Bill Rufty
A third Republican and likely to be the fourth candidate overall seeking the vacant Florida House District 41 next year filed his qualification papers Tuesday.
Retired 2nd District Court of Appeal Judge Charlie Davis filed to run as a Republican for the east Polk County House seat that will be left vacant by Rep. John Wood, a Winter Haven Republican, in 2016 when he reaches his eight-year term limit.
Davis, 67, spent 32 years on the bench as a Polk County judge, a 10th Judicial Circuit judge and was appointed by then-Gov. Jeb Bush in 1999 to the appellate court he retired from in February.
Davis, a Winter Haven native, received a bachelor’s degree from Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tenn., in history in 1970 and master’s degree in history from the University of Cincinnati in 1971. After two years of teaching, he studied for his law degree at the University of Florida, graduating in 1975.
In 1976, he was elected to the Winter Haven City Commission and elected mayor in 1978. He was elected county judge in 1982 and circuit judge in 1984.
House District 41 is proving to be very popular among would-be candidates because it will be the only open Polk County-anchored legislative seat next year.
Already Republican fundraiser and activist Sam Killebrew and Polk County Commissioner Ed Smith have filed to run in a Republican primary next year before being joined by Davis Tuesday.
Retired Circuit Judge Bob Doyel, a Democrat, has said he also will run for the seat.
