Scott Randolph
| Scott Randolph | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Orange County Tax Collector | |
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Assumed office January 8, 2013 |
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| Preceded by | Earl K. Wood |
| Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 36th district |
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In office November 21, 2006 – November 20, 2012 |
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| Preceded by | Sheri McInvale |
| Succeeded by | Mike Fasano |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
October 17, 1973 Johnson City, Tennessee |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Alma mater |
Bradley University (B.S.) University of Georgia School of Law (J.D.) |
| Religion | Southern Baptist |
Scott Randolph (born October 17, 1973) is a Democratic politician who has served as the Orange County Tax Collector since 2013. Prior to his election as Tax Collector, he served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 36th District from 2006 to 2012.
Randolph was born in Johnson City, Tennessee, and grew up in Tennessee before attending Bradley University, where he graduated with his bachelor's degree in 1995. He graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law with his Juris Doctor in 1999, and joined environmental causes as a lawyer, successfully filing a lawsuit against the state of Florida for its failure to protect the Suwannee River and Lake Okeechobee from agricultural runoff. Randolph joined Clean Water Action, an organization founded to protect the Clean Water Act, soon after, where he met his wife, with whom he moved to Orlando in 2002.
In 2005, Randolph announced that he would run for the Florida House of Representatives from the 36th District, which stretched from Azalea Park to Oak Ridge and Eatonville, intent on challenging incumbent State Representative Sheri McInvale in the Democratic primary. However, in 2006, McInvale switched to the Republican Party, and Randolph won the primary to oppose her against Eben Cowles Self with 61% of the vote. During the general election campaign, Randolph argued that, despite McInvale's moderate views, the Republican majority in the legislature would force her to stick to the party line. He attacked McInvalde for literature that she had mailed out that included a picture of Randolph at an LGBT rights event with a drag queen with text underneath saying "Wrong for our Families," which Randolph took as homophobia. McInvale was endorsed by the Orlando Sentinel over Randolph, which argued that Randolph "seems destined to be one of those loud back-benchers" who "offers little more than the Democratic Party line against school and Medicaid reform." Ultimately, Randolph defeated McInvale in a landslide with 63% of the vote. Randolph ran for re-election in 2010, facing former Orlando mayoral candidate Stephen Villard, the Republican nominee, in the general election. He campaigned on his work in energy efficiency in the legislature and his proposals to improve water systems, increase regulation on mortgage companies, and renovate older buildings to cut down on electricity costs. This time, Randolph was endorsed by the Sentinel, which praised him as a "strong champion for education" and noted that he was a "work in progress" from his first legislative session. Randolph won re-election over Villard overwhelmingly, receiving 73% of the vote.
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