Don Gaetz

Republican Party

Florida State Senate District 1

Tenure

2024 - Present

Term ends

2028

Years in position

1

Predecessor:Doug Broxson (R)

Prior offices:

Florida State Senate District 1

Years in office: 2012 - 2016

Successor:Doug Broxson (R)

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Florida State Senate District 4

Years in office: 2006 - 2012

Successor:Aaron Bean (R)

Compensation

Base salary

$29,697/year

Per diem

$175/day for a maximum of 60 days.

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Concordia University, 1971

Graduate

Troy State University, 1999

Personal

Birthplace

Rugby, ND

Religion

Lutheran

Profession

Retired healthcare executive

Contact

Official website

Official Facebook

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Don Gaetz (Republican Party) is a member of theFlorida State Senate, representingDistrict 1. He assumed office on November 5, 2024. His current term ends on November 7, 2028.

Gaetz (Republican Party) ran for election to theFlorida State Senate to representDistrict 1. He won in the general election onNovember 5, 2024.

Biography

Don Gaetz was born inRugby, North Dakota. He earned a bachelor's degree in religion and political science from Concordia University in 1971 and a Master's of Public Administration (MPA) from Troy State University in 1999. His professional experience includes co-founding the VITAS Healthcare Corporation and serving as its vice chair from 1984 to 2004. Gaetz served as Town Chair of Seaside, Florida from 1990 to 1991, a member of the Okaloosa School Board from 1994 to 2000, and Superintendent of the Okaloosa County School District from 2000 to 2006.^[1]

Florida Constitution Revision Commission

In February 2017, Gaetz was appointed to theFlorida Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) by Florida State Senate PresidentJoe Negron, aRepublican.^[2]

The Florida Constitution Revision Commission is a 37-member commission provided for in thestate constitution that reviews and proposes changes to theFlorida Constitution.^[3] The CRC refers constitutional amendments directly to the ballot for a public vote.^[4] The commission convenes every 20 years.^[3] Members of the commission travel to different parts of Florida to perform research and receive public testimony before recommending these ballot measures.^[5]

The Constitution Revision Commission of 2017-2018 was composed of 37 members.Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, appointed 15 members of the CRC. President of theFlorida Senate,Joe Negron (R), appointed nine members. Speaker of theFlorida House of Representatives,Richard Corcoran (R) appointed nine members.Jorge Labarga,chief justice of theFlorida Supreme Court, appointed three members.^[6]

Committee assignments

2025-2026

Gaetz was assigned to the following committees:

• Ethics and Elections Committee,Chair
• Finance and Tax Committee
• Health Policy Committee
• Senate Judiciary Committee
• Senate Rules Committee
• Joint Administrative Procedures Committee
• Appropriations Committee on Pre-K - 12 Education
• Fiscal Policy
• Education Pre-K - 12 Committee

2025-2026

Gaetz was assigned to the following committees:

• Ethics and Elections Committee,Chair
• Finance and Tax Committee
• Health Policy Committee
• Senate Judiciary Committee
• Senate Rules Committee
• Joint Administrative Procedures Committee
• Appropriations Committee on Pre-K - 12 Education
• Fiscal Policy
• Education Pre-K - 12 Committee

2015-2016

In the 2015-2016 legislative session, Gaetz served on the following committees:

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Gaetz served on the following committees:

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Gaetz served on the following committees:

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according toBillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2024

See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for Florida State Senate District 1

Don Gaetz defeatedLisa Newell in the general election for Florida State Senate District 1 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Don Gaetz (R)	64.6	187,431
		Lisa Newell (D)	35.4	102,905

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	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 290,336
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled.Lisa Newell advanced from the Democratic primary for Florida State Senate District 1.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled.Don Gaetz advanced from the Republican primary for Florida State Senate District 1.

Campaign finance

Endorsements

2012

See also:Florida State Senate elections, 2012

Gaetz won election in the2012 election forFlorida State Senate District 1. Gaetz ran unopposed in the Republican primary on August 14, 2012, and was unchallenged in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.^[7]

Florida State Senate, District 1, General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Don GaetzIncumbent	74.4%	160,016
	Independent	Richard Harrison	25.6%	55,018
Total Votes				215,034

2010

See also:Florida State Senate elections, 2010

Gaetz won re-election to the 4th District seat in 2010. He did not face any opposition in the August 24 primary. The general election took place onNovember 2, 2010. No Democrats filed to run for theDistrict 4 seat.^[8]

2006

See also:Florida State Senate elections, 2006

On November 7, 2006, Gaetz won election to the 4th District Seat in theFlorida State Senate. Gaetz was unopposed and raised $724,128 for his campaign.^[9]

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also:Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Don Gaetz did not completeBallotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf.Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at theFEC website. Clickhere for more on federal campaign finance law andhere for more on state campaign finance law.

Noteworthy endorsements

2012

See also:Endorsements by state officials of presidential candidates in the 2012 election

Don Gaetz endorsedRick Perry in the 2012 presidential election.^[10]

Scorecards

See also:State legislative scorecards andState legislative scorecards in Florida

Ascorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Florida scorecards, email suggestions toeditor@ballotpedia.org.

2016

2015

2014

2013

Personal

Note: Pleasecontact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Gaetz and his wife, Victoria, have two children.

See also

2024 Elections

What's on the ballot?U.S. PresidentU.S. CongressU.S. Congress special electionsState executivesState legislaturesState courtsBallot measuresMunicipal governmentSchool boardsElection analysis hub

Government

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Newsletters

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External links

Footnotes

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