Much has been made of the refreshing youth of the new Speaker of the Florida House, Wesley Chapel’s Will Weatherford, who recently turned 33. He came in with the class of 2006. By all accounts, the District 38 Republican is not, mercifully, another central casting pol prone to further polarizing Tallahassee politics. We’ll soon see how he handles both sides of the aisle.
While Weatherford’s 30-something Speakership is noteworthy, it should be noted that it isn’t historic. We were reminded of this fact last week with the passing of Doyle Conner, Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner from 1961-91. Before that, the Bradford County Democrat had been elected Speaker in 1957–at age 28.