Florida Chamber endorses Jimmy Patronis for re-election

The Florida Chamber of Commerce endorsed Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis as he seeks re-election to a second full term.

“Jimmy fought side by side with the Florida Chamber of Commerce to help local businesses reopen quickly,” said Florida Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Mark Wilson. “Through his leadership he helped champion COVID-19 liability protections to protect businesses and health care providers when personal injury trial lawyers sought to use the pandemic for their own personal gain. Jimmy is committed to fiscal accountability as well as protecting Floridians from fraudulent activities that have contributed to rising home insurance rates.”

The support comes as little shock. The Chamber also backed Patronis when he ran in 2018. That came a year after then-Gov. Rick Scott appointed Patronis, a former state Representative to the CFO position after predecessor Jeff Atwater resigned for a position at Florida Atlantic University. During his time as a lawmaker, Patronis earned an ‘A’ grade for eight consecutive years on the organization’s annual Legislative Report Card.

Patronis greeted the endorsement with enthusiasm.

“I’ve had the privilege of working alongside the Chamber as CFO and before that when I served in the Florida House,” he said. “Together, we have implemented policies to protect consumers and grow the economy — even when other states’ businesses were shut down and their people were locked down. While other states froze in fear, we worked hand-in-hand to fight for commonsense COVID-19 liability protections and rallied throughout the state at local restaurants to open back up Florida’s small business. I am grateful for their endorsement and look forward to continuing to work with them to keep our taxes low, our state’s credit rating high, and the job opportunities booming.”

Patronis notably was a small business owner before he was a member of the Florida Cabinet. He and brother Johnny owned Capt. Anderson’s Restaurant in Panama City Beach. A Chamber release noted that background contributed to decisions in the past five years that enabled businesses to grow and compete in Florida.

He has also served on the Public Service Commission, Florida Ethics Commission and Constitution Revision Commission.