Edwin "Ed" Aubron Narain (born September 8, 1976) is an American Democratic politician who served as a member of 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 61st District, which includes West and East Tampa, Progress Village, Sulphur Springs and the University parts of

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

in Central and Northern Hillsborough County, from 2014-2016.

History

Narain was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and later moved to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, where he grew up in

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

. In 1994, he moved to Tampa to attend the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

, where he served as the President of the Student Body from 1997 to 1998. Narain later received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in psychology from Saint Leo University, where he also received his

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 ...

in 2009. Narain works for

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

a Assistant Vice President and serves as a member of the Children's Board of Hillsborough County, the Tampa Bay Chamber, and the Tampa Economic Development Council. In 2013, he graduated from the Stetson University College of Law with his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

and received the Dean's Award.

Florida House of Representatives

In 2014, incumbent

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

Betty Reed Betty Reed (May 5, 1941 – May 20, 2022) was a Democratic politician who served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 to 2014, representing the 59th District from 2006 to 2012 and the 61st District, which included down ...

was unable to seek re-election due to term limits, so Narain ran to succeed her. He faced Sharon Carter, Tatiana Denson and

Sean Shaw Sean Michael Shaw (born March 17, 1978) is an American attorney and politician from the State of Florida. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Florida House of Representatives District 61, which includes portions of Hillsborough Co ...

in the Democratic primary, which largely became a contest between Narain and the well funded Shaw. Shaw earned the endorsement of former Governor

Charlie Crist Charles Joseph Crist Jr. (; born July 24, 1956) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 and as the U.S. representative for from 2017 to 2022. Crist has been a member of the Democratic ...

, former Congressman Jim Davis, former Chief Financial Officer of Florida Alex Sink, State Sen. Arthenia Joyner and a number of state legislators, while Narain earned the endorsement of Reed, former Senate and House Minority Leader, Commissioner Lesley "Les" Miller, Former Senator James "Jim" T. Hargrett, former County Commissioner Thomas Scott, retired School board member Doris Ross-Reddick and former City Councilwoman Gwendolyn Miller. Narain was endorsed by the Florida Sentinel Bulletin and the ''

Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single y ...

'', which asserted that his "firm grasp of local concerns, sustained volunteerism and deep community roots reflect a commitment to the district that would translate well in Tallahassee," while Shaw was endorsed by the ''

Tampa Tribune ''The Tampa Tribune'' was a daily newspaper published in Tampa, Florida. Along with the competing ''Tampa Bay Times'', the ''Tampa Tribune'' was one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area. The newspaper also published a ''St. Pe ...

''. Ultimately, Narain defeated Shaw, receiving 42% of the vote to Shaw's 34%. In the general election, he faced only write-in opposition and won with 98% of the vote.

References

External links

Florida House of Representatives - Ed NarainEd Narain for State Representative
{{DEFAULTSORT:Narain, Ed Saint Leo University alumni Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives 1976 births Living people University of South Florida alumni Stetson University College of Law alumni Politicians from New York City Politicians from Fort Lauderdale, Florida