George Sheldon
Home Town: Plant City, FL
Born in Wildwood, New Jersey, George Sheldon moved to Plant City, Florida, where he was raised. He attended Florida Southern College from 1965-1966 before transferring to Florida State University where he earned both his Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees. In 1969, he began his political career by working as a legislative aide for then State Senator Reubin Askew. In 1974, he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives where he would represent the Tampa area until 1982. He then worked in private practice before becoming the Deputy Attorney General for Central Florida in 1999 where he worked alongside Attorney General Robert Butterworth, a friendship and partnership that would continue for the years to come. In 2003, continuing to work alongside Butterworth, Sheldon became the Associate Dean at St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami, Florida. In 2008, Sheldon was appointed Secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families, taking over from Butterworth who had resigned. From 2011 to 2013, Sheldon was the Acting Assistant Secretary for the Federal Administration for Children and Families in the United States Department of Health and Human Services. In 2014, he ran for Florida Attorney General, but he lost to Pam Bondi, the incumbent. Sheldon then became CEO of Our Kids, a private foster care group based in Miami. Throughout his career, Sheldon had always advocated for the rights of children, especially foster children. He passed away due to complications from a fall in 2018.