Page 16 - Florida Sentinel 2-5-21

Black History
Blacks Elected As State Legislators
Voters of Hillsborough County elected its first Black representative to serve in Florida House of Represen- tatives in 1982. This event led to the position being held by a Black since that time. The representatives have been both men and women.
JAMES HARGRETT, JR.
Hargrett became the first Black from Hillsbor-
ough County to serve in the Florida House of Represen- tatives, District 63. He served from 1982 until 1992,
Hargrett was then elected to serve in the Florida Senate from 1993 until 2000.
LESLEY MILLER, JR. Miller was elected to the
House of Representatives to follow James Hargrett,
Jr., who left as a result of term limits.
Miller went on to serve as the second Black elected to the State Senate. Miller has served terms on the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners as well as on the Tampa City Council.
ARTHENIA JOYNER Attorney Joyner was
the first Black woman from Hillsborough County to be elected to serve in the State House of Representatives, and also the first Black woman to serve in the State Senate, spanning the years of 2006 to 2016.
Ms. Joyner was the Senate Minority leader dur- ing her last two years in of- fice. She was elected to serve three terms in the House of Representatives.
She has a multitude of “firsts” that have taken place during her career.
EDWIN NARAIN
Narain was elected to serve in the Florida House of Representatives and served one term from 2014 to 2016. He was defeated in his at- tempt to run for State Sena- tor in 2016.
SEAN SHAW
Shaw was elected to serve as the District 61 House of Representatives in 2016. He served for two years. Shaw made history in 2018 when he ran as the
nominee for Attorney Gen- eral, earning more than 3,000,000 votes. He was de- feated by Ashley Moody.
DARRELL ROUSON
Rouson was elected in 2016 to serve as the State Senator. His district repre- sents parts of both Hillsbor- ough and Pinellas Counties.
DIANNE HART
Hart was elected to the Florida House of Represen- tatives, District 61, in 2018.
FENTRICE DRISKELL
Driskell became the first Black to serve as the Florida House of Representatives for District 63. She was elected in 2018. She was re-elected without opposition in No- vember 2020.
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