- Gaetz served in the Senate from 2006-2016 and as its president for the last two years before he termed out. Doug Broxson holds the seat, but he will term out next year. Currently, Frank White, a former state representative, is considered the frontrunner to replace Broxson.
“You ask any politician past or present, and they’ll love to tell you that their phone is ringing off the hook and people want ’em to run. And sometimes that’s true,” joked Gaetz on WCOA’s “Real News with Rick Outzen” Thursday morning.
“Most often, it’s probably an exaggeration, but for some reason, maybe it’s because people like to torture me. I have gotten a lot of unsolicited requests from people in Northwest Florida and around the state to consider running for the Senate,” he said. “Again, it’s not something I tried to encourage. It’s not something I’ve talked to people about and said, ‘What do you think? Would you support me?’ But there’s a thirst in Northwest Florida for strong leadership that can help our area.”
Gaetz plans to make a decision in the next few days.
“I’ve gotten a lot of interest, but we haven’t even had a family meeting about it,” Gaetz said. “We’ve been consumed with some other things in our family and some really good things with our granddaughter. So we haven’t decided, I haven’t decided, but I’ve told people who’ve called me, ‘Give me a few days, let me talk to my family and let me consider whether or not this is something that is really good for Northwest Florida.'”
