Ex-state Senate president is resigning two years early
State Sen. Tom Lee, an outspoken and sometimes prickly former president of the Florida Senate, is leaving his seat two years early with an eye to potentially running for local office in Hillsborough County.
Lee, a Thonotosassa Republican married to Secretary of State Laurel Lee, didn’t provide a reason for stepping down in a statement and accompanying letter Friday announcing his resignation effective Nov. 3, which is Election Day.
“It has been the greatest honor of my career serving as a Senator for a total of 18 years and, most recently, representing the citizens of District 20,” wrote Lee, 58, who was president from 2004 to 2006. “I cannot thank them enough for their unwavering support and trusting me to stand up for their interests in Tallahassee. I want to thank my family and friends for their support and dedication throughout the last two decades.”
Lee, who also thanked his staff, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Florida Politics on Thursday reported that Lee was considering a run for Hillsborough County clerk of court.
Incoming Senate President Wilton Simpson, RTrilby, and Majority Leader Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, quickly backed former Rep. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, to replace Lee in the Republican-leaning district, which is made up of parts of Hillsborough, Polk and Pasco counties. Burgess left the House last year to become executive director of the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
“Danny has spent his entire adult life protecting the American people, fighting for Floridians and honoring our commitments to veterans who have bravely served our nation,” Simpson,
who is slated to become president in November, said in a statement.
Qualifying for legislative and Hillsborough County races begins at noon June 8, and the state’s “resignto-run” law requires elected officials seeking other posts to give notice in writing at least 10 days prior to the first day of qualifying. Missing the deadline would require an officeholder to resign immediately.
By following the resignto-run law, Lee noted in a resignation letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, a replacement can be elected “consistent with the 2020 election cycle and avoid the unnecessary expense of an off-cycle election.”
Lee, a vice president of Sabal Homes of Florida, served in the Senate from 1996 to 2006 and returned in 2012. He ran for state chief financial officer in 2006, losing to Democrat Alex Sink.
Before his reelection to the Senate in 2018, he flirted with runs for Congress and again for state chief financial officer. He defeated Democrat Kathy
Lewis by 7 percentage points in his Senate race.
As chairman of the Senate Infrastructure and Security Committee the past two sessions, Lee managed major pieces of legislation for current President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton.
During the 2019 session, for example, Lee successfully sponsored Galvano’s proposal to build multi-use corridors, including new or expanded toll roads, from Collier County to the Georgia border. Lee also has occasionally been at odds with leaders and other members of his party about issues such as insurance and education.
Lee would have faced term limits in 2022. No candidates had opened campaign accounts to run for the seat that year, though the district’s boundaries will change because of a once-a-decade reapportionment process.
Burgess was mayor of Zephyrhills before being elected the first of three times to the House in 2014. He is also an active captain in the U.S. Army Reserve.