Toni Jennings
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Antoinette Jennings (born May 17, 1949) is an American politician who was the 16th
lieutenant governor of Florida The lieutenant governor of Florida is a statewide constitutional office in the Government of Florida, executive branch of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the second highest-ranking official in the state government. The lieutenant governor is el ...
.


Life and career

She was nominated to the office by Governor
Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Bush family, Bush political family, he was an unsuccessful candidate for pre ...
in February 2003 to replace
Frank Brogan Frank T. Brogan (born September 6, 1953) is an American educator and the former Assistant Secretary of Education (Elementary and Secondary Education). He succeeded Deborah S. Delisle. He is the former Chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System ...
, who resigned to become president of
Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. The university is a member of the State University System of Florida and has s ...
. She was sworn in on March 3, 2003, becoming the first woman to hold the office. She declined to run for
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 ...
in
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
even though she was reputed to be Bush's preferred choice as his successor. After the 2006 elections, Jennings was replaced as lieutenant governor by
Jeff Kottkamp Jeffrey Dean Kottkamp (born November 12, 1960) is an American politician and attorney from the state of Florida. He served as the state's 17th Lieutenant Governor from 2007 until 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Kottkamp previously serv ...
, on January 2, 2007. Jennings 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 1976 to 1980, and in the
Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...
, from 1980 to 2000. In 1994, when Orange County chairman Linda Chapin announced she was not seeking re-election, she failed to convince Jennings to return to
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 ...
and campaign for the office herself. Instead, she remained in Tallahassee to be elected by her Senate peers to be president of the Florida senate—the only person to have held that office for two terms, from 1996 to 2000. In 2000, legislative
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 ...
came into effect, having been instituted by a constitutional referendum taken several years earlier. Jennings was thereafter prohibited from seeking reelection. Before entering public service, Jennings was an
elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
teacher. During and after her tenure in the
legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...
, she also ran the family construction business. She is a graduate of
Wesleyan College Wesleyan College is a Private university, private, Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's Colleges in the Southern United States, women's college in Macon, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1836, Wesleyan was the fi ...
. As lieutenant governor, she worked on legislative relations for Bush, on education policy, hurricane preparedness, disaster relief and issues related to the
Space Coast The Space Coast is a region in the U.S. state of Florida around the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It is one of several "themed" coasts around Florida. All orbital launches from American soil carrying NASA ast ...
in Florida. She joined FPL's board of directors a month after leaving office in 2007. Jennings endorsed former
Massachusetts Governor The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The governor is the chief executive, head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonw ...
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...
in the 2008 presidential primary election.


See also

*
List of female lieutenant governors in the United States As of February 17, 2025, there are 22 women currently serving (excluding acting capacity) as lieutenant governors in the United States. Overall, 127 women have served (including acting capacity). Women have been elected lieutenant governor in 40 ...


References


External links


Biography at the Florida Women's Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, Toni 1949 births Living people Lieutenant governors of Florida Presidents of the Florida Senate Republican Party Florida state senators Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives Politicians from Orlando, Florida Wesleyan College alumni Women in Florida politics 21st-century American women 20th-century members of the Florida Legislature 20th-century American women politicians