Update to a story we ran on May 12:
State Rep. Fred Hawkins was selected by South Florida State College trustees at a meeting Wednesday to succeed retiring school President Thomas Leitzel, the News Service of Florida has reported.
Hawkins, who has served in the state House of Representatives since 2020, was the lone finalist for the position. Details of Hawkins’ proposed contract will not be available until a June 21 meeting of the school's trustees.
When this story first broke in May, Hawkins said, if he were to leave the Legislature, the Secretary of State would decide if a special election will be needed in 2023 for his seat that would be up in 2024. Three candidates have recently filed paperwork to run for Hawkins’ House District 35 seat in Osceola and Orange counties. The candidates filed to run in the 2024 election, but there could be a special election to determine a replacement. Republican Demetries Andrew Grimes and Democrat Tom Keen opened campaign accounts in May, while Democrat Rishi Bagga, who Hawkins defeated in the November 2022 general election launched a campaign account on Monday, per News Service of Florida, which noted that Democratic data consultant Matthew Isbell raised the possibility that the seat could flip to Democrats, who are badly outnumbered in the Legislature.
“With Rep Fred Hawkins resigning, this Biden +5 seat opens up. Democrats flipping this seat would be another moral boost. It was red in 2022 with very lopsided turnout. Big Q (question) will be how strong Hispanic turnout ground game will be from Dems 80% of vote is from Orange (County),” Isbell said in a tweet.
From May 12: State Rep. Fred Hawkins appears poised to become president of South Florida State College, as he is the school's Board of Trustee's lone finalist for the job.
Hawkins, R-St. Cloud, who was first elected to the House in 2020, would replace retiring college President Thomas Leitzel, who is expected to retire June 30, according to the News Service of Florida.
In a Twitter post Thursday, Hawkins suggested that his time as an elected official could be coming to an end.
“Pages turn and new chapters begin. I am looking forward to becoming the next President of South Florida State College. My time as an elected official has been a highlight of my life, especially serving in the Florida House,” the tweet from Wednesday said.
Reached Friday, he said the Trustees are scheduled to hold a special meeting June 7 to finalize the selection. He does not yet have a date yet for when he'd have to step away from the State House and the Education Foundation Osceola County, where he serves as president.
"I haven't resigned, and the Secretary of State will decide if a special election will be needed," Hawkins said. "Getting into academia is something I've thought about for months. I love education — I serve on more education subcommittees than anybody else — and there's been a lot of turnover among college presidents.
"It's an impressive opportunity, and if the trustees think I'm the right fit, I'll do that. I get a good feeling from being the only one on the short list.
Hawkins, along with fellow Republican Rep. Paula Stark are scheduled to appear at a legislative update at the St. Cloud Marina on Wednesday evening.
South Florida State College, a two-year school like Valencia College, has campuses in Avon Park (the main campus), Lake Placid, Bowling Green and Arcadia in Highlands, Hardee and DeSoto counties.
"The school is amazing and the community is very appealing," Hawkins said. "They've said they wanted someone with government and Tallahassee experience, and what we've done with NeoCity in Osceola County seemed to impress them."
During this 2023 session, considered a volatile one for the number of partisan bills passed by a Legislature with a House Bill 9B, which gave Gov. Ron DeSantis power to appoint the board of the former Reedy Creek Improvement District, which was renamed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. The move came amid a feud between DeSantis and the Walt Disney Co., which had largely controlled the Reedy Creek district since the 1960s.
Hawkins also sponsored a bill (HB 225) creating the possibility of sweeping changes in high school sports, allowing charter school students and Florida Virtual School full-time students to participate in extracurricular activities at a private school under certain circumstances, as well as giving the Governor the power to choose, and have the Senate confirm, eight of 13 members of the Florida High School Athletic Association’s Board of Directors and ratify any bylaws it passes.
Before getting elected to the House, Hawkins spent three terms (2008-20) as the Osceola County district 5 commissioner.
Information from the News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
