Peter Schorsch
To mangle Shakespeare, some people are born into politics, some fall into it, and some have politics thrust upon them. This year’s crew of the “30 Under 30” fall into all those categories.
Take Keaton Alexander, a scion of a political family. She’s the great-granddaughter of Ben Hill Griffin Jr., longtime lawmaker and gubernatorial candidate in the 1970s, and daughter of JD Alexander, a former legislator who rose to chair the Senate’s influential budget panel. She’s now with the Jeb Bush campaign.
There’s Phillip Singleton, who went from living off of savings so he could do an unpaid internship at the Capitol to running his own consulting firm, where he’s known as the “Hip-Hop Lobbyist.”
And Samantha Sexton, who went along with her parents on hurricane relief efforts and coastal cleanups, developing her sense of service. She went on to become a Bob Graham Civic Scholar.
What they all share is a level of accomplishment at a (relatively) early age.
Some may be an arm’s reach from power; others are working behind the scenes, arranging meetings or grinding out research reports.
Many can claim significant campaign or lobbying experience. All can credit one or more mentors who took notice and helped them focus their interests or gave them a break.
FloridaPolitics.com/SaintPetersBlog received more than 2,500 nominations from political veterans, lobbyists, public officials and others for those they see as rising stars on Florida’s political scene.
As always, those nominations were reduced to 30 up-and-comers under the age of 30 who represent different backgrounds, outlooks and walks of life.
So, without further delay, the start of the “30 Under 30” for 2015 continues today at 10 a.m. We’ll reveal five or six names every day …
Fresh faces of the RPOF: Jordan Gibson, Wadi Gaitan, and Clay Barker
