Speaker

Jeff Brandes is a lifelong resident of St. Petersburg, a Veteran, and a local businessman. After serving in the Army from 1999 to 2006, he joined his grandfather in the family lumber business. He was first elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2010. He was elected to the Florida Senate in 2012, then reelected in 2014, 2016, and 2018. He has chaired the Senate committee on Transportation, the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism and Economic Development, and currently he serves as chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice. He is nationally recognized as a policy leader in the areas of autonomous vehicles and mobility, flood insurance, and criminal justice reform. Senator Brandes and his wife, Natalie, have four children: Charlotte “Lottie,” Elizabeth “Lizzie,” Colin, and Conor.