Orlando small businessman Chris King will challenge incumbent Republican, Rick Scott, for governor of Florida.
King is expected to announce his candidacy today (April 4) at the Hillcrest Hampton House in Orlando.
King, a Democrat, will call for a new kind of leadership, and movement of people ready for a new direction to “rise up so Florida can lead again.”
In conjunction with his announcement, the King campaign released a video titled “Rise and Lead, Florida.”
Born in Orlando, King is a third-generation Central Floridian. He graduated from Harvard University and earned his law degree from the University of Florida.
Over a dozen years ago, , King and his brother started Elevation, a company that provides seniors across the state and Southeast affordable housing options.
King has also started several charitable efforts to serve their community including the Elevation Scholars program, which provides college scholarship opportunities to low-income students in Orange County. The Elevation Global Initiative funds family farming and environmental efforts in Haiti, entrepreneurship training in East Africa and prisoner rehabilitation in US prisons. He also helped launch the Elevation Academy, a school in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo that serves 700 low-income students.
King attributes his commitment to service to his family and faith. His father, David King, led the successful battle against illegal gerrymandering in Florida. His mother has been an advocate for patient-first healthcare for 30 years, serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Orlando Health, a non-profit family of hospitals in Central Florida, and as one of the early founders and first chairman of Grace Medical Home, an award-winning free and charitable clinic in Orlando.
King met his wife Kristen and are raising their three children in Orlando.
Rick Scott has been governor of Florida since 2011. He defeated Bill McCollum in the vigorously contested Republican primary election and narrowly defeated Democratic nominee Alex Sink in a close race in the general election, spending roughly $75 million of his own money in the process. In 2014, he won re-election over former Republican turned Democratic challenger, former governor Charlie Crist and several third-party and/or independent candidates.
He is Florida’s 45th governor.
