Sandra Adams (born December 14, 1956) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for . She is 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 Party ...

. She is a former law enforcement professional who represented District 33 in 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, adopt ...

. On August 14, 2012, she was defeated in her bid for a second term in the Republican primary election by fellow Congressman

John Mica John Luigi Mica (born January 27, 1943) is an American businessman, consultant and Republican politician who represented in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2017. He was defeated by Democrat Stephanie Murphy in the November 8, 201 ...

after being redistricted to the 7th district.

Early life, education and career

Adams was born in

Wyandotte, Michigan Wyandotte ( ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 25,058 at the 2020 census. Wyandotte is located in southeastern Michigan, approximately south of Detroit on the Detroit River, and it is part of the c ...

in 1956, moving to Florida in 1964. She served in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

. In 1985 she became an investigator for the Orange County Sheriff's Office. Over the next couple of years Adams served as Chair of the Orange County Legislative Delegation and is currently the Chair of the Seminole County Legislative Delegation once more. In 2000, she graduated from Columbia College with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in Criminal Justice Administration.

Florida State Legislature

Adams was first elected to the Florida House in 2002. Within her first two years she served as Chair of the Seminole County Legislative Delegation. Adams was the Chair of the Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee, Vice-Chair of the Criminal/Civil Justice Policy Council, Vice-Chair of the Public Safety/Domestic Security Policy Committee, and Vice-Chair of the Select Committee on Seminole Indian Compact Review. She served on two councils: the Full Appropriations Council on General Government and Health Care and the Rules and Calendar Council.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

;2010 Adams challenged Democratic incumbent

Suzanne Kosmas Suzanne M. Kosmas (born February 25, 1944) is the former U.S. Representative for , serving one term from 2009 until 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She previously served in the Florida House of Representatives. Early life, educat ...

for . She filed papers to run in 2009. She defeated Karen Diebel, Tom Garcia, Deon Long and Craig S. Miller in the Republican primary. She was supported by former

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...

Governor and 2008 vice-presidential candidate

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...

. On Election Day, Adams defeated Kosmas, 60%–40%. ;2012 Adams originally represented a district that included much of northern

Brevard County Brevard County ( ) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 606,612, making it the 10th-most populated county in Florida. The official county seat is located in ...

, including

Cape Canaveral , image = cape canaveral.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991 , map = Florida#USA , map_width = 300 , type = Cape , map_caption = Location in Florida , location ...

and the

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 196 ...

, as well as portions of

Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County near the Atlantic coastline, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. Daytona Beach is approximately nort ...

and Orlando. After redistricting, Adams ran in the newly redrawn

Florida's 7th congressional district Florida's 7th congressional district is a congressional district in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. From 2003 to 2013, the district consisted of the suburban area between Orlando and Daytona Beach and included St. August ...

against fellow U.S. Congressman

in the Republican primary. The new 7th was somewhat more compact than the old 24th, covering much of northern Orlando, as well as most of Seminole County. Adams retained 51 percent of her former territory, while Mica retained 42 percent of his former territory. Ultimately, on August 14, 2012, Mica defeated Adams 60%–40%. ;2016 Adams announced her candidacy for the 2016 Republican primary in Florida's 6th congressional district, but she withdrew from the race in January 2016 due to health issues.

Committee assignments

House Committee on Science, Space and Technology The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It has jurisdiction over non-defense federal scientific research and development. More specifically, the committee has complete jurisdic ...

House Judiciary Committee The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, ...

Caucus memberships

Republican Study Committee The Republican Study Committee (RSC) is a study group of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. As of 2021, the Chairman of the RSC is Representative Jim Banks of Indiana. Although the prima ...

* Tea Party Caucus * Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus

Personal life

Adams and her husband reside in New Smyrna Beach. They have three children.

References

External links

Congresswoman Sandy Adams
archive of official U.S. House website
Representative Sandra "Sandy" Adams
''official Florida House of Representatives website''
Sandy Adams for Congress
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Sandy 1956 births Living people American police detectives Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives Women state legislators in Florida Female members of the United States House of Representatives People from Wyandotte, Michigan People from Orange County, Florida United States Air Force airmen Female United States Air Force personnel Columbia College (Missouri) alumni Tea Party movement activists Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians People from Volusia County, Florida