Toni Jennings

Antoinette Jennings (born May 17, 1949) is an American politician who was the 16th lieutenant governor of Florida.

She was nominated to the office by Governor Jeb Bush in February 2003 to replace Frank Brogan, who resigned to become president of Florida Atlantic University. She was sworn in on March 3, 2003, becoming the first woman to hold the office.^[2] She declined to run for governor in 2006 even though she was reputed to be Bush's preferred choice as his successor.

After the 2006 elections, Jennings was replaced as lieutenant governor by Jeff Kottkamp, on January 2, 2007.

Jennings previously served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1976 to 1980, and in the Florida Senate, from 1980 to 2000. In 1994, when Orange County chairman Linda Chapin announced she was not seeking re-election, she failed to convince Jennings to return to Orlando and campaign for the office herself. Instead, she remained in Tallahassee to be elected by her Senate peers to be president of the Florida senate—the only person to have held that office for two terms, from 1996 to 2000. In 2000, legislative term limits came into effect, having been instituted by a constitutional referendum taken several years earlier. Jennings was thereafter prohibited from seeking reelection.

Before entering public service, Jennings was an elementary school teacher. During and after her tenure in the legislature, she also ran the family construction business. She is a graduate of Wesleyan College.

Como vicegobernadora, trabajó en las relaciones legislativas para Bush, en política educativa, preparación ante huracanes, ayuda en casos de desastre y asuntos relacionados con la Costa Espacial en Florida.

Se incorporó al consejo de administración de FPL un mes después de dejar su cargo en 2007.

Jennings respaldó al exgobernador de Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, en las elecciones primarias presidenciales de 2008.

• Lista de mujeres vicegobernadoras en los Estados Unidos

• Biografía en el Salón de la Fama de las Mujeres de Florida