Florida Government – the short course

To help people to have been trashing Floridians from ignorance, here are a few facts about Florida government and politics.

Qualifications for office:

Legislature – you must be at least 21 years old, a registered voter, a US citizen, a resident of Florida for at least two years, and a resident of the district.

State-wide Offices – you must be at least 30 years old, a registered voter, a US citizen, and a resident of Florida for at least seven years.

Terms:

The Florida House members are elected for a two-year term.

Senators and other state officers are elected for a four-year term.

No one may serve in any one office for more than 8 years.

State-wide Elected Officials:

Governor – Republican

Lieutenant Governor – Republican

Attorney General – Republican

Chief Financial Officer – Democrat

Agriculture Commissioner – Republican

Legislature:

House of Representatives with 120 members. (42 Democrats = 35%)

Senate with 40 members. (14 Democrats = 35%)

Sessions begin the Tuesday after the first Monday of March and are limited to 60 calendar days, unless it is extended by a three-fifths vote of each house.

Special sessions may be called by the Governor or by joint action of the presiding officers of the two houses (the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House). In addition, a special session may be convened by a three-fifths vote of all legislators, the poll being conducted by mail by the Secretary of State upon a written request from at least 20% of the members.

Compensation:

The legislative salary is approximately $30K.

The Governor’s salary is approximately $130K.

The football coaches for Florida State and the University of Florida have packages worth approximately $2 million/year.

Voters:

(At the time of the Presidential primary)

10,203,112 registered voters.

4,137,067 Democrats.

3,825,727 Republicans.

2,240,318 Minor party or unaffiliated.

Federal Congressional delegation:

25 Congressional districts (8 Democrats, some of whom can’t remember that)

The senior Senator (Bill Nelson) claims to be a Democrat, and the junior Senator is a Republican.