Daniel Wright Burgess Jr. (born June 1, 1986) is an American politician who currently serves as a Florida State Senator from District 20, which includes parts of

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

Thonotosassa Thonotosassa is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hillsborough County, Florida, Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The population was 15,238 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 13,014 at the 2010 United States Censu ...

New Tampa New Tampa is a region in Florida that encompasses both a area within the corporate limits of the City of Tampa, as well as a larger land area that is in unincorporated Hillsborough, but retains a Tampa mailing address. The incorporated portion ...

, and

Zephyrhills Zephyrhills is a city in Pasco County, Florida, United States. The population was counted at 17,194 in the 2020 census. The city is the headquarters of the Zephyrhills (water), Zephyrhills bottled water company. The current mayor is Melonie Monso ...

. He previously served as the executive director of the Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs, as a 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 ...

, and as the mayor of

History

Burgess was born in

Zephyrhills, Florida Zephyrhills is a city in Pasco County, Florida, United States. The population was counted at 17,194 in the 2020 census. The city is the headquarters of the Zephyrhills (water), Zephyrhills bottled water company. The current mayor is Melonie Monso ...

in 1986 and 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, ...

. While a college student, he was elected to the Zephyrhills City Council in 2005, defeating Celia Graham with about 60 percent of the votes. Burgess was re-elected in 2007, defeating Richard Kaeberlein with 82 percent of the vote, and he served as President of the City Council. In 2008, after he graduated with a degree in political science, he resigned from the City Council to attend the Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law in

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, graduating with 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 2011. Upon graduation, he was commissioned in the

Judge Advocate General's Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG or JAG Corps) is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called judge advocates ...

of the U.S. Army Reserve as a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

and continues to serve in the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. He also began practicing with Johnson, Auvil, Pratico & Chane PA. After the Mayor of Zephyrhills resigned after he faced

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

proceedings over allegations of sexual harassment, Burgess ran in a special election to succeed him, and won, serving out the final year of the previous mayor's term. He did not run for re-election in 2014.

Florida House of Representatives

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, 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 ...

Will Weatherford Will Weatherford (born November 14, 1979) is an American politician who was a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 to 2014, representing the 61st District from 2006 to 2012 and the 38th District, which included east ...

was unable to seek re-election due to term limits, so Burgess ran to succeed him. He won the Republican primary unopposed, and advanced to the general election, where he faced retired social studies teacher Beverly Ledbetter. During the campaign, the ''

Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute ...

'' endorsed Ledbetter over him, criticizing Burgess for not having a "similar grasp of state issues" as Ledbetter and for having uninformed priorities. However, Burgess won against Ledbetter with 60 percent of the vote. Burgess was re-elected unopposed in 2016.

Independent candidate An independent politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have polit ...

David T. K. Hayes challenged him in 2018, but Burgess won re-election with 66 percent of the vote.

Department of Veterans' Affairs

On December 15, 2018,

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

-elect

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 ...

announced that he would appoint Burgess as executive director of the Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs. Burgess's appointment was unanimously approved by the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

on January 24, 2019.

Florida Senate

After Senator Tom Lee announced in May 2020 that he would retire early from the Florida Senate, Burgess announced he would run in the special election to succeed him. Burgess was unopposed in the Republican primary and defeated Democratic nominee Kathy Lewis in the general election, 54.8 to 45.2 percent. In January 2021 Burgess introduced legislation to protect Confederate monuments; permit the state to overrule local governments' decisions to reduce funding for police; waive

sovereign immunity Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a legal doctrine whereby a monarch, sovereign or State (polity), state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from lawsuit, civil suit or criminal law, criminal prosecution, strictly speaking in mode ...

for municipalities, thereby allowing local authorities to be sued for providing inadequate law enforcement; and block people injured while participating in protests from receiving

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognized at ...

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

lawyer Kara Gross described the bill as an attempt "to silence and criminalize Black protesters and their allies who are exercising their

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

rights."

References

External links

Florida House of Representatives – Danny BurgessDanny Burgess for State Representative
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess, Danny University of South Florida alumni Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives 1986 births Living people People from Zephyrhills, Florida Florida city council members Mayors of places in Florida Barry University alumni 21st-century members of the Florida Legislature