Robert Milner "Rob" Bradley, Jr. (born August 24, 1970 in

Green Cove Springs, Florida Green Cove Springs is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,378 at the 2000 census. As of 2010, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 6,908. The city is named after the portio ...

) 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 ...

politician from

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 ...

. He served as a member of 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 ...

, representing parts of

North Central Florida North Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida which comprises the north-central part of the state and encompasses the North Florida counties of Alachua, Marion, Putnam, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafa ...

from 2012 until he was term-limited in 2020.

History

Bradley graduated from 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 ...

with a degree in telecommunications in 1992, and again with a Juris Doctor in 1996. Upon graduating from law school, he worked as an assistant state attorney in the Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida until 1998, and then worked as a special magistrate for

Green Cove Springs Green Cove Springs is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,378 at the 2000 census. As of 2010, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 6,908. The city is named after the porti ...

. In 2007, Bradley was appointed to the Clay County Commission by then-Governor Charlie Crist following the resignation of previous County Commissioner John E. Thrasher. He was re-elected in 2008 against write-in opposition, winning 96% of the vote. From 2009 to 2012, he served on the

St. Johns River State College St. Johns River State College is a public college in Northeast Florida with campuses in Palatka, St. Augustine, and Orange Park. Founded in 1958 (for organizational purposes) as St. Johns River Junior College, it is part of the Florida Colleg ...

Board of Trustees, and currently works as the managing partner of Kopelousos, Bradley & Garrison, P.A., a law firm in Orange Park, Florida.

Florida Senate

When the state's legislative districts were redrawn in 2012, Bradley opted to run in the newly created 7th District, and won the

primary unopposed. Advancing to the general election, he was opposed by Will Mazzota, the Democratic nominee and a

student who had his filing fee paid for by the

Florida Democratic Party The Florida Democratic Party (FDP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Florida, headquartered in Tallahassee. Former mayor of Miami Manny Diaz Sr. is the current chair. Andrew Jackson, the first territorial governo ...

. Though the race was built up as a "Clay-vs.-Alachua County race," Bradley ended up defeating Mazzota with ease, winning 58% of the vote to Mazzota's 42%. In hindsight, Mazzota noted, "I think I put as much effort into it as I could have as a student and I'm proud of what I did," and Bradley pledged to focus on creating jobs and improving education in the legislature. During the 2014 legislative session, Bradley was one of the three main Senate sponsors of legislation that allowed "severely epileptic children to seek relief legally by ingesting nonsmokable, low-THC medical marijuana." He noted that although he was opposed to legalizing marijuana, he was fully committed to helping "the desperate parents" of the children who have tried everything else. After court-ordered redistricting, Bradley was redistricted in 2016 to the reconfigured 5th district. He was elected to that district, which encompasses Baker, Bradford,

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, Columbia,

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas shift over the years), or the extent of the area it cover ...

, Gilchrist,

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

Levy Levy, Lévy or Levies may refer to: People * Levy (surname), people with the surname Levy or Lévy * Levy Adcock (born 1988), American football player * Levy Barent Cohen (1747–1808), Dutch-born British financier and community worker * Levy ...

, Suwannee, and

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

Counties, and part of western Marion County.

External links

Florida State Senate - Rob BradleyBradley for Senate

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Rob Republican Party Florida state senators 1970 births Living people People from Green Cove Springs, Florida University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications alumni Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni 21st-century American politicians 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers