15 Facts About Paula Dockery

Paula Dockery was born on June 6,1961 and is an independent politician from the US state of Florida.

Paula Dockery served as a member of the Florida Senate for ten years, representing parts of Central Florida from 2002 to 2012 as a Republican.

Paula Dockery's family moved to Florida in 1968, and she graduated from Coral Springs High School in 1979.

Paula Dockery earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Florida in 1983.

Paula Dockery finished her Master of Arts degree in mass communications during 1987, divorced her first husband in 1988, and decided to become active in Republican politics.

Paula Dockery was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1996, and served three terms.

Paula Dockery served as majority whip from 1998 through 2000, and was the primary sponsor of the popular Florida Forever Act.

Paula Dockery served as Majority Whip from 2002 until 2004.

Paula Dockery chaired the Environmental Protection Committee and the Criminal Justice Committee.

Paula Dockery was term limited in 2012 and could not run for re-election.

On June 1,2009, there was a draft campaign to see Senator Paula Dockery run for Governor of Florida.

On November 4,2009, Paula Dockery entered the race for Florida governor, challenging Florida's Attorney General Bill McCollum for the Republican Nomination.

Paula Dockery dropped out of the race when it became clear that she would be unable to run a competitive campaign against Rick Scott, who spent nearly $50 million of his own money to secure a bitterly fought Republican primary victory.

On 30 August 2010, Paula Dockery announced that she would not run for lieutenant governor at Scott's side.

Term limits prohibited Paula Dockery from running for senate re-election in 2012, so when she was asked to write a column for the political discourse website Florida Voices to share her insights of Florida politics during her last year as a senator, she agreed.