Peter Schorsch
It’s hard to believe that it has been an entire decade since my first “30 under 30 Rising Stars of Florida Politics” list in my first blog, the oh-so-cleverly named SaintPetersblog.com that many readers of this magazine and Florida Politics, and perhaps even many of this year’s honorees, don’t remember or know a thing about.
Indeed, reviewing past lists is sort of like reading a college football team’s roster, with the names on the list all having found themselves on various NFL teams.
YOU CAN READ ABOUT ALL OF THE RISING STARS HERE.
Take Samantha Sexton, for example, now Samantha Greer. She made the list a decade ago and has since gone on to be a strategist for one of the biggest lobbying firms in Florida politics, Corcoran Partners.
Jared Rosenstein landed on the 2015 list, a young campaign staffer who found mentorship in superlobbyist Ron Book. He went on to be a partner in one of the state’s top lobby shops, Capital City Consulting.
Berny Jacques was on that same list. Now he’s a state Representative. Taylor Hatch, now the Director of the Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities, yep, she was there too.
Ten years later we’re looking at a new class, and imaging the possibilities for them in another ten. Some of the state’s newest rising stars are actually working for past honorees, meaning the nominees have become the nominators.
What’s perhaps most wonderful about this list now that it is well-established by the tests of time, is that we see so many dedicated young professionals in The Process who are nominated by multiple people across various sectors. That’s when you know someone really has the chops to be worthy of this recognition.
It serves not just as a head-pat and attaboy, but also a push toward further success. See, the names who land in these pages get a glance from, as the name suggests, some of the top influencers in Florida politics.
But of course no good deed goes unpunished. Jealousy creeps, and it leaves some of our more seasoned pros in The Process wondering why the young bucks get all the attention. Someone once suggested I create a “63 under 63” so they could soak up some of that sweet recognition.
I’m not sure that’s a workable idea, but rest assured that in the next two editions of INFLUENCE we will spotlight accomplishments among others in the Process. Our summer edition will honor the state’s Great Communicators. Our year-end edition will feature our 5th installation of the 150 Most Influential People in Florida Politics.
