Charlie Sembler

Sembler was born in Orlando, Florida,^[1] and worked for his family's seafood and nursery business. In 1987, Governor Bob Martinez appointed Sembler to a vacant seat on the Sebastian Inlet Tax District Commission,^[2] and he was re-elected unopposed in 1988.^[3]

In 1990, Republican State Representative Dale Patchett declined to seek re-election, and Sembler ran to succeed him in the 78th district, which included parts of Brevard, Indian River, and St. Lucie counties, and resigned from the Tax District Commission.^[4] He faced six candidates in the Republican primary: Vero Beach City Councilwoman Molly Beard, businessmen Zack Fulmer and Charlie Wilson, anti-abortion activist Caroline Ginn, insurance agent Tim Keegan, and businessman Allen Miller.^[5] Sembler placed first in the primary with 29 percent of the vote, but because no candidate received a majority, he proceeded to a runoff election with Ginn,^[6] who placed second with 24 percent of the vote.^[7] In the runoff election, Sembler narrowly defeated Ginn, receiving 53 percent of the vote to her 47 percent.^[8] He advanced to the general election, where he faced Democratic nominee Richard Graves, a citrus businessman and former member of the Florida Citrus Commission.^[9] Though Graves outspent Sembler,^[10] Sembler defeated him by a wide margin, winning 55 percent of the vote.^[11]

Following the reconfiguration of Florida's legislative districts after the 1990 Census, Sembler ran for re-election in the 80th district, which included eastern Indian River County and Fort Pierce in St. Lucie County.^[12] He was the only candidate to file and was re-elected unopposed.^[13]

Sembler was re-elected without opposition in 1994,^[14] 1996,^[15] and 1998.^[16] In 2000, Sembler faced term limits and could not run for re-election to a sixth term.^[17]

In 2000, facing term limits, Sembler announced that he would run for Indian River County Tax Collector to succeed retiring Tax Collector Karl Zimmerman.^[18] No other candidates filed to run against him, and Sembler was elected unopposed.^[19] During Sembler's first term, he sold tax certificates to investors and pursued delinquent taxpayers to pay off the $5 million owed in 2004 back taxes.^[20] Sembler ran for re-election in 2004 and won unopposed.^[21] He declined to seek a third term in 2008, citing a need to return to his family's commercial fishing and nursery business.^[22]