Dan Gelber
Dan Gelber (born November 26, 1960, in Miami Beach, Florida) is a former Democratic member of the Florida State Senate, representing District 35 from 2008 to 2010. On June 8, 2009, he announced his candidacy for the statewide office of attorney general, the seat vacated by Republican Bill McCollum, who ran for governor, in the 2010 election.[1] Gelber easily secured the Democratic nomination on Tuesday, August 24, 2010, with slightly over 59 percent of the vote. Nearly two months later, however, he lost in the general election on November 2, 2010, to Republican Pam Bondi after receiving slightly over 41 percent of the vote.
Biography
Gelber earned his B.S. from Tufts University in 1982 and his J.D. from the University of Florida in 1985. His professional experience includes working as an attorney for Zuckerman Spaeder Law Firm, Partner for Akerman Senterfitt Law Firm, Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida from 1986 to 1994, Chief Counsel for United States Senator Sam Nunn from 1994 to 1996 and Staff Director for the United States Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation.
Committee assignments
State Senator Gelber served on the following legislative committees:
- Commerce (Vice Chair)
- Communications, Energy, and Public Utilities (Member)
- Higher Education (Vice Chair)
- Judiciary (Member)
- Policy and Steering Committee on Ways and Means (Member)
- Public Counsel Oversight (Member)
- Select Committee on Florida's Economy (Member)
Elections
2010
- See also: Florida Attorney General election, 2010
| 2010 Race for Attorney General - General Election | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Democratic Party |  Dan Gelber
|
59.1% | |
| Democratic Party | Dave Aronberg | 40.9% | |
| Total Votes | 831,690 | ||
| 2010 Race for Attorney General - General Election | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Republican Party | Pam Bondi
|
54.8% | |
| Democratic Party | Dan Gelber | 41.4% | |
| Independent | Jim Lewis | 3.8% | |
| Total Votes | 5,263,392 | ||
2008
- 2008 Race for Florida State Senate, District 35 - Democratic Primary
- Dan Gelber ran unopposed
| 2008 Race for Florida State Senate, District 35 - General Election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Percentage | |||
 Dan Gelber (D)
|
72.4% | |||
| Dean Santoro (R) | 27.6% | |||
| Total votes | 140,723 | |||
2006
- 2006 Race for Florida House of Representatives, District 106 - Democratic Primary and General Election
- Dan Gelber ran unopposed in both contests
2004
- 2004 Race for Florida House of Representatives, District 106 - Democratic Primary and General Election
- Dan Gelber ran unopposed in both contests
2002
- 2002 Race for Florida House of Representatives, District 106 - Democratic Primary and General Election
- Dan Gelber ran unopposed in both contests
2000
| 2000 Race for Florida House of Representatives, District 106 - Democratic Primary | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Percentage | |||
| Dan Gelber (D)
|
62.4% | |||
| Joseph Geller (D) | 26.3% | |||
| Mitchell Kinzer (D) | 11.3% | |||
| Total votes | 7,488 | |||
| 2000 Race for Florida House of Representatives, District 106 - General Election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Percentage | |||
| Dan Gelber (D)
|
84.8% | |||
| Mike Calhoun (NPA) | 15.2% | |||
| Total votes | 33,882 | |||
Campaign finance summary
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Noteworthy events
BP connection
It was discovered on Monday, June 28, 2010, that Akerman Senterfitt, the five hundred lawyer private practice based in Miami with whom the state senator has served as both partner and counsel, agreed to represent British Petroleum (BP) against disaster claims.[2] Gelber's primary opponent said that Gelber's position "would represent a major conflict of interest were he to win the Attorney General’s race — so much so that Gelber would have to recuse himself from any lawsuit his AG office would bring against BP, which hired Akerman to represent it the oil spill claims process."[3]
Shortly after the story was reported, Gelber issued a statement in which he called Aronberg's attack on him frivolous and absurd, saying that he had tenured his resignation from the firm a week before.[4] Furthermore, he said, "he played no role in the firm's decision and didn't know about it until days afterward."[5][6] The Florida political news website, The Saint Petersblog, has noted, however, that his resignation wasn't effective until early-July.[7]
In spite of his departure from Akerman Senterfitt, Aronberg continued to make the matter an issue in the primary campaign. An email sent to his supporters has Aronberg remarking that he was "not angry" at his opponent but that "the fact remains, however, that his employment by BP’s law firm could disqualify him from representing Florida against BP as Attorney General."[8]
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Gelber resides in Miami Beach, Florida with his wife, Joan Silverstein. The couple has three children - Sophie, Hannah, and Max.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for Dan + Gelber + Florida + Senate
See also
- Florida State Legislature
- Florida State Senate
- Florida Senate Committees
- Florida state legislative districts
- Attorney General of Florida
- Florida Attorney General election, 2010
External links
- Dan Gelber for Attorney General
- Project Vote Smart Dan Gelber candidate summary
- Project Vote Smart Dan Gelber biography
- The Gelber blog
- Dan Gelber on twitter
- State Senate Campaign contributions:2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008
Footnotes
- ↑ Miami New Times, "Dan Gelber Enters Attorney General Race" 8 June, 2009
- ↑ The Reid Report, "Mo’ clicks: me llamo Freddy Kreuger, the vanishing Mr. Rubio, Gelber’s BP problem **UPDATED**" 28 June, 2010
- ↑ Saint Petersblog 2.0 "Dave Aronberg scores major political victory as Dan Gelber resigns from law firm representing BP" 28 June, 2010
- ↑ Creative Loafing, "Gelber calls Aronberg camp’s criticism of his timed departure from law firm representing BP as “absurd”" 30 June, 2010
- ↑ Miami Herald, "Gelber says he left law firm representing BP" 30 June, 2010
- ↑ Sunshine State News, "Gelber says he left law firm representing BP" 30 June, 2010
- ↑ Saint Petersblog 2.0 "Dan Gelber says he quit law firm “last Thursday” so why is resignation letter effective in “early July?”" 30 June, 2010
- ↑ Saint Petersblog 2.0 "It’s just business, nothing personal: Aronberg fires again at Gelber over connection to BP, but says “he’s not angry”" 2 July, 2010
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Florida Senate - District 35 2008–2010 |
Succeeded by Gwen Margolis |
