PoliticalGraveyard.com
The Political Graveyard: A Database of American History
Politicians in Trouble or Disgrace

Politicians in Trouble or Disgrace: Florida

in chronological order

  Edmund C. Weeks (1829-1907) — of Tallahassee, Leon County, Fla. Born in Massachusetts, March 10, 1829. Republican. Major in the Union Army during the Civil War; court-martialed in 1864, charged with killing a sentry, conduct unbecoming an officer, and conduct prejudicial to order and discipline; the trial lasted 53 days; witnesses against him were reported to be "rebel refugees and deserters"; the military court found him not guilty on all charges; Lieutenant Governor of Florida, 1870; Leon County Sheriff, 1873-74; member of Florida state house of representatives, 1877, 1885; postmaster at Tallahassee, Fla., 1890; U.S. Marshall for Northern District of Florida; U.S. Surveyor-General for Florida, 1902-05. Died in Tallahassee, Leon County, Fla., April 12, 1907 (age 78 years, 33 days). Interment at Old City Cemetery, Tallahassee, Fla.
  Relatives: Married to Mary Jones; married 1890 to Elizabeth Hunt.
  See also Find-A-Grave memorial
  Stephen Russell Mallory (c.1813-1873) — also known as Stephen R. Mallory — of Key West, Monroe County, Fla.; Pensacola, Escambia County, Fla. Born in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, of American parents, about 1813. Democrat. County judge in Florida, 1837-45; U.S. Senator from Florida, 1851-61; Confederate Secretary of the Navy, 1861-65. Catholic. Arrested as a Confederate by Union troops in 1865 and imprisoned until March 1866. Slaveowner. Died in Pensacola, Escambia County, Fla., November 9, 1873 (age about 60 years). Interment at St. Michael's Cemetery, Pensacola, Fla.
  Relatives: Son of Charles Mallory and Ellen Mallory; married to Angela Moreno (sister of Fernando J. Moreno); father of Stephen Russell Mallory Jr.; cousin by marriage of William Francis White.
  Political family: Mallory-White family of California and Florida.
  Politician named for him: Stephen M. White
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Wikipedia article
  George Davis (1820-1896) — of Wilmington, New Hanover County, N.C. Born in Porter's Neck, Pender County, N.C., March 1, 1820. Lawyer; Delegate from North Carolina to the Confederate Provisional Congress, 1861-62; Senator from North Carolina in the Confederate Congress, 1862-64; Confederate Attorney General, 1864-65. Episcopalian. At the end of the Civil War, with other Confederate officials, attempted to flee overseas, but turned himself in at Key West, Fla.; spent several months in prison at Fort Hamilton; pardoned in 1866. Died in Wilmington, New Hanover County, N.C., February 23, 1896 (age 75 years, 359 days). Interment at Oakdale Cemetery, Wilmington, N.C.; statue erected 1911 at Third and Market Streets, Wilmington, N.C.
  Relatives: Son of Thomas Frederick Davis and Sarah Isabella (Eagles) Davis; half-brother and fourth cousin of Horatio Davis; married, November 17, 1842, to Mary Adelaide Polk (first cousin once removed of Frank Lyon Polk; second cousin once removed of James Knox Polk and William Hawkins Polk; third cousin of Marshall Tate Polk); married, May 9, 1866, to Monimia Fairfax; great-grandnephew of Samuel Ashe; cousin four different ways of John Baptista Ashe (1748-1802), John Baptista Ashe (1810-1857), Thomas Samuel Ashe and William Shepperd Ashe; cousin three different ways of Alfred Moore Waddell; second cousin twice removed of William Henry Hill.
  Political families: Ashe-Polk family of North Carolina; Polk family; Manly-Haywood-Polk family of Raleigh, North Carolina (subsets of the Four Thousand Related Politicians).
  The World War II Liberty ship SS George Davis (built 1942 at Wilmington, North Carolina; scrapped 1960) was named for him.
  See also Wikipedia article — Find-A-Grave memorial
  Abraham Kurkindolle Allison (1810-1893) — also known as Abraham K. Allison — Born in Jones County, Ga., December 10, 1810. Member of Florida territorial legislature, 1830; served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War; Governor of Florida, 1865; arrested by Federal authorities on June 19, 1865, and incarcerated with other Confederate officials at Fort Pulaski, Georgia, for six months. Died in Quincy, Gadsden County, Fla., July 8, 1893 (age 82 years, 210 days). Burial location unknown.
  Relatives: Married to Elizabeth S. Coleman.
  See also National Governors Association biography
  David Levy Yulee (1810-1886) — also known as David Levy; "Father of Florida's Railroads" — of St. Augustine, St. Johns County, Fla.; Homosassa, Citrus County, Fla. Born in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, June 12, 1810. Republican. Lawyer; delegate to Florida state constitutional convention from St. Johns County, 1838-39; Delegate to U.S. Congress from Florida Territory, 1841-45; U.S. Senator from Florida, 1845-51, 1855-61; imprisoned as a Confederate at Fort Pulaski, Fla. for a time after the Civil War. Jewish. Slaveowner. Died in New York, New York County, N.Y., October 10, 1886 (age 76 years, 120 days). Interment at Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C.
  Relatives: Son-in-law of Charles Anderson Wickliffe.
  Political family: Wickliffe-Holt family of Bardstown, Kentucky.
  Levy County, Fla. is named for him.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Wikipedia article
  W. M. Saunders — Delegate to Florida state constitutional convention from Gadsden and Liberty counties, 1868; expelled from convention. Burial location unknown.
  D. Richards — Delegate to Florida state constitutional convention from Gadsden and Liberty counties, 1868; expelled from convention. Burial location unknown.
  Louis E. Otto (d. 1931) — of Key West, Monroe County, Fla. Born in Key West, Monroe County, Fla. Republican. Pharmacist; postmaster at Key West, Fla., 1898-99; arrested in June 1899, suspended from office as postmaster, and charged with forgery, perjury, and embezzlement; mayor of Key West, Fla., 1919-21; defeated, 1917. Member, Odd Fellows; Redmen. Died in St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, Fla., November 1, 1931. Burial location unknown.
  Charles Swayne (1842-1907) — of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pa.; Pensacola, Escambia County, Fla. Born in Guyencourt, New Castle County, Del., August 10, 1842. Republican. Lawyer; candidate for justice of Florida state supreme court, 1888; U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Florida, 1889-1907; died in office 1907; impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives in December 1904; acquitted in the U.S. Senate. Died July 5, 1907 (age 64 years, 329 days). Burial location unknown.
  Cross-reference: Anthony Higgins
  See also federal judicial profile — Wikipedia article — Biographical Directory of Federal Judges
  Lena Marietta Thankful Clarke (1886-1967) — also known as Lena M. T. Clarke — of West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Fla. Born in Sheldon, Franklin County, Vt., March 1, 1886. Democrat. Postmaster at West Palm Beach, Fla., 1915-16, 1920-21 (acting, 1915-16, 1920); under suspicion for a shortage of $32,000 at the post office, she fled to Orlando, where she found Fred Miltimore, her married ex-lover, and apparently tried to get him to sign a statement confessing to the theft; when he refused, she shot and killed him; she was indicted and tried for murder, and found not guilty by reason of insanity. Female. Died in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Fla., August 5, 1967 (age 81 years, 157 days). Interment at Woodlawn Cemetery, West Palm Beach, Fla.
  Relatives: Daughter of Rev. Almon Taylor Clarke and Marietta Thankful (Whitney) Clarke; sister of John Paul Clarke.
  See also Find-A-Grave memorial
  James Lee Adams (1873-1946) — also known as James L. Adams — of Coraopolis, Allegheny County, Pa.; Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pa.; Mt. Lebanon, Allegheny County, Pa. Born in Allegheny County, Pa., May 27, 1873. Republican. Lawyer; member of Pennsylvania state house of representatives from Allegheny County 12th District, 1907-09; resigned 1909; member of Pennsylvania state senate 45th District, 1909-12; as receiver to wrap up the affairs of a defunct Pittsburgh bank, he allegedly failed to pay $22,000 owed to the city; in November 1926, he was arrested in St. Petersburg, Florida, and charged with embezzlement; released on $10,000 bond; re-arrested in December, after detectives received information that he was about to jump bail; waived extradition and voluntarily returned to Pittsburgh; the case against him was dropped in April 1927. Episcopalian. Member, Freemasons; Shriners. Died, from a heart attack, in Mt. Lebanon, Allegheny County, Pa., April 20, 1946 (age 72 years, 328 days). Interment at Allegheny County Memorial Park, Allison Park, Pa.
  Relatives: Son of William Adams and Mary Emma (Butler) Adams; married to Elise M. Campbell.
  See also Find-A-Grave memorial
  John Charles Doerfer (1904-1992) — also known as John C. Doerfer — of West Allis, Milwaukee County, Wis.; Miami, Miami-Dade County, Fla.; Boston, Suffolk County, Mass. Born in Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wis., November 30, 1904. Republican. Lawyer; member, Federal Communications Commission, 1953-60; chair, Federal Communications Commission, 1957-60; in 1960, he spent a week-long Florida vacation on the yacht Lazy Girl, owned by his friend George B. Storer, president of Storer Broadcasting; as a result, he was accused of conflict of interest and forced to resign. Died in Boston, Suffolk County, Mass., June 5, 1992 (age 87 years, 188 days). Burial location unknown.
  Relatives: Married to Ida Page.
  See also Wikipedia article
  Robert Lee Fulton Sikes (1906-1994) — also known as Robert L. F. Sikes — of Crestview, Okaloosa County, Fla. Born in Isabella, Worth County, Ga., June 3, 1906. Democrat. Newspaper publisher; member of Florida state house of representatives, 1937-40; U.S. Representative from Florida, 1941-44, 1945-79 (3rd District 1941-44, 1945-63, 1st District 1963-79); resigned 1944; delegate to Democratic National Convention from Florida, 1956 (delegation chair). Methodist. Member, Veterans of Foreign Wars; American Legion; National Rifle Association; Freemasons; Knights Templar; Shriners; Grotto; Knights of Pythias; Moose; Kiwanis; Military Order of the World Wars; Phi Kappa Phi; Sigma Delta Chi; Alpha Zeta; Alpha Gamma Rho; Elks. Reprimanded by the House of Representatives in 1976 over conflicts of interest. Died while suffering from Alzheimer's disease, September 28, 1994 (age 88 years, 117 days). Interment at Liveoak Park Memorial Cemetery, Crestview, Fla.
  Relatives: Son of Benjamin Franklin Sikes and Clara Ophelia (Ford) Sikes; married to Inez Tyner.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — NNDB dossier
  J. Herbert Burke (1913-1993) — of Hollywood, Broward County, Fla.; Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Fla. Born in Chicago, Cook County, Ill., January 14, 1913. Republican. Lawyer; served in the U.S. Army during World War II; U.S. Representative from Florida, 1967-79 (10th District 1967-73, 12th District 1973-79); defeated, 1955 (6th District), 1978 (12th District); delegate to Republican National Convention from Florida, 1972. Catholic. Member, American Legion; Eagles; Forty and Eight; Veterans of Foreign Wars; Disabled American Veterans; Elks; Moose; Kiwanis. Arrested in 1978 for being drunk and disruptive in the parking lot of a strip club; pleaded guilty to public drunkenness, disorderly conduct and witness tampering. Died in Fern Park, Seminole County, Fla., June 16, 1993 (age 80 years, 153 days). Interment at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Find-A-Grave memorial
  Richard Kelly (1924-2005) — of Florida. Born in Atlanta, Fulton County, Ga., July 31, 1924. Republican. Lawyer; circuit judge in Florida, 1960-74; U.S. Representative from Florida 5th District, 1975-81. Implicated in the Abscam sting, in which FBI agents impersonating Arab businessmen offered bribes to political figures; indicted June 13, 1980, and convicted January 26, 1981, on charges of bribery conspiracy, and interstate travel to further illegal activities; the conviction was overturned on appeal, then reinstated; served 13 months in prison. Died in Stevensville, Ravalli County, Mont., August 22, 2005 (age 81 years, 22 days). Burial location unknown.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Wikipedia article — NNDB dossier
  Ernest Page — of Orlando, Orange County, Fla. Orlando City Commissioner, 1980-83, 1996-2005; in 1983, he was indicted and convicted of grand theft involving stolen equipment, and served eight months in jail; mayor of Orlando, Fla., 2005. African ancestry. Still living as of 2005.
  Alcee Lamar Hastings (1936-2021) — also known as Alcee L. Hastings — of Miramar, Broward County, Fla. Born in Altamonte Springs, Seminole County, Fla., September 5, 1936. Democrat. U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida, 1979-89; candidate for secretary of state of Florida, 1990; U.S. Representative from Florida 23rd District, 1993-; delegate to Democratic National Convention from Florida, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008. African Methodist Episcopal. African ancestry. Member, Kappa Alpha Psi. Impeached and removed from office as federal judge in 1989 over bribery charges. Died, from pancreatic cancer, in Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Fla., April 6, 2021 (age 84 years, 213 days). Cremated.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — NNDB dossier — Find-A-Grave memorial
  John Quinn Brisben (1934-2012) — also known as J. Quinn Brisben — of Chicago, Cook County, Ill. Born in Enid, Garfield County, Okla., September 6, 1934. Socialist. School teacher; poet; candidate for Vice President of the United States, 1976; briefly jailed in Florida as a result of his participation in a disability rights demonstration in Orlando, Fla., 1992; candidate for President of the United States, 1992. Member, American Federation of Teachers. Died in Chicago, Cook County, Ill., April 17, 2012 (age 77 years, 224 days). Burial location unknown.
  See also Wikipedia article
  Lawrence Jack Smith (b. 1941) — also known as Lawrence J. Smith; Larry Smith — of Hollywood, Broward County, Fla. Born in Brooklyn, Kings County, N.Y., April 25, 1941. Democrat. Lawyer; member of Florida state house of representatives, 1979-82; delegate to Democratic National Convention from Florida, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 2004; U.S. Representative from Florida 16th District, 1983-93. Sentenced in 1993 to three months in federal prison for tax evasion. Still living as of 2014.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — NNDB dossier
  Alberto Gutman (b. 1959) — also known as Al Gutman — of Florida. Born in Havana (La Habana), Cuba, January 4, 1959. Republican. Member of Florida state house of representatives, 1984-92; member of Florida state senate 34th District, 1992-99. Jewish. Cuban ancestry. Member, Phi Theta Kappa; Phi Kappa Phi; B'nai B'rith; Freemasons. In 1999, he was indicted, along with his wife and 23 others, on charges of Medicaid fraud and conspiracy; pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy charges that he helped set up home health care companies that never did any legitimate business, got names of purported patients from voter lists, and received over $800,000 in Medicare payments; resigned from the Florida Senate as part of the plea bargain; sentenced in 2000 to five years in prison, fined, and ordered to pay restitution. Still living as of 1999.
  W. D. Childers (born c.1934) — Born about 1934. Member of Florida state senate, 1980; Escambia County Commissioner. Convicted in 2002 of violating the Florida Sunshine Law by discussing public business in private with other other county commissioners; served 38 days in prison; convicted in 2003 of bribery; sentenced to 3.5 years in prison; free pending appeal. Still living as of 2006.
  Steven Effman (b. 1950) — also known as Steve Effman — of Sunrise, Broward County, Fla. Born in New York, New York County, N.Y., October 13, 1950. Democrat. Lawyer; mayor of Sunrise, Fla., 1993-96; member of Florida state house of representatives 98th District, 1997-; delegate to Democratic National Convention from Florida, 2000. Jewish. Member, B'nai B'rith. Admitted in 2003 to inappropriate relationships with three divorce clients; suspended from the practice of law for 91 days. Still living as of 2003.
  Relatives: Married to Barbara S. Effman.
  Arthur E. Teele (1946-2005) — also known as Art Teele — of Florida. Born in Prince George's County, Md., May 14, 1946. Republican. Served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam war; lawyer; director, U.S. Urban Mass Transportation Administration, 1981-83; candidate for Presidential Elector for Florida; as Miami city commissioner in 1997-2004, he chaired the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA); an investigation of corruption in the agency, started in 2003, led to charges that he had accepted $135,000 in kickbacks from two construction companies; as a result, he was removed from office in 2004 by Gov. Jeb Bush; in August, 2004, when he and his wife were under surveillance, he drove his car at a police detective in an attempt to run him over, and also threatened to kill police officers who had been following his wife during the investigation; convicted in March 2005 on charges related to this incident; indicted on July 14, 2005, on federal conspiracy and money laundering charges, over a scheme to fraudulently obtain contracts for electrical work at the Miami International Airport through a "minority-owned" shell company; published police reports revealed that he had put his mistress on the CRA payroll, that he regularly bought and used cocaine, and that he frequently made use of a male prostitute. Church of God in Christ. African ancestry. Member, Kappa Alpha Psi; NAACP; Freemasons. Came to the offices of the Miami Herald newspaper, and shot himself in the head with a semiautomatic pistol; he died two hours later in the trauma unit of Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, Miami-Dade County, Fla., July 27, 2005 (age 59 years, 74 days). Interment at Culley's MeadowWood Memorial Park, Tallahassee, Fla.
  Relatives: Married to Stephanie Kerr.
  See also Wikipedia article — OurCampaigns candidate detail
  John Hugh Dyer Jr. — also known as Buddy Dyer — of Orlando, Orange County, Fla. Born in Orlando, Orange County, Fla. Democrat. Lawyer; member of Florida state senate, 1993-2003; delegate to Democratic National Convention from Florida, 1996, 2004, 2008; candidate for Florida state attorney general, 2002; mayor of Orlando, Fla., 2003-05, 2005-; indicted March 10, 2005, for illegally paying a campaign worker to collect absentee ballots in the 2004 mayoral election; suspended from office as mayor; on April 20, the charges were dropped, and he was reinstated; candidate for Presidential Elector for Florida. Member, Order of the Coif; Phi Delta Phi. Still living as of 2012.
  See also Wikipedia article
  Mark Adam Foley (b. 1954) — also known as Mark A. Foley — of West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Fla. Born in Newton, Middlesex County, Mass., September 8, 1954. Republican. Real estate agent; member of Florida state house of representatives, 1990-92; defeated, 1986; member of Florida state senate, 1993-94; U.S. Representative from Florida 16th District, 1995-2006; resigned 2006. Catholic. Gay. Forced to resign in September, 2006, over sexually explicit messages he had sent to teenage Congressional pages; no criminal charges were filed. Still living as of 2014.
  See also congressional biography — Govtrack.us page — Wikipedia article — NNDB dossier
"Enjoy the hospitable entertainment of a political graveyard."
Henry L. Clinton, Apollo Hall, New York City, February 3, 1872
The Political Graveyard

The Political Graveyard is a web site about U.S. political history and cemeteries. Founded in 1996, it is the Internet's most comprehensive free source for American political biography, listing 320,919 politicians, living and dead.
 
  The coverage of this site includes (1) the President, Vice President, members of Congress, elected state and territorial officeholders in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories; and the chief elected official, typically the mayor, of qualifying municipalities; (2) candidates at election, including primaries, for any of the above; (3) all federal judges and all state appellate judges; (4) certain federal officials, including the federal cabinet, diplomatic chiefs of mission, consuls, U.S. district attorneys, collectors of customs and internal revenue, members of major federal commissions; and political appointee (pre-1969) postmasters of qualifying communities; (5) state and national political party officials, including delegates, alternate delegates, and other participants in national party nominating conventions; (6) Americans who served as "honorary" consuls for other nations before 1950. Note: municipalities or communities "qualify", for Political Graveyard purposes, if they have at least half a million person-years of history, inclusive of predecessor, successor, and merged entities.  
  The listings are incomplete; development of the database is a continually ongoing project.  
  Information on this page — and on all other pages of this site — is believed to be accurate, but is not guaranteed. Users are advised to check with other sources before relying on any information here.  
  The official URL for this page is: https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/FL/trouble.html.  
  Links to this or any other Political Graveyard page are welcome, but specific page addresses may sometimes change as the site develops.  
  If you are searching for a specific named individual, try the alphabetical index of politicians.  
Copyright notices: (1) Facts are not subject to copyright; see Feist v. Rural Telephone. (2) Politician portraits displayed on this site are 70-pixel-wide monochrome thumbnail images, which I believe to constitute fair use under applicable copyright law. Where possible, each image is linked to its online source. However, requests from owners of copyrighted images to delete them from this site are honored. (3) Original material, programming, selection and arrangement are © 1996-2023 Lawrence Kestenbaum. (4) This work is also licensed for free non-commercial re-use, with attribution, under a Creative Commons License.
Site information: The Political Graveyard is created and maintained by Lawrence Kestenbaum, who is solely responsible for its structure and content. — The mailing address is The Political Graveyard, P.O. Box 2563, Ann Arbor MI 48106. — This site is hosted by HDL. — The Political Graveyard opened on July 1, 1996; the last full revision was done on March 8, 2023.

Creative 
Commons License Follow polgraveyard on Twitter [Amazon.com]