John G. Wood Jr. (born December 7, 1952) is an American politician who served as 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 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 41st district, which includes Winter Haven and

Haines City Haines City is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Its population was 13,174 at the 2000 census and 20,535 at the 2010 census. It is the third most populous city in Polk County. It is part of the Lakeland– Winter Haven Metropolitan S ...

in northern

Polk County Polk County is the name of twelve counties in the United States, all except two named after president of the United States James Knox Polk: * Polk County, Arkansas * Polk County, Florida * Polk County, Georgia * Polk County, Iowa * Polk Count ...

, from 2012 to 2016, and previously represented the 65th district from 2008 to 2012.

History

Wood was born in Lakeland, and attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, though he did not graduate, instead transferring to

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, where he received a degree in economics in 1974. Following that, he attended the

Florida State University College of Law Florida State University College of Law is the law school of Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. The law school borders the southeast quadrant of the University's campus, near the Donald L. Tucker Center, an arena and part o ...

, receiving 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 ...

in 1977. Wood moved to Winter Haven, where he worked as an attorney and realtor, and founded John Wood Enterprises.

Florida House of Representatives

When 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 ...

Marty Bowen, was unable to seek re-election in 2008 due to term limits, he ran to succeed her in the 65th District, which included parts of northern

and stretched to the county's border with Osceola County. Wood won the

primary unopposed and faced Bob Hagenmaier, the Democratic nominee in the general election. Wood raised significantly more money than did Hagenmaier, who opted to not accept any campaign contributions whatsoever, but only narrowly defeated him by 2,450 votes, winning 52% of the vote to Hagenmaier's 48%. When he ran for re-election in 2008, he only faced

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 ...

candidate Joshua Davis. Wood was reluctantly endorsed by ''

The Ledger ''The Ledger'' is a daily newspaper serving Lakeland, Florida, and the Polk County area. The paper was founded on August 22, 1924, as the ''Lakeland Evening Ledger''. In 1927, it bought its main competitor, the morning ''Lakeland Star-Telegram' ...

'', which noted that despite his unremarkable voting record, he "has the better overview of the legislative landscape." In stark contrast to his narrow win two years prior, Wood defeated Davis comfortably with 67% of the vote. In 2012, when the legislative districts were redrawn, Wood was moved into the 41st District, which contained much of the territory that he had previously represented in the 65th District. Wood was opposed in the

primary by

Tea Party A tea party is a social gathering event held in the afternoon. For centuries, many societies have cherished drinking tea with a company at noon. Tea parties are considered for formal business meetings, social celebrations or just as an afternoon ...

activist John Lindsey, who argued, "John Wood tends to represent the old special interests. He has not passed significant legislation." Lindsey proved no match for Wood, however, who defeated him in a landslide, winning 65% of the vote. Wood then advanced to the general election, where he faced Karen Cooper Welzel, the Democratic nominee. Welzel attacked the incumbent over his support for budget cuts in education, while Wood criticized her for focusing too much on social issues; he argued, "To me, the economy is the number one issue." Despite once again significantly outraising his opponent, Wood only narrowly won re-election, defeating Welzel by fewer than 2,000 votes and with 51% of the vote.

References

External links

Florida House of Representatives – John Wood
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, John 1952 births Living people University of Florida alumni Columbia College (New York) alumni Florida State University College of Law alumni Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives People from Lakeland, Florida Florida lawyers