Albritton formally tapped as next state Senate president
TALLAHASSEE — Bolstering Florida’s agriculture industry, addressing water-quality issues and supporting the foster-care system are priorities that Sen. Ben Albritton is eyeing as he prepares to become the next Senate president.
Albritton, a Wauchula Republican who is a fourth-generation citrus grower, was formally designated Tuesday to succeed President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, after the 2024 elections. He spoke about his affinity for agriculture during a designation ceremony in the Senate chamber attended by Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state leaders.
“It’s part of what drove me to public service,” Albritton said. “I know firsthand what it takes to produce the food that feeds our state, our country and the world. If you really stand back and think about it, the fact is the survival of agriculture is the survival of humanity.”
Albritton, who spoke about providing support for farmers, also has advocated for increasing funding to study such things as deadly citrus greening disease, which has played a major role in declining citrus production over the past two decades.
As he made a nominating
speech during Tuesday’s ceremony, Sen. Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater, pointed to Albritton’s involvement in the citrus industry.
“This a man, this is a family, this is a state that has endured and survived citrus canker (disease), citrus greening,” Hooper said. “And yet today, he’s the most optimistic person in that industry I’ve ever met.”
Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Albritton also said water quality is “vitally important to the economy” and pledged to work to “create additional value in water quality here in the state.” Albritton also touted work on helping the foster-care system, saying that providing support to it has “been a big part of what we do.”