Denise Grimsley (born September 21, 1959) is a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the

Florida State Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted in ...

, representing parts of

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and

Southwest Florida Southwest Florida is the region along the southwest Gulf coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is known for its beaches, subtropical landscape, and winter resort economy. Definitions of the region vary, though its boundaries are generally ...

since 2012. She has represented the 26th district, which includes

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, Okeechobee, Glades, DeSoto, Hardee, southern

Polk Polk may refer to: People * James K. Polk, 11th president of the United States * Polk (name), other people with the name Places *Polk (CTA), a train station in Chicago, Illinois * Polk, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Polk, Missouri ...

, eastern

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, and northern Lee Counties, since 2016, after being redistricted from the 21st district. She previously served four terms in the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

, representing the Highlands County-based 77th district from 2004 to 2012.

Early life and career

Grimsley was born in Lakeland, and attended

Polk Community College Polk State College, formerly Polk Community College, is a public college in Winter Haven, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. The college changed its name from Polk Community College in 2009 to reflect its first Bachelor's degre ...

, where she received her

Associate of Science in Nursing An Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) is a tertiary education nursing degree which typically takes 2–3 years to complete. In the United States, this type of degree is usually awarded by community colleges or similar nursing schools. Some f ...

;

Warner Southern College Warner University is a private Christian university in Lake Wales, Florida. It is affiliated with the Church of God. History Warner Southern College was founded in 1968 by the Southeastern Association of the Church of God in Anderson, In ...

, where she received a degree in organizational management; and the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

, where she received her

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

. When her father fell ill, she took over the family business, and served as the Chairwoman of the Florida Petroleum Markets and Convenience Stores Association, a trade organization.

Florida House of Representatives

In 2004, when incumbent State Representative Joe Spratt was unable to seek re-election due to term limits, Grimsley ran to succeed him in the 77th District, which included northern

Collier County Collier County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 375,752; an increase of 16.9% since the 2010 United States Census. Its county seat is East Naples, where the county offices were moved from Ev ...

, Glades County, Hendry County, and

Highlands County Highlands County is a county located in the Florida Heartland region of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 101,235. Its county seat is Sebring. Highlands County comprises the Sebring-Avon Park, FL Metropolita ...

. She faced attorney Gary Gossett in the

primary, and won the nomination of the ''

Naples Daily News The ''Naples Daily News'' is the main daily newspaper of Naples, Florida, and Collier County. It is owned by Gannett and has a circulation of more than 40,000. It was previously owned by Milwaukee-based Journal Media Group, which was formed by a ...

'', which noted, "She has done her homework and would be an able successor to Joe Spratt" due to her experience in the private sector. Grimsley ended up handily defeated Gossett in the primary, winning with 70% of the vote. Upon winning, Grimsley noted, "Obviously you get into the race to win but when you win by this margin, it's very, very humbling. Now it's time to get to work for the general election." She then faced Pauline New Born, the Democratic nominee, but New Born did not present a significant obstacle to Grimsley, and she won her first term in the legislature in a landslide, with 67% of the vote. Running for re-election in 2006, Grimsley was opposed by Zane Thomas, a county planner and the Democratic nominee. She defeated him in a landslide, winning re-election with 60% of the vote to his 40%. In 2008, she faced former

North Miami North Miami is a suburban city located in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, about north of Miami. The city lies on Biscayne Bay and hosts the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University, and the North Miami campu ...

Mayor Elton Gissendanner, who moved to Lake Placid after facing corruption charges from his tenure as Executive Director of the Florida Department of Natural Resources. Despite Gissendanner's high profile, Grimsley easily defeated him to win re-election, scoring 67% of the vote to his 33%. Grimsley was re-elected without opposition in 2010. During her final term in the legislature, she came under fire for accepting a $10,000 contribution from the Walt Disney Corporation and then working to include a $1.2 million appropriation for a

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bus route from

Orlando International Airport Orlando International Airport is a major public airport located 6 miles (10 km) southeast of Downtown Orlando, Florida. In 2021, it handled 19,618,838 passengers, making it the busiest airport in the state and seventh busiest airport i ...

to Disney's

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

resort. Grimsley, however, disputed that she delivered the project in exchange for the contribution, saying, "I have never discussed these projects with Disney officials. These funds were appropriated by the Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations subcommittee. I trust the subcommittee's judgment that this was a good leverage of tax dollars to facilitate tourism, jobs and infrastructure."

Florida Senate

When Grimsley was prevented from seeking another term in the State House due to term limits, she opted to run for the

Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

in the 21st District. She won the

primary uncontested, and advanced to the general election, where she faced Stacy Anderson McCland, a lawyer and the Democratic nominee. During the campaign, Grimsley defended the practice by the state of raiding trust funds to balance the budget, observing, "Remember, we walked into a budget situation with a $4.6 billion shortfall two years ago — so, yes, we took money from trust funds and we did a series of reductions in every major policy area of the budget. But, in the Transportation Trust Fund, specifically, the money that we swept out of that trust fund into general revenue never stopped an existing project." In the end, Grimsley won over McCland by a solid margin, receiving 57% of the vote to McCland's 43%. Grimsley's district was reconfigured and renumbered after court-ordered redistricting in 2016.

Post-senate career

Grimsley ran in the 2018 Florida Commissioner of Agriculture election, but lost the

nomination to

Matt Caldwell Matthew H. Caldwell (born August 12, 1981) is an American Republican politician and a former member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 79th District, which includes northern Lee County, stretching from Lehigh Acres to N ...

Other

She is one of the founders of

Maggie's List Maggie's List is a United States federal political action committee founded in Florida in 2010 to "raise awareness and funds to increase the number of conservative women elected to federal public office." It is named after Margaret Chase Smith ...

References

External links

Florida State Senate - Denise GrimsleyFlorida House of Representatives - Denise Grimsley
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Grimsley, Denise Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives Republican Party Florida state senators Women state legislators in Florida 1959 births Living people University of Miami Business School alumni Polk State College alumni Warner University alumni 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians People from Lakeland, Florida