Ralph H. "Pat" Patterson is an American politician and insurance agent. He was 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 ...

and a member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

Biography

Pat Patterson was born on October 12, 1948, in West Palm Beach. Patterson served in the U.S. Navy from 1969 to 1973. He attended

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Florida, Dania Beach, Davie, Florida, Davie, Fort Lauderd ...

, earning a B.A. in education in 1976 and taught in

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

from 1976 to 1978. He earned a Master of Education degree in 1978. Since 1978, Patterson has been an insurance agent.Representative Pat Patterson (FL)
Project Vote Smart. Retrieved on 2008-07-13.

Political career

Patterson was a member of the

Volusia County Volusia County (, ) is located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida, stretching between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the county was home to 553,543 people, an incr ...

Council from 1995 to 1998, serving as Vice Chair in 1996 and chair in 1997. Patterson was first elected to the

in November 1998 for a term of two years. He was defeated for re-election in 2000. He returned to the Florida House in November 2002 and was re-elected in 2004 and 2006."ALL EYES TURN TO FLORIDA AS THE NATION AWAITS TALLY", ''Daytona Beach News-Journal'', November 9, 2000, pp. 04A. "Pat Patterson, R-DeLand, did lose, to Democrat Joyce Cusack."Pat Hatfield,
Economy, mortgage crisis will be key talking points in Patterson-Flynn contest for House seat
", ''DeLand-Deltona Beacon'', July 9, 2008. He was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Community College and Workforce by House Speaker Allan Bense in 2004 and later appointed Chairman of the Committee on Ethics and Elections by House Speaker

Marco Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida Hous ...

in 2006. He represents District 26, which consists of parts of Volusia and Flagler counties.

Personal

He is married to Anne and they are the parents of four children and seven grandchildren.

References

External links

Pat Patterson's Official Florida House PageRepresentative Pat Patterson (FL)
at Project Vote Smart {{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Pat 1948 births Living people People from West Palm Beach, Florida American Presbyterians Businesspeople in insurance Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives People from DeLand, Florida