David Sholtz

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David Sholtz (October 6, 1891 - March 21, 1953) was the twenty-sixth governor of Florida.

[edit] Early life and Education

Sholtz was born in Brooklyn, New York, and after graduating from Yale in 1914 he went on and earned a law degree from Stetson University Law School. With his law degree, he started a law practice in Daytona Beach, Florida. He married Alice May Agee, with whom he had three children. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War I.

[edit] Political Career

Sholtz entered politics when he became a one-term member of the Florida House of Representatives in 1917. After that, he was a State's Attorney from 1919 to 1921, and he became a city judge in 1921. Taking the oath on January 4, 1933, he became governor during the Great Depression. During his tenure as governor, he established the Florida Parks Service and Citrus Commission, passed a workers' compensation law, mandated free textbooks in public schools, and funded salaries for public school teachers. While in office, he was a strong advocate of governmental restructuring.

After leaving the Governor's Mansion on January 5, 1937, Sholtz unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 1938, losing the Democratic primary to Claude Pepper. He spent most of his time in New York after his term as governor, but he retained his residency in Florida. He died while visiting Key West, Florida in 1953 and is buried in he is buried at the Cedar Hill Memory Gardens in Daytona Beach, Florida.