Halsey Beshears
Halsey Beshears | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 7th district | |
| Assumed office November 20, 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Marti Coley |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 27, 1971 Winter Park, Florida |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Cristin Beshears |
| Children | Grace, Caroline, Suzanne |
| Alma mater | Florida State University (B.S.) University of Florida (M.S.) |
| Profession | Nursery grower |
Halsey Beshears (born November 27, 1971, in Winter Park, Florida) is a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 7th District, which includes Calhoun, Gulf, Lafayette, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor, and Wakulla Counties in the Florida Panhandle, since 2012.
History
Beshears's family moved to Monticello and he graduated from Brookwood School, a private school in Thomasville, Georgia in 1989. He later attended Florida State University and the University of Florida. Since 1997, Beshears has served as an executive at Simpson Nurseries and the President of Total Landscape Supply, which serves wholesale clients across much of the United States.
Florida House of Representatives
Following the reconfiguration of Florida House of Representatives districts in 2012, the 7th District was created, which sprawls across many counties in northern Florida. Beshears opted to run in this district, and defeated Mike Williams, former State Representative Jamey Westbrook, and Don Curtis in the Republican primary, winning 38% of the vote. In the general election, Beshears faced Robert Hill, the Democratic nominee and the former Liberty County Administrator, Clerk of Court, and Public Schools Superintendent. Beshears was criticized by the Tallahassee Democrat for displaying a "marked lack of interest" and they noted that they "just don't get" his popularity within the district.[1] In the end, however, Beshears swamped Hill, winning every county in the district except for Liberty County, which Hill carried comfortably. In 2014, Beshears was re-elected without opposition to his second term.
While serving in the Florida House of Representatives, Beshear proposed legislation to protect "agricultural lands from being subject to double regulations at both the local and state or federal level."[2] When confronted with legislation that would "outlaw all sales of various smoking devices defined as 'drug paraphernalia,'" Beshears took a strong stance against it, declaring, "The government can intrude in any business, and I just completely disagree with that. So if we're going to outlaw smoking paraphernalia, why don't we outlaw spoons, why don't we outlaw aluminum cans, why don't we outlaw anything that is used to smoke?"[3] After a University of Florida study showed that the oyster population in Apalachicola Bay was dwindling, he called for drastic solutions, asserting, "We're going to have to change our harvesting practices there to give [the oysters] the time to grow adequately, to where they can catch up," affirming that the overharvesting of oysters "raped the land."[4]
Beshears was re-elected to his second term in the legislature in 2014 without opposition.
External links
References
- ^ "Our Opinion: State House, District 7". Tallahassee Democrat. October 12, 2012. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
- ^ "Beshears gets his first bill through the house". The News Herald. April 18, 2013. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
- ^ "Bong ban passes state House". The News Herald. April 24, 2013. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
- ^ Beaton, Matthew (April 24, 2013). "Oyster study confirms fishery problems". The News Herald. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
