Lee, a 50-year-old Republican, held off Democratic challenger Elizabeth Belcher, taking around 55 percent of votes cast in the Senate District 24 race.

“We’re very pleased with the outcome,” said Lee, adding that he and fellow county Republicans were nonetheless having a “considerable amount of consternation,” however, about the results of other races.

A Brandon home builder, Lee served as a state senator from 1996 to 2006 and was best remembered for insisting that lobbyists be forced to disclose how much money they make and for banning lobbyists from buying meals and gifts for legislators. He was Senate president during his last two years.

Belcher, 62, was making her first run for political office. She is a retired criminal investigator for the Internal Revenue Service. A community activist, Belcher had put ethics reform and accountability at the top of her to-do list.

Early voting results showed Lee ahead only by a small margin. But in the end, Belcher could not match Lee, who had name recognition and high-profile endorsements. He raised nearly $531,000 in the race, compared with Belcher’s $13,725.

Back in August, Lee faced a bruising primary race against fellow Republican Rachel Burgin, a state representative who appealed to social conservatives. That race took a bitter turn when Tallahassee lobbyists and political committees joined in the fray.

Lee defeated Burgin by taking roughly 60 percent of the vote.

Lee faced Democratic challenger Elizabeth Belcher in the general election today for state Senate District 24. Lee garnered 101,967 votes, or 54.10 percent, according to the Florida Division of Elections. Belcher won 45.75 percent of the vote with 86,229 ballots cast in her favor.

Lee served as a state senator from 1996-2006 and is the vice president of Sabal Homes of Florida, according to The Tampa Bay Times. Belcher is a retired IRS criminal investigator.

Results are considered unofficial until they are certified by the state of Florida.

She is very focused on ethics. As a former criminal investigator for the IRS, she feels the Tallahassee money trail is too easily hidden from citizens. Costly projects appear in the State’s budget with no legislator’s name attached. Later, when the public finds out the funding is really to line someone’s pocket, no one will take credit.

She is right, but there is little separation in this issue between her and her opponent. Republican  Tom Lee has worked to reform the ethics of Tallahassee. He knows the problems and used his leadership and a lot of his political capital to try to make it better.

But the Legislature is like an overweight person who is not committed to dieting. There is food hidden under the cushions and since his reform, the House and Senate slunk out at night and found a new place to buy doughnuts.

Tom Lee is a class act. He is smart, knows the issues and is poised to bring leadership to make changes.

His knowledge of the State’s insurance company, Citizens, would be very useful to bring focus to the future of the insurer of last resort.

He knows that the State needs funding to invest in infrastructure and proved his approach to governing is to steer to the middle and avoid the extremes.

We asked if he was aiming to repeat as Senate president. As a very new dad and one who knows how time-consuming the road to the Senate presidency is, he is non-committal, but has not ruled it out.

It is obvious that his reputation will advance him to more powerful committees and leadership positions than a true freshman would receive.

That’s good for our county, school district, port and USF.

La Gaceta confidently endorses Tom Lee for State Senate District 24.

District 24

For 10 years, Tom Lee was a reasonable voice in the Florida Senate, culminating with a two-year turn as president that ended in 2006.

A builder with deep ties to eastern Hills­borough County, Lee was solidly conservative on budget issues but moderate on education, other social policies and growth management. The Republican championed open government, tempered the clout of lobbyists and brought a sense of unity to the county’s legislative delegation.

Lee, 50, still takes a nuanced view on most policy matters. He would improve the business climate by investing in schools, protecting the environment and crafting a more diverse energy strategy. Florida must strike a “healthy balance,” he insists, between promoting growth and protecting its quality of life.

Democrat Elizabeth Belcher, 62, is a retired investigator for the Internal Revenue Service. She opposes tuition vouchers for private schools and the use of tax incentives to attract firms from out of state. Belcher has solid ideas for promoting mass transit and protecting the environment.

Lee, though, has a broader outlook that appeals across partisan lines. His maturity would help wake up a Legislature focused on short-term results. Lee sees a fundamental role for the state in providing a quality education; he also is strong on consumer issues. And Lee’s deep record of community service gives him a solid feel for Brandon, Plant City and FishHawk.

For Florida Senate District 24, the Tampa Bay Times recommends Tom Lee.

In District 24, former Senate President Tom Lee is challenged by Democrat Elizabeth Belcher, who is running for office for the first time.

The district includes Plant City, most of Brandon and eastern Hillsborough, New Tampa and part of Temple Terrace.

Lee, it’s true, had the support of Tallahassee heavyweights during his easy GOP primary victory over state Rep. Rachel Burgin.

But in his 1996-to-2006 stint in the Legislature, Lee proved to be independent and gutsy, earning the enduring enmity of powerful special interests by adopting tight controls on lobbyists.

He has the experience and backbone to curb Tallahassee overreach.

Taxpayers can count on him to be exacting with their money. He had been pushing for more fiscal discipline and planning long before the economic crash.

Lee, 50, championed the adoption of a constitutional amendment that required lawmakers to develop a three-year financial planning process. He also was a consistent supporter of thoughtful tax cuts, and helped Gov. Jeb Bush eliminate the intangible tax that hit Floridians who invested for their retirement.

Yet Lee, a developer, also understands that state and local governments must invest strategically — building roads, expanding ports and protecting the state’s natural beauty — for future success.

Belcher, 62, is a former IRS criminal investigator. Smart and civic-minded, she emphasizes the need for stronger ethics, including requiring that when lawmakers add items to the budget, their names be part of the request to take the mystery out of last-minute appropriations. She understands the needs of small businesses as well as the importance of protecting the environment.

Personable and a good listener, Belcher is qualified, but Lee is much more likely to have the influence and savvy to help bring the Legislature down to earth.

In the state Senate, District 24, The Tampa Tribune endorses Tom Lee.

“You can never doubt Tom Lee’s battle-tested ability to get good things done for the people of Hillsborough County,” Mayor Affronti said. “During his years in the Florida Senate, Tom created jobs here, cut taxes, protected families and helped us improve the quality of life in our community. With Tom Lee in the Senate, I know that Temple Terrace will be well-represented by someone who knows what it means to put his community’s needs and values first, and who will lead with purpose and conviction. That’s the Tom Lee I know, and it’s why I’ve endorsed him for the Florida Senate.”

“Tom Lee and his family have been a fixture in eastern Hillsborough County for years,” Mayor Sparkman said in a statement. “He is a successful business leader, public servant and is the kind of common sense, pro-jobs leader that our community needs in the Florida Senate. Tom has been accessible to city officials and an advocate for the people of Plant City and, once again, he is walking the neighborhoods in Plant City to earn the support of our community. I endorse Tom Lee and can’t wait to work with him as a member of the Florida Senate.”

Republican Tom Lee served as President of the Florida Senate from 2005-2006, where he worked alongside Governor Jeb Bush to deliver comprehensive litigation reform and pass historic improvements to Florida’s campaign finance and government ethics laws. A resident of Hillsborough County for over 40 years and graduate of Hillsborough Community College and the University of Tampa, Tom lives in Brandon with his wife Laurel Moore Lee, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. He is running for the State Senate in District 24, a district that includes the eastern portion of Hillsborough County.

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“As the Chief Prosecutor for the judicial circuit which covers Hillsborough County, I know how important it is to have the support of our elected officials in Tallahassee and to be represented by someone who is committed to providing our law enforcement and judicial system with the resources they need to preserve order and uphold the rule of law. Tom Lee has earned my respect and my endorsement because he has previously honored that commitment while serving us as a State Senator. I am confident that he will do so again if the people of Hillsborough County choose to elect him this year. I am proud to join Sheriff David Gee and other community leaders in supporting Tom Lee. Tom will be a strong supporter of policies that will help our law enforcement community meet their responsibility to keep our streets safe and families secure.”

Republican Tom Lee served as President of the Florida Senate from 2005-2006, where he worked alongside Governor Jeb Bush to deliver comprehensive litigation reform and pass historic improvements to Florida’s campaign finance and government ethics laws. A resident of Hillsborough County for over 40 years and graduate of Hillsborough Community College and the University of Tampa, Tom lives in Brandon with his wife Laurel Moore Lee, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. He is running for the State Senate in District 24, a district that includes the eastern portion of Hillsborough County.

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“An experienced and strong Senator representing Hillsborough County in the Senate will be a great thing for our community and my constituents. I have known Senator Lee since my days on the Tampa City Council. I believe his private-sector business experience added to his conservative record make him the best choice in this race. Job creation is the number one priority for my constituents, and Tom Lee knows what it takes to be the conservative leader we need, because he’s done it before. He’s balanced budgets in his family business, and he’s done it at the state level. He’s helped create jobs back home and he’s helped make Florida a more jobs-friendly state. That’s what makes Tom Lee the right conservative for the job, and I endorse him and look forward to working alongside him as fellow members of the Hillsborough County delegation.”

Republican Tom Lee served as President of the Florida Senate from 2005-2006, where he worked alongside Governor Jeb Bush to deliver comprehensive litigation reform and pass historic improvements to Florida’s campaign finance and government ethics laws. A resident of Hillsborough County for over 40 years and graduate of Hillsborough Community College and the University of Tampa, Tom lives in Brandon with his wife Laurel Moore Lee, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. He is running for the State Senate in District 24, a district that includes the eastern portion of Hillsborough County.

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“As a fellow member of Hillsborough County’s delegation to the Florida Legislature, Tom Lee looked out for the community that he had been part of for decades, and represented this county he loves with distinction. Cutting taxes, reining in spending and strengthening Florida’s world-class business climate were key issues where Tom’s commonsense, solutions oriented approach, inspired by his life in his family business, proved invaluable.

“We need Tom Lee’s locally-grown conservative principles and commonsense leadership to work in Tallahassee again, and that’s why I’m proud to endorse his candidacy for the State Senate.”

Republican Tom Lee served as President of the Florida Senate from 2005-2006, where he worked alongside Governor Jeb Bush to deliver comprehensive litigation reform and pass historic improvements to Florida’s campaign finance and government ethics laws. A resident of Hillsborough County for over 40 years and graduate of Hillsborough Community College and the University of Tampa, Tom lives in Brandon with his wife Laurel Moore Lee, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. He is running for the State Senate in District 24, a district that includes the eastern portion of Hillsborough County.

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“While I served in the Florida House, Tom Lee proved to be an outstanding leader. He never forgot his deep roots in Hillsborough County as a longtime Brandon-area resident. Alongside Jeb Bush and my Speaker Allan Bense, Tom took the reins of a bold, yet commonsense conservative agenda that aimed to improve the quality of life for families and job-creators in his community. He was a solid, homegrown conservative leader then, and he’ll be that same leader again.

“As South Hillsborough County’s Congressman, I know from that experience that if Tom Lee goes to Tallahassee as its next Senator, our constituents will be in the best of hands. I’m excited to see Tom running for Senate, and he has my full endorsement.”

Republican Tom Lee served as President of the Florida Senate from 2005-2006, where he worked alongside Governor Jeb Bush to deliver comprehensive litigation reform and pass historic improvements to Florida’s campaign finance and government ethics laws. A resident of Hillsborough County for over 40 years and graduate of Hillsborough Community College and the University of Tampa, Tom lives in Brandon with his wife Laurel Moore Lee, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. He is running for the State Senate in District 24, a district that includes the eastern portion of Hillsborough County.

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