U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Clermont, Florida’s longest serving elected official, has announced that he will retire at the end of the current congressional session.
Webster, 77, has served in the U.S. House for eight terms. District 11, his current district, has included part of northern Polk County since the 2022 redistricting, as well as all or part of Sumter, Lake and Orange counties.
Webster first gained election to the Florida House in 1980 and remained until 1998 in the era before legislative term limits. He was speaker of the House for his final term.
Moving to the Florida Senate, Webster served from 1998 to 2008. He won election to Florida’s District 8 in the U.S. House in 2010, defeating Democrat Alan Grayson.
Webster made the announcement April 28, one day after his 77th birthday.
“After much prayerful consideration and discussion with my beloved wife Sandy, I have decided not to seek re-election to the United States House of Representatives,” Webster said in a news release. “It has been an honor and privilege to represent my beloved state in the U.S. House of Representatives. I’ve never taken for granted my responsibility to Florida’s hardworking taxpayers and families to advance common-sense reforms and principled policy. The time has come to pass the torch to the next conservative leader and spend more precious time with my wife, children and 24 grandchildren.”
Webster has been a staunch ally and supporter of President Donald Trump. He serves on the House committees on Transportation and Infrastructure; Natural Resources; and Science, Space and Technology.
He is one of at least 36 Republicans in the U.S. House who do not plan to seek reelection, according to Ballotpedia.
Webster’s office has intervened to have nearly $32 million returned to constituents from federal agencies including the VA, Social Security, IRS and Medicare in compensation, pension or retroactive payments, the news release said.
“I ran for office because I wanted to change public policy. Fighting to protect our freedoms, values, life and liberty; lower taxes; invest in our veterans and active-duty military, infrastructure and precious ecosystems has energized me every day,” Webster said in the release. “To have been part of the development and passage of some most significant legislation in our time is something I will forever treasure.”
Webster survived something of a scare in the 2022 election, when far-right activist Laura Loomer challenged him in the Republican primary for District 11. Webster prevailed by 51% to 44%.
As of April 28, nine other candidates had filed to run in District 11 — before Gov. Ron DeSantis released his proposal for revised U.S. House district boundaries.
The candidates listed on the Federal Election Commission website include four Democrats: Barbie Harden Hall of Mount Dora, Royal Webster of Winter Garden, Shawn Bettis of Nokomis and Dan Williams of Orlando.
Four Republicans have filed: Ivette Palomo of Bushnell, Michael Wilnau of Fort McCoy, Tim Wilkins of Ocoee and Antonette Harmon of Orange Park.
There is one Libertarian candidate, Ralph Groves of Ocoee.
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: US Rep. Daniel Webster says he will not seek ninth term
Reporting by Gary White, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
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