30 Facts About Tom Gallagher

Thomas Gallagher III was born on February 3,1944 and is an American politician, financier, and insurance agent from the state of Florida and a member of the Republican Party.

Tom Gallagher holds the distinction of having served more years as an elected state official than any other individual in Florida history.

Tom Gallagher began his career in the Florida House of Representatives, where he served from 1974 to 1987.

Tom Gallagher was then the Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshal of Florida from 1989 to 1995, the Education Commissioner of Florida from 1999 to 2001 and the Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshal of Florida again from 2001 to 2003.

Tom Gallagher has run unsuccessfully for the United States Senate in 2000 and four times for Governor of Florida: in 1982,1986,1994 and 2006.

Tom Gallagher was raised in Delaware where he participated on the high school swim team.

Tom Gallagher was honorably discharged and returned to Miami to start a business career.

Tom Gallagher was married to his second wife, Laura Wilson, from 1998 to 2011.

Tom Gallagher began his political career when he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1974.

Tom Gallagher briefly ran for Governor of Florida in 1982 but dropped out early on after realising that incumbent Democrat Bob Graham would be re-elected.

Tom Gallagher declined to run for re-election in 1986, deciding instead to enter the Republican primary for Governor.

Tom Gallagher had been running for Commissioner of Education but dropped out to pursue the office of lieutenant governor.

Tom Gallagher came third with 131,265 votes and Clem finished last with 44,409 votes.

Tom Gallagher endorsed Martinez, who won the run-off and the general election.

In 1988, Tom Gallagher ran in a special election for the office of Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshal of Florida to fill the last two years of the term of Democrat Bill Gunter, who had resigned to run for the US Senate.

Tom Gallagher won the Republican nomination handily, taking 459,451 votes to Jeffrey L Latham's 94,608 and Raphael Herman's 46,654.

Tom Gallagher was elected to a full four-year-term in 1990, beating Democratic State Senator George Stuart, Jr.

In 1994, Tom Gallagher announced his second run for Governor of Florida.

Tom Gallagher came third with 117,067 votes, Crenshaw fourth with 109,148, Connor fifth with 83,945, Arnold sixth with 8,326 and Bell last with 5,202.

Out of office for four years, Tom Gallagher ran for Commissioner of Education in 1998.

Tom Gallagher was unopposed for the Republican nomination and faced Democrat Peter Rudy Wallace, the former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives in the general election.

Two years into his term, Tom Gallagher announced that he was running for the United States Senate in 2000.

Tom Gallagher chose January 3,2001 as the effective date of his resignation, as that was the date new senators would be sworn in.

Tom Gallagher faced US Representative Bill McCollum in the primary and attacked both McCollum and Nelson for their attendance records in their respective jobs.

Tom Gallagher campaigned on his support for the marriage penalty, lowering the cost of drug prescriptions for seniors, increasing spending on social security and abolishing the federal income tax.

Tom Gallagher had difficulty fundraising and had less than one-third of the money that McCollum had.

Tom Gallagher was encouraged to drop out by Governor Bush, Republican Party of Florida Chairman Al Cardenas and others who believed that a divisive and expensive Senate primary would damage the eventual nominee for the general election campaign with Nelson.

Tom Gallagher was elected to the new office in 2002 without opposition.

In 2006, Tom Gallagher made his fourth run for governor, facing state Attorney General Charlie Crist in the Republican primary.

Crist went on to win the general election and took office in 2007 and Tom Gallagher was succeeded as CFO by Democrat Alex Sink.