By: Matt Galnor
Source: jacksonville.com
Former Florida Senate President Jim Kin, 69, died on Sunday, followed a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. King was elected to the Florida House in 1986 and then was elected to the Senate in 1999. He served for two years as president in the Senate, from 2002 to 2004.
King was a longtime advocate for the St. Johns River and in 2004 led the change to the state public school funding formula that local officials had been trying to change for decades, saying it long favored South Florida.
King’s negotiating skill put him in the middle of the state’s lasting policy debates over the past two decades, but friends and colleagues say he will be remembered just as much for his gregarious personality and sense of humor.
When tensions ran high in the Legislature, a few words or a one-liner from King would lighten things up, said former Florida House Speaker John Thrasher, an Orange Park Republican and close friend of King.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said in a statement: “You couldn’t help but love Jim King. He lived every day with such enthusiasm and joy. We mourn the loss of this great Floridian.”
Jim King, longtime state lawmaker, dies after battle with pancreatic cancer
