Jeff Atwater

Jeff Atwater
3rd Chief Financial Officer of Florida
Incumbent
Assumed office January 4, 2011
Governor	Rick Scott
Preceded by	Alex Sink
Member of the Florida Senate from the 25th district
In office November 2002 – November 2010
Preceded by	Burt Saunders
Succeeded by	Ellyn Setnor Bogdanoff
Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 83rd district
In office November 2000 – November 2002
Preceded by	Sharon Merchant
Succeeded by	Carl Domino
Personal details
Born	Jeffrey Hardee Atwater April 8, 1958 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Carole Funkhouser
Children	4
Alma mater	University of Florida

Jeffrey Hardee "Jeff" Atwater (born April 8, 1958) is currently the Republican Chief Financial Officer of Florida.

Atwater moved to Florida at the age of 4 and grew up in North Palm Beach, Florida, where his father, a veteran World War II pilot and FBI agent, served as police chief. He went on to gain substantial experience in banking, and was elected to the North Palm Beach Village Council in 1993. Later, he served as chairman, president, and CEO of the Barnett Bank of Broward County and the Treasure Coast, and later as market president of Riverside National Bank for Palm Beach and Broward counties.

In 2000, Atwater ran for the Florida House of Representatives from the 83rd District, defeating Democratic nominee Pam Dunston and independent Michael I. Danchuk. After just two years in the House, he ran for the Florida Senate from the 25th District, which included Palm Beach and Broward counties. Unopposed in the primary election, Atwater faced off against long-serving Democratic Attorney General of Florida Bob Butterworth in the general election, and, aided by then-Governor Jeb Bush's strong performance that year, defeated Butterworth by a solid margin. He was re-elected in 2004 with no opposition, and again in 2008, when he defeated Democrat Linda Bird, a realtor. From 2008 to 2010, he was the president of the Florida Senate.

Following the decision by then-Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink to run for governor rather than seek re-election, Atwater jumped into the race to succeed Sink. In the general election, Atwater faced off against former State Representative Loranne Ausley, whom he defeated, 57.3 to 38.9.

Though considered as a frontrunner, in April 2015, he declined to run for the US Senate seat Marco Rubio is expected to vacate before the Senate elections, 2016 to run for the US Presidency.^[1] He has since changed his mind, stating that he may run in the upcoming 2016 Senate election. ^[2]

References

1. Marc Caputo: Florida surprise: Jeff Atwater won't run for Marco Rubio seat. In: Politico, 11 April 2015.
2. Jeremy Wallace: In: "Bradenton Herald", 30 September 2015.

External links

• Profile: Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey H. Atwater, myfloridacfo.com; accessed February 15, 2015.
• Project Vote Smart - Senator Jeffrey H. Atwater profile, votesmart.org; accessed February 15, 2015.
• Follow the Money - Jeffrey H. Atwater
  • 2006 2004 2002 2000 campaign contributions