Carole Green

Green was born in Vandalia, Illinois. She attended the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiation Oncology at Washington University and worked as a radiation therapist. She moved to Florida in 1987,^[1] and began volunteering at the county hospital, and served as the chairwoman of the fundraising board at the county's children's hospital.

In 1994, Green ran for the Lee County Hospital Board of Directors from District 2, which included eastern Cape Coral and western Fort Myers. She challenged incumbent Board members Mark Abels and Frances Fenning for re-election, along with James English, a retired Episcopal priest. Green waged an active campaign, outraising her opponents and conducting door-to-door canvassing.^[2] Green and English ultimately prevailed,^[3] with Green receiving 36 percent of the vote to English's 23 percent, Fenning's 22 percent, and Abels's 19 percent.^[4]

In 1998, Republican State Representative Ralph Livingston opted to run for the State Senate rather than seek re-election to the State House. Green ran to succeed him in the 75th district, which included Bonita Springs, southeastern Cape Coral, southern Fort Myers, and northern Collier County.^[5] She faced former Lee County Commissioner Donald Slisher and engineer Laurie Swanson in the Republican primary.^[6] Green won by a wide margin, receiving 56 percent of the vote to Slisher's 23 percent and Swanson's 21 percent,^[7] avoiding the need for a runoff election. Because no other candidates filed, Green won the general ele^[8]

Green ran for re-election in 2000 and faced only a write-in campaign from Mark Nerenstone, the former Chairman of the Lee County Democratic Party, who qualified for the ballot as "Mark" to avoid voter confusion over his last name.^[9] She won re-election easily, receiving 99.7 percent of the vote.^[10] In 2004, she was challenged by attorney Aaron O'Brien, the Libertarian nominee.^[11] She defeated O'Brien in a landslide, winning 82 percent of the vote to his 18 percent.^[12]