Daniel Webster (Florida politician)
Encyclopedia
Daniel A. "Dan" Webster is the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 U.S. Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 for central , serving since January 3, 2011. He defeated the incumbent Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, Alan Grayson
Alan Grayson
Alan Mark Grayson is a former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2009 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party and loves cookies. After losing the election he moved to Austin to start stand-up comedy and a cookie business. The district Grayson represented lies in central Florida...

, by an 18 percent margin in the November 2010 election. Previously, Webster served 28 years in the Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 state legislature. First elected in 1980, he rose up the ranks to become Speaker
Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives
The Speaker is the presiding member of the Florida House of Representatives...

 of the Florida House of Representatives
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 House is composed of 120 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 156,677.The House convenes at...

, then Majority leader of the Florida Senate
Florida Senate
The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The Senate is composed of 40 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 470,032....

 and chairman of the Florida Senate Judiciary Committee. He retired in 2008 due to term limits.

After receiving his engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...

, he worked in the family air conditioning and heating business that he now owns and operates. He has been a resident of Florida since the age of seven and resides in Winter Park
Winter Park, Florida
Winter Park is a suburban city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 24,090 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 estimates, the city had a population of 28,083. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area...

.

Early life, education, and business career

Webster was born in Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...

 and raised in Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...

 where his family moved when Webster was seven, upon a doctor's recommendation that a change of climate might cure Webster's sinus problems. He is a distant relative of the antebellum politician and orator Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster was a leading American statesman and senator from Massachusetts during the period leading up to the Civil War. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...

.

He attended the Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...

, where he was student government chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...

 from 1970 to 1971 and a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon
Tau Kappa Epsilon
Tau Kappa Epsilon is a college fraternity founded on January 10, 1899 at Illinois Wesleyan University with chapters in the United States, and Canada, and affiliation with a German fraternity system known as the Corps of the Weinheimer Senioren Convent...

 fraternity. He graduated in 1971 with a Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 degree in electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...

. Upon graduation, Webster's Vietnam war era student deferment expired and he became eligible for conscription
Conscription in the United States
Conscription in the United States has been employed several times, usually during war but also during the nominal peace of the Cold War...

 into the U.S. military. He was not drafted, however, because he failed the physical exam due to lifelong foot problems which prevent him from standing for long periods of time.

Since college Webster has worked in the family air conditioning and heating business; he presently owns and operates it. Webster lives in Winter Park, Florida
Winter Park, Florida
Winter Park is a suburban city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 24,090 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 estimates, the city had a population of 28,083. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area...

.

Florida legislature

Webster served 28 years in the state legislature in Tallahassee becoming the longest serving legislator in Florida history. During that time, he rose to become Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives
Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives
The Speaker is the presiding member of the Florida House of Representatives...

 and Florida Senate
Florida Senate
The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The Senate is composed of 40 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 470,032....

 majority leader, and left the legislature only after reaching the legal term limits. He ran unopposed in all of his elections for the state legislature except for the first three; 1980, 1982, and 1984.

Florida House

Webster was first elected to the Florida House of Representatives
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 House is composed of 120 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 156,677.The House convenes at...

 in 1980. There, he served as Minority Floor Leader, and then Minority Whip. In 1984, he defeated former State Representative Dick Batchelor. In 1996, when the Republicans gained a majority in the House, Webster became the first Republican Speaker of the Florida House in 122 years. He remained Speaker until 1998 when term limit
Term limit
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to curb the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for...

s made him ineligible to run for re-election to the state House.

Florida Senate

He ran unopposed for the Florida Senate
Florida Senate
The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The Senate is composed of 40 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 470,032....

 in the ninth district in five elections. He served until reaching the term limit
Term limit
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to curb the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for...

 in 2008. In 2002, he unsuccessfully tried for the position of Senate President. From 2006 to 2008, he served as Senate Majority Leader. He also chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Political positions and votes

Webster's main platform in the 2010 election was a call for smaller, streamlined government, spending cuts, budget roll backs, and tax cuts. He also said he will increase the protection of personal rights and encourage financial responsibility in the federal government. Webster predicted that if Republicans took back Congress in November, "we would have the opportunity for turning this country around." His record as a state lawmaker showed him taking the following positions.

Education

Webster's first bill to become law was the 1985 Home Education Program Act which legalized homeschooling in Florida. He considers it his most significant legislation. He homeschooled his six children, remains a homeschooling advocate, and a member of a non-denominational Christian organization that promotes homeschooling, the Institute in Basic Life Principles
Institute in Basic Life Principles
The Institute in Basic Life Principles is a non-denominational, Christian organization in Oak Brook, Illinois that serves as an umbrella organization for several ministries. IBLP was established by Bill Gothard for the purpose of resolving youth and family conflicts...

 While Speaker of the House in 1997, Webster insisted that legislation providing funding to schools must balance the needs of all school districts and not raise any new taxes. He agreed to a school construction plan funded by borrowing up of to 2.5 billion in bonds, though he thought the crowding problem was being exaggerated for political purposes. He also sponsored 1998 legislation to improve and streamline pre-kindergarten education and provide training for parents who would be homeschooling their children.

In 2007, Webster attached an amendment to a bill for steroid testing of high school athletes that would have created an oversight body for private school athletes separate from the Florida High School Athletic Association
Florida High School Athletic Association
The Florida High School Athletic Association is an organization whose purpose is to organize sports competition for high school It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations ....

. He said the provision was in response to complaints from private schools that had been singled out for recruiting violations.

Marriage

In 1990, Webster sponsored and supported legislation in Florida introducing the policy of "covenant marriage". This would make divorce between even two consenting individuals much harder, except in cases of infidelity.

Pro-life issues

In 2008 Webster sponsored SB 2400 in the Florida Senate requiring that all women planning to undergo an abortion receive an ultrasound
Ultrasound
Ultrasound is cyclic sound pressure with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is thus not separated from "normal" sound based on differences in physical properties, only the fact that humans cannot hear it. Although this limit varies from person to person, it is...

, but giving them a choice of whether to see the live images of the fetus. He argued that it would give women more medical information prior to receiving an abortion, and said if that changed some women's minds, it would make him happy. Opponents said the measure would be an invasion of privacy. The bill did not pass the Senate at that time, but later became law. He also sponsored a law that would have required minors to notify their legal guardians before receiving an abortion. It has been alleged that Webster does not believe in the right to have an abortion following rape or incest. When questioned by a reporter on the topic, Webster declines to comment. He eventually stated that this was an issue being used to distract from his real issue which was that "Washington is broken."

Webster was a central figure in the Terri Schiavo case
Terri Schiavo case
The Terri Schiavo case was a legal battle in the United States between the legal guardians and the parents of Teresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo that lasted from 1998 to 2005...

 which involved a dispute between relatives on whether to remove the feeding tube
Feeding tube
A feeding tube is a medical device used to provide nutrition to patients who cannot obtain nutrition by swallowing. The state of being fed by a feeding tube is called gavage, enteral feeding or tube feeding...

 of an unconscious woman who had been in a persistent vegetative state
Persistent vegetative state
A persistent vegetative state is a disorder of consciousness in which patients with severe brain damage are in a state of partial arousal rather than true awareness. It is a diagnosis of some uncertainty in that it deals with a syndrome. After four weeks in a vegetative state , the patient is...

 for years. In March 2005, he introduced SB 804 that would have prohibited such patients from being denied food and water if family members disagreed on the patient's wishes and if the patient had not expressed his wishes in writing when competent. The bill failed to pass the Senate by three votes.

1980

Webster first decided to run for the Florida House in 1979 at the age of 30. He had been working on a project with his church to convert a residential house into a place for Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...

 to be conducted. When the Orange County
Orange County, Florida
Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida and is part of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area . As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 1,145,956....

 commissioners rejected the church's request for a zoning exception, Webster investigated and found that the county commission had rejected every zoning exemption request brought before them by a church or religious organization. Seeking to rectify what he thought an injustice, Webster decided to run for public office after finding no politician who shared his displeasure with local and statewide government. He faced an incumbent Democrat and was considered an underdog; the race came down to one precinct, Webster's own Pine Hills
Pine Hills, Florida
Pine Hills is a census-designated place and an unincorporated area of Orange County, Florida, United States . It is part of the Greater Orlando metropolitan statistical area. The population was 41,764 at the 2000 census. In 2007, the population was estimated to be 49,222...

, which he won along with the race.

2004 US Senate campaign

Webster briefly ran for the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 in 2004 when he attempted to collect the 93,000 signatures necessary to place his name on the ballot without paying the filing fee. Webster claimed that he sought to be the first Senate candidate to ever qualify using this method as both a symbolic gesture and a way to build an early network of voters. Webster eventually qualified by paying the fee instead, and later dropped out of the race.

2009 US Senate vacancy

When Mel Martinez
Mel Martinez
Melquíades Rafael Martínez Ruiz, usually known as Mel Martinez , is a former United States Senator from Florida and served as Chairman of the Republican Party from November 2006 until October 19, 2007, the first Latino to serve as chairman of a major party...

 resigned from the United States Senate, it fell upon Governor Charlie Crist
Charlie Crist
Charles Joseph "Charlie" Crist, Jr. is an American politician who was the 44th Governor of Florida. Prior to his election as governor, Crist previously served as Florida State Senator, Education Commissioner, and Attorney General...

 to name a replacement to finish out his Senate term. Webster was floated early on as one of seven potential candidates for the position. In the end, George LeMieux
George LeMieux
George Stephen LeMieux is a former United States Senator from Florida. He was Chairman of the Florida-based law firm of Gunster Yoakley & Stewart, P.A. and served as Chief of Staff to Governor Charlie Crist, was former Deputy Florida Attorney General, and is credited with spearheading Crist's...

 was selected for the position.

2010 US House campaign

Webster rejected early suggestions by several leaders in the Republican Party of Florida
Republican Party of Florida
The Republican Party of Florida is the official organization for Republicans in the state of Florida.-History:Florida politics was largely dominated by the Democrats until Richard Nixon's Southern Strategy, which took advantage of white objections to the advances of the American Civil Rights...

 that he run to represent Florida's 8th congressional district
Florida's 8th congressional district
Florida's 8th congressional district lies in central Florida. The district takes in parts of Orange County, Lake County, Marion County and Osceola County. Most of Orlando is in the district, including Walt Disney World...

 in the U.S. House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

, but in April 2010, he changed his mind and entered the race. Webster's name recognition and an endorsement from former Governor of Florida Jeb Bush
Jeb Bush
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush; the younger brother of former President George W...

 quickly turned him into the race front-runner. He was further aided by a late endorsement and campaign rally from former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...

. On August 24, 2010, Webster defeated six other candidates in the Republican primary winning nomination with forty percent of the vote, while the runner-up received twenty-three percent. Webster was named one of fifty-two "Young Guns" of the National Republican Congressional Committee
National Republican Congressional Committee
The National Republican Congressional Committee is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives....

's Young Guns Program, those the Republican Party viewed as serious contenders in their races.

The campaign featured ads by opponent Grayson that attacked Webster's conservative religious views on marriage and abortion and as well as attack ads against Grayson that were financed by Americans for Prosperity and the 60-Plus Association.

On November 2, 2010, Webster won the seat by a 56% to 38% margin. Three other candidates were on the ballot: Independent George Metcalfe, Florida Whig Party
Florida Whig Party
The Florida Whig Party is a registered political party in the state of Florida. In 2008, the party aligned itself with the Modern Whig Party, a national organization of about 30,000 members initially founded by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans as a "comeback" of the historic Whig Party.However, the...

 candidate Steve Gerritzen, and Peg Dunmire of the Florida TEA Party.

Awards and recognition

During his tenure as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, Webster received recognition and awards from a number of organizations, including the
American Heart Association for support of AHA priority issues (1996), the Board of Regents Legislative Award (1995), the Florida Association of State Troopers Leadership Award for Excellence in Legislative Leadership (1996), the Florida Banking Association Award (1995), the Florida Chamber of Commerce
Florida Chamber of Commerce
The Florida Chamber of Commerce is an organization devoted to the advocacy of private businesses in the state of Florida.This Chamber originated in 1912, and included its first continuing group in 1916, the Florida Tick Eradication Committee...

 Legislator of the Year (1995), the Florida Farm Bureau Legislative Award (1995), the Florida Hotel and Motel Association Special Recognition Award (1995), the Florida League of Cities Quality Floridian (1995), the Florida Medical Association recognition award (1996), and the Republican Party of Florida Statesman of the Year award (1995). In 2006, while Majority Leader of the Florida Senate, he received the Florida Family Council Award (2006).

The Florida Department of Transportation
Florida Department of Transportation
The Florida Department of Transportation is a decentralized agency charged with the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of public transportation in the state of Florida. The department was formed in 1969. It absorbed the powers of the Florida State Road Department...

 Turnpike District Headquarters was named the "Senator Daniel Webster Building" in 2008 and in 2005 Florida State Road 429 was designated the "Daniel Webster Western Beltway". In addition, the largest committee room in the Florida House was named "Speaker Daniel Webster Hall" in his honor in 2008.

Personal life

Webster is a Southern Baptist and attends First Baptist Church of Central Florida. He is on the University of Central Florida
University of Central Florida
The University of Central Florida, commonly referred to as UCF, is a metropolitan public research university located in Orlando, Florida, United States...

 board of trustees. He is married and has six children and five grandchildren.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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