Jeffrey Hardee Atwater (born April 8, 1958) is an American financier who served as the 3rd

Chief Financial Officer of Florida The chief financial officer of Florida is an elected statewide constitutional officer of Florida. The office was created in 2002 following the 1998 reforms of the Florida Cabinet. The CFO is a combination of the former offices of comptroller and ...

from 2011 to 2017, and currently serves as Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Chief Financial Officer at

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Fort Pierce. FAU belongs to the 12-ca ...

. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Biography

Atwater moved to Florida at the age of four and grew up in

North Palm Beach, Florida North Palm Beach is an incorporated village in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami Metropolitan Area. The population was 13,162 at the 2020 census. The village won an award from the National Association of Home Buil ...

, where his father, a veteran

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

pilot and

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

agent, served as police chief. He went on to gain substantial experience in banking, and was elected to the North Palm Beach Village Council in 1993. Later, he served as chairman, president, and CEO of the

Barnett Bank Barnett Bank was an American bank based in Florida. Founded in 1877, it eventually became the largest commercial bank in Florida with over 600 offices and $41.2 billion in deposits. Barnett was purchased by NationsBank in 1997.Ginzl, David: "T ...

Broward County Broward County ( , ) is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with over 1.94 m ...

and the

Treasure Coast The Treasure Coast is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is located on Florida's East Coast, bordering the Atlantic Ocean and comprising Indian River, Martin, and St. Lucie counties. The region, whose name refers to the Spanish Treasure ...

, and later as market president of Riverside National Bank for Broward and

Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county located in the southeastern part of Florida and lies directly north of Broward County and Miami-Dade County. The county had a population of 1,492,191 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous county ...

. In 2000, Atwater ran for the Florida House of Representatives from the 83rd District, defeating Democratic nominee Pam Dunston and

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Michael I. Danchuk. After just two years in the House, he ran 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 ...

from the 25th District, which included Palm Beach and Broward counties. Unopposed in the primary election, Atwater faced off against long-serving Democratic

Attorney General of Florida The Florida attorney general is an elected cabinet official in the U.S. state of Florida. The attorney general serves as the chief legal officer of the state and is head of the Florida Department of Legal Affairs. The office is one of Florida's t ...

Bob Butterworth Robert A. Butterworth Jr. (born August 20, 1942) is an American attorney and politician from the U.S. state of Florida. Early life and career Butterworth was born in Passaic, New Jersey, and moved to Florida with his family as a child. He re ...

in the general election, and, aided by then-Governor

Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush ...

's strong performance that year, defeated Butterworth by a solid margin. He was re-elected in 2004 with no opposition, and again in 2008, when he defeated Democrat Linda Bird, a realtor. From 2008 to 2010, he was President of the Florida Senate. Following the decision by then-Chief Financial Officer

Alex Sink Adelaide Alexander Sink (born June 5, 1948) is an American politician and financier. A member of the Democratic Party, Sink was the Chief Financial Officer for the state of Florida and treasurer on the board of trustees of the Florida State Bo ...

to run for governor rather than seek re-election, Atwater jumped into the race to succeed Sink. In the general election, Atwater faced off against former State Representative

Loranne Ausley Loranne Ausley (born October 16, 1963) is an American attorney and Democratic politician from Tallahassee, Florida. She served as a member of the Florida Senate from 2020 until her defeat in 2022, representing Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, ...

, whom he defeated by 18 percentage points. Though considered as a frontrunner, in April 2015, he declined to run for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

seat that incumbent Marco Rubio was expected to vacate before the

2016 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2016. Africa Benin Republic * 2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 1 ...

to run for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

. In 2017, it was announced that Atwater would be resigning from his position as Chief Financial Officer of Florida to become Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Chief Financial Officer at

Electoral history

References

External links

Profile: Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey H. Atwater
myfloridacfo.com; accessed February 15, 2015.
Project Vote Smart - Senator Jeffrey H. Atwater profile
votesmart.org; accessed February 15, 2015. * ''Follow the Money'' - Jeffrey H. Atwater *
2006200420022000
campaign contributions
Florida House of Representatives - Jeff Atwater

Florida Senate - Jeff Atwater
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Atwater, Jeff 1958 births 21st-century American politicians Chief Financial Officers of Florida Republican Party Florida state senators Living people Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives Politicians from St. Louis People from North Palm Beach, Florida Presidents of the Florida Senate Warrington College of Business alumni Florida Atlantic University people