Tom Goodson (born February 16, 1951) is a Republican politician and a former 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 ...

History

Goodson attended

Brevard Community College Brevard may refer to: People * Aleshia Brevard (1937–2017), American author and actress * Caroline Mays Brevard (1860–1920), American historian * John Brevard, American artist * Joseph Brevard (1760–1821), American soldier and politicia ...

, graduating with his

Associate degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

in 1973, and later attended

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

, graduating with a

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 1975. In 1988, he founded Goodson Paving, which continues to operate. Goodson was elected to the Canaveral Port Authority in 2002, defeating Don Molitor with 51% of the vote. He was re-elected unopposed in 2006.

Florida House of Representatives

In 2010, 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 ...

Ralph Poppell could not seek re-election due to term limits, Goodson ran to succeed him in the 29th District, which included

Brevard County Brevard County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. It is on the Atlantic coast of eastern Central Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 606,612, making it the 10th-most populated county in Florida. The official county se ...

and Indian River County. In the Republican primary, he narrowly defeated Erin Grall, J. Roger Shealy, and Bob Dale, winning 31% of the vote and defeating Grall, the second-place finisher, by only 280 votes. He was unopposed in the general election. When Florida House districts were reconfigured in 2012, Goodson opted to run in the newly created 50th District, which included the territory that he had previously represented in the 29th District, but dropped the Indian River County sections in favor of Orange County sections. He was opposed by Sean Ashby, the Democratic nominee and a high school teacher. Goodson campaigned on working for "fewer regulations and easier permitting to help businesses." The ''

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 ...

'' endorsed Ashby over Goodson, noting that Ashby "strikes a much better balance than Goodson between making Florida more business friendly and other priorities, including adequately funding education, protecting the environment, and safeguarding workers' rights." In the end, he won 53% of the vote and narrowly defeated Ashby by 4,000 votes to win a second term. Goodson was opposed in the Republican primary in 2014 by George Collins, and because no other candidates filed, the election was decided in an open primary, which Goodson won handily, winning his third term in the legislature.

References

External links

Florida House of Representatives - Tom GoodsonGoodson for State House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodson, Tom 1951 births Living people Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives People from Brevard County, Florida People from Marianna, Florida 21st-century members of the Florida Legislature

History

Florida House of Representatives

See also

References

External links