BRANDON, Fla. – Brandon Republican Tom Lee received the endorsement of former Florida House Speaker and conservative leader Allan Bense.
“I served as Speaker of the Florida House for two years while Tom served as Senate President alongside Governor Jeb Bush. In those years, Tom Lee led the Senate with the honesty, virtue and character that Floridians should expect – and too rarely get – from legislative leaders.
“We look to Washington today and we see dysfunction reign supreme. Dysfunction that is driven by a Congress whose leaders do not respect each other enough to seek common ground. That same dysfunction has played out time and again among politicians who refuse to put egos aside and work together as a team to accomplish great things.
“I never had that problem when working with Tom Lee, because Tom is a determined leader and a fellow businessman who knows that leadership is about solving problems, not talking about them.
“With Tom Lee, I was honored to lead with a man who never let politics or pettiness stop a good conservative idea from becoming a reality. He worked as hard for my effort to end joint-and-several liability as he worked for his own priorities. That’s the mark of a truly great partner in leadership. And in Tom Lee, I was blessed to have that kind of a partner, and to have accomplished great things with him.
“We need more of that kind of leadership in Tallahassee, and that’s why I proudly endorse Tom to represent Hillsborough County once again in the Senate.”
A fellow construction business owner, Allan Bense served as Speaker of the House from 2004-2006 alongside President Lee. Working as a team of reformers, they passed conservative bills like the permanent repeal of the infamous “intangibles tax”, historic lobbying reform, Florida’s parental notification law, and the repeal of the job-killing “joint and several liability” rule in Florida’s tort system.
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. He lives in Brandon with his wife Laurel Moore Lee, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. He is running for State Senate in District 24 in the August 14th Republican primary election, a district that includes the eastern portion of Hillsborough County.
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