I am a retired educator with forty years as a teacher, principal, professor, dean, grant writer, and lobbyist. I wrote grants for Hillsborough Community College for three years and was the school district lobbyist for Manatee County for five years, before retiring. My legislative skills were sharpened by being an active participant in the committee process that kicked off each of the 2000-04 sessions.

        I wrote bills, amendments, and position papers, while residing in Tallahassee during these sessions and have a good working knowledge of legislative procedures. I worked with Senator Mike Bennett and Duval County (Jacksonville) legislators and lobbyists to change a funding formula which saved Manatee County and other small counties millions of dollars which had been going to Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and Palm Beach.

        In 2006, I worked for the US Census Bureau in southern Hillsborough and eastern Manatee Counties. My fifteen years in east Manatee have given me a grasp of how people in House District #67 think.

        My wife and two of my five children graduated from USF and have provided me with insights into the challenges facing higher education in our cash-starved higher education system. I understand the pitfalls in having one party dominate

        I enjoy good health. Though my Boston Marathon days are over (a 2:55 in 1982), I still work out every day and am physically prepared for the rigors of a legislative session. I do not underestimate the demands made upon legislators.

        My two years in the US Army Infantry, twenty years as a frequent visitor to Washington DC, four years as dean at north Florida’s Lake City CC, and five children and seven grandchildren furnish me a perspective on the challenges facing Florida. While growing up in Chicago, I saw Mayor Daley reach across the aisle effectively. I want to move Florida forward, not advance my own agenda.

        My interests include oversight of State agencies, an aggressive solar energy stance, government in the sunshine, and well examined legislative voting records. I know how to get things done and realize that you often have to make powerful people uncomfortable while doing so. I can live with that!

 - Richard J. Jackson