Dwight M. Bullard

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Dwight Bullard
Member of the Florida Senate
from the 39th district
In office
November 6, 2012 – November 8, 2016
Preceded byLarcenia Bullard
Succeeded byRedistricted
Member of the Florida House of Representatives
from the 118th district
In office
November 4, 2008 – November 6, 2012
Preceded byEdward B. Bullard
Succeeded byFrank Artiles
Personal details
Born (1977-02-04) February 4, 1977 (age 47)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materFlorida A&M University (B.S.)
ProfessionTeacher

Dwight Bullard (born February 4, 1977) is a

Florida State Senate, representing parts of South Florida from 2012 to 2016, and before that served two terms in the Florida House of Representatives, representing a district in southern Miami-Dade County
from 2008 until his election to the Senate.

History

Bullard was born in

Florida State Senate from 2002 to 2012. He attended Florida A&M University, graduating with a degree in history education in 1999.[citation needed
]

Since 2000, Bullard has taught social studies at Coral Reef Senior High School in Richmond Heights.[1][2]

Florida House of Representatives

In 2008, when his father was term-limited from the 118th District in the House, Bullard ran to succeed him. Bullard emerged victorious from a crowded

Kionne L. McGhee, and won by less than 400 votes. He won the general election in a landslide against his Republican
opponent, Charlie Lopez.

Florida Senate

James Bush; JJ Johnson; and Sal Gutierrez in the primary. The Miami Herald, which felt that more representation for the Florida Keys was necessary in the legislature, endorsed Saunders.[3] However, Bullard narrowly won the primary by 1,500 votes and 35% of the vote, with Saunders and Bush in a close second and third. In the general election, Representative Bullard faced Scott Hopes, the CEO of a health technology firm, and won the endorsement of the Herald, which praised his "push for education reforms."[4] In the end, Bullard defeated Hopes.[citation needed
]

While serving in the Senate, Bullard sponsored legislation aimed at preventing cyberbullying, which allows schools to "discipline a student for cyberbullying if the student uses a computer, computer system, or computer network owned by a school."[5] He criticized efforts by the legislature to reduce funding for Florida Virtual School while simultaneously allowing private companies to offer virtual education, noting, "We spend all of this money, time and energy to beef up our own virtual program, Florida Virtual School, and all of a sudden, we are cutting them and allowing outside providers nationwide to come in and take a chunk of the pot of money."[6]

After court-ordered redistricting, Bullard found himself drawn into a more competitive senate district in 2016, based around Kendall in southern Miami-Dade. He was defeated by Republican State Representative Frank Artiles in the general election, 51 to 41%.[7]

Corruption

State Senator Bullard, on a trip with

Green Party candidate for the Fort Lauderdale City Council, posted on Instagram a photo of Jeddah and noted his PFLP affiliation. (Ortiz also said in another Instagram posting from the trip, from a checkpoint in Hebron, that “Zionism must be eradicated.”)[9] During his visit, Bullard also met with a co-founder of the BDS movement Omar Barghouti.[10]

In 2016, Florida passed a bill to prevent the state from doing business with companies participating in boycotts of Israel. Similar anti-BDS bills have also passed in a dozen other states across the country.[11] State Senator Dwight Bullard voted against the measure twice in the Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee, the only nay-voting Senator.[12] However the Bill passed through its committees and was subsequently passed by the Florida Senate in the 2016 session, where Bullard changed his vote to yes.[13] Bullard initially opposed the anti-BDS legislation because he viewed it as a violation of free speech that he said “screams un-American.” Bullard told The Electronic Intifada he was ultimately “bullied” into voting for the law. “It was the first time I felt pressured to vote in a particular way,” he recounted, adding, “there are probably three or four votes that I’ve taken in my tenure in the legislature that I’m very uncomfortable with having taken.” The anti-BDS vote “is easily in the top three,” he said.[14]

The Florida Elections Commission (FEC) fined Bullard $2,000 for two counts of filing incomplete reports in 2013 and 2014 after the Division of Elections sent him at least six letters asking him to update his reports.[15] Bullard's reports claimed he raised no money for his re-election campaign and he filed the form without a signature. The commission concluded that his actions were a "willful violation" and unanimously agreed to assess the fines. In May, the commission also fined Bullard $5,000 for five violations from 2013 to 2015 for also filing incomplete elections paperwork.[16] Bullard had been charged with failing to fix several incomplete reports — even after being told how to do so according to the commissioner's staff. Because Bullard knew of the problem and failed to act, he was found in “willful violation” of the law and fined $1,000 for each of five reports from 2013 to 2015. Bullard was unavailable for comment at the time of the investigation due to "out of country travel" according to the senator's staff.[17] Bullard, who serves as his own campaign treasurer, stated to the Miami Herald, "It has happened to me in the past. It's unfortunate. It's painful...They definitely sent notices out but, between session, the school year and campaigning, my priorities are focused on other things and I missed the deadlines."[18]

References

  1. ^ Clark, Kristen (2016-06-23). "Miami-Dade senator: My opponent offered me $25,000 to get out of his way". Miami Herald. Retrieved 2016-12-18.
  2. ^ "Dwight Bullard for Florida Senate 40". Dwight Bullard for Florida Senate 40. Archived from the original on 2018-12-01. Retrieved 2016-12-18.
  3. ^ "The Herald recommends: OUR OPINION: State Senate District 39, House Districts 100, 102". Miami Herald. July 23, 2012.
  4. ^ "Bullard for Senate: OUR OPINION: Bullard has strong support in District 39". Miami Herald. October 16, 2012.
  5. ^ "Cyberbullying Bill Passes Senate Committee Without a Fight". Sunshine State News. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
  6. ^ "Law opens up funding for virtual schools". Bradenton Herald. Retrieved May 13, 2013.
  7. ^ "2016 Florida Election Watch - State Senate". enight.elections.myflorida.com. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
  8. ^ United States Department of State
  9. ^ "In linking Black Lives Matter with Palestinians, Miami lawmaker riles pro-Israel activists". The Times of Israel.
  10. ^ "In linking Black Lives Matter with Palestinians, Miami lawmaker riles pro-Israel activists". The Times of Israel.
  11. ^ "Miami United Against BDS Calls on State Senator Dwight Bullard to Resign and End Bid for Reelection Following Meeting with Terrorist Group and BDS Leaders" (Press release). 19 August 2016.
  12. ^ https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2016/0086/Vote/2015-10-06 1000AM~S0086 Vote Record.PDF
  13. ^ https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2016/0086/Vote/SenateVote_s0086c2004.PDF [bare URL PDF]
  14. ^ "Israel lobby smears Black lawmaker for meeting Palestinians". 24 August 2016.
  15. ^ http://www.fec.state.fl.us/FECWebFi.nsf/0/CD41A209EE882B2085258009006F7CA8/$file/14-048+Bullard,+Dwight_Redacted.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  16. ^ http://www.fec.state.fl.us/FECWebFi.nsf/0/F92DADCCD13CD36F85257FB00052D669/$file/15-350+Bullard,+Dwight_Redacted.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  17. ^ "Dwight Bullard fined $5K for campaign violations". 18 May 2016.
  18. ^ "Elections commission fines Dwight Bullard $2,000 for failing to amend his treasurer's reports | Naked Politics".

External links

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