Jennifer Sullivan (politician)

Jennifer Sullivan
Member of the Florida House of Representatives
from the 31st district
Assumed office
November 18, 2014
Preceded by Bryan Nelson
Personal details
Born (1991-08-01) August 1, 1991
Altamonte Springs, Florida
Political party Republican
Alma mater Liberty University
Profession Youth development leader
Religion Christian

Jennifer Mae Sullivan (born August 1, 1991) is a Republican politician who currently serves as a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 31st District, which includes the cities of Apopka, Eustis, Mount Dora, Tavares, and Umatilla in northern Lake County and northern Orange County, since 2014.

History

Sullivan was born in Altamonte Springs, Florida, and currently attends Liberty University, where she is taking online classes towards completing a degree. She has held a number of jobs, including working at a blueberry farm, as a waitress, and as a babysitter, and campaigned for Amendment 2, an ultimately successful constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in Florida in 2008, and for her mother, Patricia Sullivan, who unsuccessfully ran for the Congress in the Republican primary in 2010 in the 8th congressional district.[1]

Florida House of Representatives

In 2014, incumbent State Representative Bryan Nelson was unable to seek re-election due to term limits, so Sullivan ran to succeed him. She faced Randy Glisson, Terri Seefeldt, Belita Grassel, and Joseph Stephens in the Republican primary, which was an open primary because no other candidates had filed. Sullivan campaigned on her conservative Christian credentials,[1] and attracted support from a number of young volunteers from other states who traveled down to Florida to work on her campaign.[2] The Orlando Sentinel ended up endorsing Grassel, blasting Sullivan in an editorial for being "steeped in tea-party dogmatism that has contributed to polarized governance."[3] Ultimately, in a close campaign, Sullivan emerged narrowly victorious, defeating Glisson by a little more than one thousand votes, winning 35% of the vote to Glisson's 29%, Seefeldt's 19%, Grassel's 14%, and Stephens's 3%, making her the youngest female member of the Florida House in its history.[1] On 1/27/2016, Jennifer Sullivan voted to approve fracking in Florida.

In November, 2016, Sullivan was re-elected by 73% of the voters of her district. [4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hudak, Stephen (August 30, 2014). "At 23, she's youngest woman elected to Florida Legislature". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  2. ↑ Sullivan, Maddie (November 12, 2014). "Jennifer Sullivan makes history as the youngest woman elected to the Florida House of Representatives". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  3. ↑ "State House Dists. 30, 31: Editorial". Orlando Sentinel. August 9, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Florida election results 2016: All races". Orlando Sentinel.
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