Charlie Stone (born January 12, 1948) 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 two terms on the Marion County Commission from 2004 to 2012 and four terms in the Florida House of Representatives from 2012 to 2020, representing the 22nd District, which includes

Levy County Levy County is a county located on the Gulf coast and in the northern part of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 42,915. Its county seat is Bronson. History Levy County was created in 1845, after the Seminol ...

and southwestern Marion County.

Early life and career

Stone was born in

Fitzgerald, Georgia Fitzgerald is a city in and the county seat of Ben Hill County in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 9,053. It is the principal city of the Fitzgerald Micropolitan Statistical A ...

, and graduated from Cook High School in

Adel, Georgia The city of Adel is the county seat of Cook County, Georgia, United States, located fifty-two miles (84 km) southeast of Albany. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 5,571. History The original name of the city was Puddlev ...

. He did not attend college, instead moving to Marion County, where he started Stone Petroleum Products, a wholesale distributor of petroleum products in

Ocala Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County within the northern region of Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 63,591, making it the 54th most populated city in Florida. Home to ...

. In 2004, Stone ran for a position on the Marion County Commission from District 5, and he was elected with 55% of the vote over Democratic nominee Mike Sizemore. He was re-elected unopposed in 2008, and served as the Chairman of the Commission during his final term.

Florida House of Representatives

In 2012, following the reconfiguration of the Florida House of Representatives districts, Stone opted to run in the newly created 22nd District. Though he had already decided not to seek a third term on the County Commission and imagined that he would retire from politics altogether, the fact that the newly created district was a natural fit for him prompted him to run for the legislature, noting, "I anticipated riding off into the sunset and doing whatever in the community I was going to do," but that the new district was "my backyard." Stone won the nomination of the Republican Party uncontested, and had no opponent in the general election either, and was thus elected to his first term in the House unopposed. In 2014, Stone was re-elected to his second term in the legislature without opposition. While in the legislature, Stone joined with State Senator Dorothy Hukill to sponsor legislation that would authorize a "tax break for indoor agriculture" and "incorporate 'indoor agricultural enterprises' into the list of industries that are identified by Enterprise Florida as 'high impact.'" Stone was term-limited from the House in 2020, after serving four terms. In 2023, after incumbent representative Joe Harding resigned after being indicted for wire fraud and money laundering, Stone ran in the ensuing special election, but finished third in the Republican primary.

References

External links

Florida House of Representatives - Charlie StoneStone for State House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Charlie 1948 births Living people Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives 21st-century American legislators People from Fitzgerald, Georgia People from Marion County, Florida County commissioners in Florida 21st-century Florida politicians