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George Sheldon
George Sheldon was the Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Florida in the 2014 elections.[1] George Sheldon lost the general election on November 4, 2014.
Sheldon is a former Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives. He was first elected to the state legislature in 1975 and served for eight years.[2]
Biography
Prior to announcing his 2014 candidacy for attorney general, Sheldon was the Acting Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). He has also served as the Secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF).[2]
An attorney by profession, Sheldon practiced law for over a decade and held the role of Associate Dean for Student and Alumni Services at St. Thomas University School of Law. His legal background also includes his appointment as Deputy Attorney General under former-Attorney General Bob Butterworth.[2]
Elections
2014
- See also: Florida attorney general election, 2014
Sheldon ran for Attorney General of Florida in 2014. Sheldon secured the Democratic nomination in the August 26 primary and faced Republican incumbent Pam Bondi in the general election on November 4, 2014.[3]
Results
Primary election
| Florida Attorney General, Democratic Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
 George Sheldon |
60.7% | 457,811 | ||
| Perry Thurston | 39.3% | 296,907 | ||
| Total Votes | 754,718 | |||
| Election results via Florida Division of Elections. | ||||
General election
| Attorney General of Florida, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Pam Bondi Incumbent |
55.1% | 3,222,524 | |
| Democratic | George Sheldon | 42% | 2,457,317 | |
| Libertarian | Bill Wohlsifer | 2.9% | 169,394 | |
| Total Votes | 5,849,235 | |||
| Election results via Florida Division of Elections | ||||
Debates
Debate media
|
October 6 debate
Pam Bondi (R), George Sheldon (D) and Bill Wohlsifer (L) discussed their positions on medical marijuana and same-sex marriage during a debate hosted by Tampa Bay News 9. A question about Amendment 2, a ballot measure that would allow medical marijuana in the state, divided the candidates into different camps. Bondi opposed Amendment 2 due to concerns about the legitimacy of medical marijuana prescriptions given recent action by the state against doctors deemed to be providing unnecessary prescriptions. Sheldon criticized detractors like Bondi and Wohlsifer argued that the measure should provide greater freedom for marijuana use.[4]
The debate brought up the United States Supreme Court decision to overturn the state's ban on same-sex marriage. Bondi did not provide a clear stance on same-sex marriage, stating that her office had only received the court decision hours before the debate. Sheldon argued that Bondi should not defend the state's ban, saying that the government should "get out of the business of telling people who they can love."[4]
Polls
| Governor of Florida Hypothetical Match-Up Poll | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Pam Bondi* (R) | George Sheldon (D) | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
| Gravis Marketing April 23-25, 2014 | 45% | 38% | 11% | +/-3.0 | 907 | ||||||||||||||
| Public Policy Poll January 16-21, 2014 | 37% | 34% | 29% | +/-6.3 | 591 | ||||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 41% | 36% | 20% | +/-4.65 | 749 | ||||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
Campaign contributions
The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may not represent all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer, and campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
| George Sheldon campaign contribution history | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Office | Result | Contributions | |
| 2014 | Attorney General of Florida |  |
$898,817 | |
| Grand total raised | $898,817 | |||
| Source: [[5] Follow the Money] | ||||
Ballotpedia collects information on campaign donors for each year in which a candidate or incumbent is running for election. See the table below for more information about the campaign donors who supported George Sheldon.[6] Click [show] for more information.
| George Sheldon Campaign Contributions | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 Attorney General of Florida | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total raised | $898,817 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Total raised by opponents | $3,740,816 (Republican) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Top 5 contributors | Florida Republican Party | $1,449,370 | |||||||||||||||||
| Public Fund | $256,698 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Electrical Workers Local 915 | $6,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Orange County Fund for Children and Public Education | $6,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Lance Block Jr. | $6,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Individuals | $488,161 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Institutions | $153,723 ($256,933 other) | ||||||||||||||||||
| In-state donations | $853,171 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Out-of-state donations | $41,961 ($3,685 unknown) | ||||||||||||||||||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for George + Sheldon + Attorney + General + Florida
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Orlando Sentinel, "Former DCF Secretary George Sheldon announces bid to challenge Pam Bondi," October 21, 2013 (dead link) (dead link)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 George Sheldon for Attorney General 2014 Official campaign website, "Meet George Sheldon," accessed May 2, 2014
- ↑ The Tampa Bay Times, "Former DCF secretary Sheldon seeks Democratic nom in AG race against Bondi," October 22, 2013
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tampa Bay Times, "Florida attorney general candidates spar in lone debate," October 6, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Showing contributions to Sheldon, George," accessed June 3, 2015
- ↑ Follow the Money.org, "Home," accessed May 7, 2021
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