J. D. Alexander

JD Alexander moved with his family to Florida in 1961 from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He is the grandson of Ben Hill Griffin Jr., a Florida cracker and a former Florida state senator and Florida state representative.

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JD Alexander served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1998 to 2002.

Alexander was elected to the Florida Senate in November 2002 and was subsequently reelected in 2004 and 2008. Senator Alexander served as Majority Whip for the 2004-2006 term.

Senator Alexander served as the Chair of the Budget Committee and the Joint Legislative Budget Commission. In addition, he served as the Vice-Chair of the Rules Committee and a member on the Agriculture, Banking and Insurance, Budget Subcommittee on Finance and Tax, Budget Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development Appropriations, Education Pre-K – 12, and Rules Subcommittee on Ethics and Elections. Due to term limits, he will leave the senate at the end of the 2012 session, but he is intent on funding two projects in his district. The first is the $34.5 million Heartland Parkway, a proposed toll road that has been delayed for years because there is not enough existing traffic to justify it, and it will cross sensitive environmental land. Alexander's company owns a ranch along the path of the proposed roadway which could benefit from its construction. Other development near the highway would support building the expressway, and Alexander is promoting one such project.{{cite web|last=Van Sickler|first=Michael|title=Road JD Alexander fought for tucked into state budget|date=March 2, 2012|url=https://www.tampabay.com/news/transportation/roads/road-jd-alexander-fought-for-tucked-into-state-budget/1217976/|publisher=Tampa Bay Times|access-date=2012-03-16}}

One of Alexander's major initiatives was the establishment of Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland. Alexander promoted splitting the institution, originally a branch campus of the University of South Florida known as USF Polytechnic, into a separate school in the State University System of Florida. This was controversial in some quarters, as it came during a very tight budget year, and thus the Florida Board of Governors favored a more measured approach.[https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/jd-alexander-is-the-face-of-whats-wrong-with-florida/1218172/ "JD Alexander is the face of what's wrong with Florida"] Tampa Bay Times, March 4, 2012 Alexander advanced a state budget for 2012-2013 that provided $33 million for USF Polytechnic to become an independent institution. The budget included a large cut for the State University System, almost 25% of which came from USF, comprising 58% of its budget. For his part, Alexander sees the establishment of the university as his legacy.{{cite web|last=Pransky |first=Noah |title=USF Budget Cuts |url=http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/238707/8/USF-Budget-Cuts-10-News-fighting-to-SaveUSF |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130209190913/http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/238707/8/USF-Budget-Cuts-10-News-fighting-to-SaveUSF |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 February 2013 |work=10 News fighting to #SaveUSF |publisher=10 News Tampa |access-date=16 February 2012 }}{{cite web|last=Sanders|first=Katie|title=PolitiFact Florida: Understanding the USF budget battle|url=https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/college/politifact-florida-understanding-the-usf-budget-battle/1215662/|publisher=Tampa Bay Tribune|access-date=16 February 2012}}

Alexander was the CEO of Atlantic Blue Group, Inc.—which owns a large amount of rural property in Central Florida—and Alico, Inc.{{cite news|last1=Van Sickler|first1=Michael|title=Road JD Alexander fought for tucked into state budget|url=https://www.tampabay.com/news/transportation/roads/road-jd-alexander-fought-for-tucked-into-state-budget/1217976/|access-date=13 August 2014|work=Saint Petersburg Times|date=1 March 2012}}{{cite web|title=J. Alexander|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/j-alexander-1/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813154923/http://www.forbes.com/profile/j-alexander-1/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 13, 2014|website=Forbes|accessdate=13 August 2014}}

• Polk Farm Bureau Board of Director, President
• Polk Business for World Class Schools, Board of Directors, past Vice Chair
• Vanguard School Board of Trustees
• Florida Citrus Research Advisory Council, past Member & past Chair
• Florida Citrus Production Managers Association, past Board of Directors & past President
• Florida Citrus Research and Education Foundation, Past Board of Directors

Alexander graduated from the University of Florida in 1981 with a B.S. in Agriculture.[http://www.flsenate.gov/senators/s17 "Profile-JD Alexander"] Florida Senate website

Alexander is married to the former Cindy Monroe, and they are the parents of two daughters, Keaton and Britton

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Category:1959 births

Category:American citrus farmers

Category:Farmers from Florida

Category:Republican Party Florida state senators

Category:Living people

Category:Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives

Category:University of Florida College of Agricultural and Life Sciences alumni

Category:People from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

Category:20th-century Florida politicians

Category:21st-century members of the Florida Legislature