Florida House of Representatives Stetson University College of Law alumni University of South Florida alumni 21st-century members of the Florida Legislature