Paula Dockery

Paula B. Dockery
Member of the Florida Senate from the 15th district
In office 2003-2012
Preceded by	Bill Posey
Succeeded by	Kelli Stargel
Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 64th district
In office 1997–2002
Preceded by	Steve Pincket
Succeeded by	?
Personal details
Born	(1961-06-06) June 6, 1961 Queens, New York
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Mark Fisher 1985-88 (divorce) C.C. (Doc) Dockery 1989-present
Alma mater	University of Florida
Profession	insurance
Religion	Roman Catholic

Paula Dockery is a Republican Party former member of the Florida Senate.

Early life

She was born Paula Louise Bono in Queens, New York, on June 6, 1961. Her family moved to Florida in 1968, and she graduated from Coral Springs High School in 1979. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Florida in 1983. While at UF, she was a member of Student Senate, served on the O'Connell Center Board of Managers, Chaired the Affairs & Ethics Committee, and was a graduate teaching assistant.^[1]

In 1985 she married Mark Fisher, an aide to United States Senator Lawton Chiles, a Democrat, and in 1986 the couple moved to Lakeland, Florida. She finished her Master of Arts degree in Mass Communications during 1987, divorced her first husband in 1988, and decided to become active in Republican politics. She was introduced to and married C.C. (Doc) Dockery, a Lakeland businessman and GOP fundraiser, in November 1989. The family business was citrus and cattle.^[1][2]

State legislature

She has represented the 15th District in the Florida Senate since 2003 and served as Majority Whip from 2003 until 2004. Dockery chaired the Environmental Protection Committee and the Criminal Justice Committee.^[3] She was term limited in 2012 and could not run for re-election.

During her three terms in the Florida House of Representatives (1997-2002), she served as Majority Whip from 1998 through 2000, and was the primary sponsor of the popular Florida Forever Act.^[3]

2010 Gubernatorial campaign

On June 1, 2009 there was a draft campaign to see Senator Dockery run for Governor of Florida. On November 4, 2009 Dockery entered the race for Florida governor challenging FL Attorney General Bill McCollum for the Republican Nomination. Dockery dropped out of the race when it became clear that she would be unable to run a competitive campaign against Rick Scott, who spent nearly $50 million of his own money securing a bitterly fought Republican primary victory.

After Scott's primary win, Dockery's name was floated as a potential running mate for Scott. On 30 August 2010, Dockery announced that she would not run for Lieutenant Governor at Scott's side.

Chronicle

Term limits prohibited Dockery from running for senate re-election in 2012, so when she was asked to write a column for the political discourse website Florida Voices to share her insights of Florida politics during her last year as a senator, she agreed.^[4]

Honors & awards^[2]

References

External links

• Florida State Legislature - Senator Paula Dockery official government website
• People for Paula official campaign website
• Project Vote Smart - Senator Paula B. Dockery (FL) profile
• Follow the Money - Paula Dockery
  • 2006 2004 2002 2000 1998 campaign contributions
• - Draft Campaign Web Site