Doug Holder
| Doug Holder | |
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| Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 74th district |
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In office November 20, 2012 – November 18, 2014 |
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| Preceded by | Gary Aubuchon |
| Succeeded by | Julio Gonzalez |
| Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 70th district |
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In office November 21, 2006 – November 20, 2012 |
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| Preceded by | Nancy C. Detert |
| Succeeded by | Darryl Rouson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
December 7, 1966 Marietta, Georgia |
| Political party | Republican |
| Alma mater | Middle Tennessee State University (B.S.) |
| Profession | Small businessman |
Doug Holder (born on December 7, 1966) is a Republican politician who served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 to 2014, representing the 70th District from 2006 to 2012, and the 74th District, which included Englewood, North Port, and Venice in Sarasota County, from 2012 to 2014. He is currently a candidate for the Florida Senate in 2018.
Holder attended Middle Tennessee State University, where he received a degree in political science in 1990. While in college, he served as Student Body President and was the Student Ambassador for George H. W. Bush when he visited the campus. Holder moved to the state of Florida in 1997.
When incumbent State Representative Nancy C. Detert was unable to seek re-election in 2006 due to term limits, Holder ran in the Republican primary to succeed her in the 70th District, which included most of western Sarasota County, stretching from Englewood to Siesta Key, and faced Rory Dubin, Jon Kleiber, and Elizabeth Cuevas-Neunder. He spent nearly $400,000 of his own money on advertising, "leading some people to accuse Holder...of trying to buy the office and of ignorance of local issues." Holder emerged victorious in the Republican primary, winning 42% of the vote, and moved on to the general election, where he engaged in a contentious campaign with the Democratic nominee, attorney David Shapiro. Though Holder and Shapiro pledged to run positive campaigns, a group supporting Holder, People for a Better Florida Fund, which received a sizable donation from Holder’s stepmother, attacked Shapiro for being a "millionaire trial lawyer" and for opposing tort reform. Holder narrowly won over Shapiro, winning 51% of the vote to Shapiro’s 49%, a margin of just 756 votes. In 2008, retired dentist Sam Rosenfeld received the Democratic nomination to challenger Holder’s bid for re-election, and though Democrats were hopeful that Rosenfeld could defeat Holder, given the closeness of his initial election, Holder easily dispatched his opponent, winning re-election with 61% of the vote. When Holder ran for re-election in 2010, his Democratic opponent, Nancy Feehan, attacked him over his vote "to allow the governor and cabinet to permit drilling from 3 to 10 miles from shore," which had particular resonance given the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which caused Holder to change his mind on offshore oil drilling. However, despite this fact, Holder managed to repeat his 2008 victory, defeating Feehan with 61% of the vote.
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