Steven Effman

Effman ran for a seat on the Sunrise City Commission in 1981, defeating incumbent Commissioner C. Murray Gold.^[2]

In 1982, following the retirement of Democratic State Representative Terry O'Malley, Effman ran to succeed him in the 90th District,^[3] and resigned from his seat on the City Commission.^[4] However, he was defeated in the Democratic primary by attorney Peter Deutsch, who won the general election.^[5]

After Sunrise City Commissioner John Montgomery was convicted of extortion and tax evasion and removed from office by Governor Bob Graham in 1985, Effman won the 1986 special election to succeed him, and returned to the City Commission.^[6] He was re-elected in 1987^[7] and 1991.^[8]

Effman ran for Mayor of Sunrise in 1993, and faced former Mayor John Lomelo, who was previously convicted of conspiracy to commit extortion.^[9] Effman defeated Lomelo in a landslide.^[10]

In 1996, incumbent Democratic State Representative Steven Feren opted to run fro the State Senate rather than seek re-election, and Effman ran to succeed him in the 98th District,^[11] and was elected unopposed.^[12] Effman was re-elected in 1998 without opposition.^[13]

Effman declined to seek re-election to a third term in 2000.^[14] Earlier in the year, news broke that Effman had engaged in a sexual relationship with a woman he represented in a divorce case and entered into a confidential settlement to pay her $150,000.^[15] Following Effman's announcement that he would not seek re-election, two other former clients alleged that Effman had entered into sexual relationships with them.^[16]

After finding that Effman had engaged in three sexual relationships with former clients, the Florida Supreme Court suspended Effman from the practice of law for 91 days, effective April 21, 2003.^[17]