Lal Spencer Roach, III (born September 2, 1977) is a Republican member of the

Florida Legislature The Florida Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. State of Florida. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article III, Section 1 of the Florida Cons ...

representing the state's 79th House district, which includes part of Lee County.

History

A native of Louisiana, Roach is a veteran of the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

, where he served as a judge advocate general while on deployment in the Middle East. For his military service, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal,

Coast Guard Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

Coast Guard Achievement Medal The Achievement Medal is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. The Achievement Medal was first proposed as a means to recognize outstanding achievement or meritorious service of military personnel who were not eligible to recei ...

, and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. He moved to Florida in 2000. Roach is a Christian.

Education

He graduated from

Edison Community College Edison State Community College is a public community college in Piqua, Ohio. It was established as Ohio's first general and technical college in 1973. The college was named after Thomas Alva Edison. The college's main campus is located in Piqu ...

with an Associate of Arts in 2003, from Florida Gulf Coast University with a Bachelor of Arts in 2005, and from

University of Miami School of Law The University of Miami School of Law (Miami Law or UM Law) is the law school of the University of Miami, a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. Founded in 1926, the University of Miami School of Law is the oldest law school in ...

with a

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 2012.

Florida House of Representatives

Roach defeated Matthew Shawn Miller in the August 28, 2018 Republican primary, winning 58.7% of the vote. In the November 6, 2018 general election, Roach won 58.92% of the vote, defeating Democrat Mark Lipton.

References

Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives Living people 21st-century American politicians Christians from Florida Florida Gulf Coast University alumni University of Miami School of Law alumni 1977 births {{Florida-politician-stub