MEDIA ADVISORY
The Republican Caucus of the Florida Senate will meet on Tuesday, October 19, 2021, at 3:00 p.m. in the Florida Senate Chamber to officially select Senator Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples) as the President-Designate for the 2022-2024 Legislative Term.
Senate Republican Caucus Meeting and Designation of Senator Kathleen Passidomo
Date: October 19, 2021
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Location: Senate Chamber
Florida Capitol Building
404 S. Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399
Members of the media are invited to view the designation from the Senate Press Gallery located on the fifth floor of the Capitol. Those unable to travel to Tallahassee can view the designation ceremony live on the Florida Channel at www.TheFloridaChannel.org. Still photographers wishing to access the Senate floor during the event should reply to this email to request a floor pass.
Senator Passidomo will hold a brief media availability on the Senate floor 15 minutes following the designation ceremony.
About Senator Passidomo
Senator Kathleen C. Passidomo, 68, was elected to the Florida Senate in November 2016 after serving in the Florida House of Representatives since 2010. Senate President Wilton Simpson (R-Trilby) appointed her to serve as Chair of the Senate Committee on Rules for the 2020-2022 Legislative Term. During the 2018-2020 Legislative Term, she served as Republican (Majority) Leader under former Senate President Bill Galvano (R-Bradenton).
Senator Passidomo graduated in 1975 from Trinity College (now University) in Washington, D.C. In December 1978, she received her law degree from Stetson University’s College of Law. She built a law practice around Real Estate and Business Law and has been practicing law in Naples for more than 40 years. Senator Passidomo was in the first group of attorneys in the state to obtain Board Certification in Real Estate Law, and her peers elected her to serve as President of both the Collier County Bar Association and the Collier County Women’s Bar Association.
Senator Passidomo and her husband John married in 1979. Together, they have three adult children, Catarina, Francesca, and Gabriella, and two grandsons, William and Emilio.
History of Women Presidents of the Florida Senate
In 1990, Senator Gwen Margolis (D-Miami), a former realtor, became the first woman to serve as President of the Florida Senate. President Margolis retired from the Senate in 2016, concluding more than four decades of elected service in state and local government. She passed away on June 9, 2020, at the age of 85.
In 1986, Senator Toni Jennings (R-Orlando), a former elementary school teacher who later ran her family’s construction business, became the first woman to lead the Senate Republican Caucus, serving as Minority Leader during the 1986-1988 Legislative Term. Elected Senate President in 1996, she is the only person in modern history elected to serve two consecutive terms in the role. She later became the first woman to serve as Lt. Governor. President Jennings, 72, retired from elected office in 2007, upon the conclusion of her term as Lt. Governor. She continues to reside in Central Florida.
Presidents Margolis and Jennings were both inducted into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame.
