First
elected in 1994 to the Lee Memorial Hospital Board where she
served for four years. She then ran for the Florida House of
Representatives in 1998 where she served for six years, ending
in 2004. Next, she was appointed by Governor Jeb Bush to
serve on his Cabinet as the Secretary of the Department of
Elder Affairs. During that time she was also appointed by
President George W. Bush to serve on his White House Council
on Aging.
In
2006, she left the Department of Elder Affairs and co-founded
Capitol Strategies Consulting, a full service lobbying and
government consulting firm based in Tallahassee, Florida.
During
these years of Public Service she has received numerous awards
and recognitions, but is most proud of being named the 7th
most effective legislator and the number 1 most effective
female legislator by the Miami Herald, and also being the
first woman from Lee County elected to the Florida
Legislature.
She is
a retired Radiation Therapist and spent her professional
career as an administrator for a Radiation Therapy Center in
Peoria, Illinois.
She
and her husband Jack have called Fort Myers home for the past
25 years.
-
Back to Nominations Page -