Anitere Flores

Anitere Flores
Member of the Florida Senate
from the 38th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
2010
Personal details
Born September 8, 1976 (1976-09-08) (age 35)
Miami, Florida
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Dustin Anderson
Profession Attorney/Director of Community Partnerships for Florida International University
Religion Roman Catholic

Anitere Flores (born September 8, 1976 in Miami, Florida) is a Republican member of the Florida Senate, a body in which she represents the 38th District. Her district of almost 500,000 residents includes Kendall, Westchester, Fontainebleau, and portions of Southwest Miami-Dade County in South Florida. Senator Anitere Flores was sworn in as the State Senator on November 16, 2010. She is the first Republican Hispanic woman to serve in both the Florida House and Senate since 1986.[1]

Contents

Education

Flores graduated from Florida International University in 1997 with a B.A. in Political Science and International Relations. She later received her Juris Doctorate in 2001 from the University of Florida College of Law.

Political career

After law school, Senator Flores was hired by the Florida House of Representatives to work on the Education Council, and later worked for Governor Jeb Bush as his Education Policy Chief. Then in 2004, Flores decided to run for the Florida House of Representatives, District 114.

Florida House of Representatives

Anitere Flores served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2004 to 2010.

Flores was first elected to the Florida House of Representatives to represent District 114, after defeating Carlos A. Manrique in the Republican Primary (55.5% to 18.6%) and Democrat Millie Herrera (64.4% to 35.6%) in the General Election on November 2, 2004.[2]

Flores was then subsequently re-elected with no opposition in 2006 and 2008.

During her career in the Florida House, she served as Deputy Majority Leader for the 2008-2010 term.[3] Also, as State Representative, she served as the Chair of the PreK-12 Appropriations Committee and the PreK-12 Policy Committee.

Florida Senate

In 2010, Flores decided to run for the District 38, State Senate seat that was being vacated by Senator J. Alex Villalobos due to term limits. She went on to defeat David Nelson (nearly 81% to 19%) in the Republican primary[4] and later Democrat, Les Gerson (68.2% to 31.8%) in the General Election on November 2, 2010.[5]

As a member of the Florida Senate, Senator Flores was named Majority Whip[6] while also serving as the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In addition, Senator Flores sits on the Budget Committee, Budget Subcommittee on Education PreK-12 Appropriations, Commerce and Tourism Committee, Communications, Energy, and Public Utilities Committee, Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee, Reapportionment Committee, and Rules Committee.

In 2011, Senator Anitere Flores worked with her colleagues to introduce a Florida style immigration law focusing on ensuring that Florida has a legal workforce and working with the federal government to repatriate undocumented immigrants who have been convicted of crimes and are in jail. These 5,500 individuals cost the state of Florida over $100 million each year to incarcerate.[7]

On April 4, 2011, Flores voted "Yes" on Senate Bill 2040 (Florida's immigration bill) in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which passed with a majority vote with the exception of Senators Arthenia Joyner and Oscar Braynon who voted "No".[8] Many community members in attendance at the hearing were opposed to the bill [9] This vote followed 8 hours of debate in previous committee meetings dedicated to the immigration issue.[10] Senator Flores opposes any Arizone-like immigration bills and reiterated this during an interview in which she said she would not be supportive of "anything like an Arizona-like bill."[11] Her district has a high number of Hispanic voters (71.5%).[12]

Personal life

Prior to being elected a State Representative, she spent two years advocating for university students in her district as Director of State Relations for Florida International University. She continues working for Florida International University to promote the university’s civic and community partnerships, by serving as the Director of Community Partnerships.

Community and Civic Participation

Family

Senator Flores is married to Dustin Anderson of Sarasota, Florida and has one son Máximo Monte Anderson.

References

  1. ^ http://honors.fiu.edu/alumni/spotlightaf.htm
  2. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=68888
  3. ^ http://www.50thnomore.org/file.axd?file=2010%2F3%2F2010+House+Leadership.pdf
  4. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=511118
  5. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=538640
  6. ^ http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/content/haridopolos-adds-senate-team-david-simmons-anitere-flores-evelyn-lynn
  7. ^ http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/annual/0910/stats/ip_alien.html
  8. ^ http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2011/2040/CommitteeVotes/Mz6aEvrbkWgvNTcpOgVbhl6xm0s=%7C7/Public/Committees/Judiciary/Meetings/2011-04-04%200315PM/S2040%20Vote%20Record.PDF
  9. ^ http://www.flsenate.gov/PublishedContent/Committees/2010-2012/JU/MeetingRecords/JU_04042011_0315.mp3
  10. ^ http://www.flsenate.gov/Media/PressRelease/Show/Offices/Majority/PressRelease/PressRelease2011012811171869
  11. ^ http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/florida-senate-leaders-struggle-to-build-support-for-1397997.html?printArticle=y
  12. ^ http://www.flsenate.gov/UserContent/Senators/Districts/SD_Stat/SD38stats.pdf

External links

Members of the Florida State Senate
President of the Senate: Mike Haridopolos (R) • President pro Tempore: Mike Bennett (R) • Majority Leader: Andy Gardiner (R) • Minority Leader: Nan Rich (D)
   
  1.    Audrey Gibson (D)
  2.    Greg Evers (R)
  3.    Charlie Dean (R)
  4.    Don Gaetz (R)
  5.    Stephen R. Wise (R)
  6.    Bill Montford (D)
  7.    Evelyn J. Lynn (R)
  8.    John E. Thrasher (R)
  9.    Andy Gardiner (R)
  10.    Ronda Storms (R)
  1.    Mike Fasano (R)
  2.    Jim Norman (R)
  3.    Dennis L. Jones (R)
  4.    Steve Oelrich (R)
  5.    Paula Dockery (R)
  6.    Jack Latvala (R)
  7.    J.D. Alexander (R)
  8.    Arthenia Joyner (D)
  9.    Gary Siplin (D)
  10.    Alan Hays (R)
  1.    Mike Bennett (R)
  2.    David H. Simmons (R)
  3.    Nancy C. Detert (R)
  4.    Thad Altman (R)
  5.    Ellyn Bogdanoff (R)
  6.    Mike Haridopolos (R)
  7.    Lizbeth Benacquisto (R)
  8.    Joe Negron (R)
  9.    Chris Smith (D)
  10.    Maria Sachs (D)
  1.    Eleanor Sobel (D)
  2.    Jeremy Ring (D)
  3.    Oscar Braynon II (D)
  4.    Nan Rich (D)
  5.    Gwen Margolis (D)
  6.    Miguel Diaz de la Portilla (R)
  7.    Garrett Richter (R)
  8.    Anitere Flores (R)
  9.    Larcenia Bullard (D)
  10.    Rene Garcia (R)