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Sen. Mike Haridopolos was first elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2000, then to the Florida Senate in March of 2003. In December of 2009, Haridopolos was honored with the unanimous support of his colleagues when he was designated to be the next President of the Florida Senate. He will take office as Florida’s 96th Senate President following the November 2010 general election.
Haridopolos currently serves as Chairman of the Senate Policy and Steering Committee on Energy, Environment and Land Use and the Senate Committee on Reapportionment. In addition to these Chairmanships, Haridopolos sits on committees for Ways and Means, Social Responsibility, Communications, Energy and Public Utilities, Health and Human Services Appropriations, Judiciary, Transportation, and the Select Committee on Florida’s Economy.
Haridopolos has appeared on Fox News’ Huckabee to discuss Transparency Florida, an initiative he led to put the state budget online for all Floridians to see. He has appeared on CNN as a guest of Lou Dobbs and has been featured in Florida Trend magazine as a legislator “…who could shape Florida politics.” He was also named by Hotline as one of six “rising stars” among Republican state legislators.
A graduate of Stetson University in 1992 with a B.A. in History, in 1993, he earned a Masters in History at the University of Arkansas. Later that year, at the age of twenty-three, Mike became a history instructor at Brevard Community College, and within three years he was named the Department Chair of Social Behavioral Sciences. In 1997, Mike was promoted to the Chair of the Liberal Arts Department at BCC. Mike is currently finishing his PhD at Florida State University and works as a full-time lecturer at the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida.
Haridopolos represents District 26 in the Florida Senate, which includes parts of Brevard, Indian River, Osceola, and St. Lucie Counties. He is married to Stephanie Haridopolos, M.D., and they have three children: Alexis, Hayden, and Reagan.
