Preceded by Jimmy Patronis Name Jay Trumbull Political party Republican Role Politician | Profession Small business owner Education Auburn University Religion Methodist Party Republican Party | |
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Born February 21, 1989 (age 35)
Panama City, Florida ( 1989-02-21 ) Alma mater Auburn University (B.S.) | ||
Rep. Jay Trumbull on Hurricane Michael
Jay Norbert Trumbull, Jr. (born February 21, 1989) is a Republican politician who currently serves as a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 6th District, which includes Panama City in southern Bay County, since 2014.
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History
Trumbull was born in Panama City, Florida, and attended Bay High School and Auburn University, where he graduated with his bachelors degree in small business management and entrepreneurship. After graduation, he started working for his family's water conditioning and car dealership business, eventually becoming a member of the dealership chain's management team.
Florida House of Representatives
In 2014, incumbent State Representative Jimmy Patronis was unable to seek re-election due to term limits, so Trumbull ran to succeed him. He faced former Bay County School Board Member Thelma Rohan, Melissa Hagan, and Tho Bishop in the Republican primary, and he campaigned on his support for making Florida a "the most business-friendly place in the country," which he said was achievable with lower taxes, less government regulation, and lawsuit reform. He called attention his family's history in the area and his experience in business, noting, "I'm proud of the fact that my great grandfather moved to Panama City with absolutely nothing. He borrowed $3,000 from his uncle to open Culligan Water on Harrison Avenue in 1947." Trumbull emerged victorious over his opponents in the primary by a wide margin, winning 43% of the vote to Rohan's 24%, Hagan's 23%, and Bishop's 10%, and advanced to the general election, where he faced Jamie Shepard, the Democratic nominee, and Henry Newman Lawrence, the Green Party nominee. He continued to campaign on his support for lowering taxes and cutting regulation, specifically identifying the commercial lease tax as something that he would target, and added his opposition to the Common Core State Standards Initiative, noting, "Common Core is out of hand. We need to make sure we bring education at least at the curriculum level to a much more localized form." Ultimately, Trumbull won his first term in the legislature in a landslide, winning 69% of the vote to Shepard's 28% and Newman's 3%.