Okaloosa House candidate Hinkle files digital defamation lawsuit nwfdailynews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nwfdailynews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
FORT WALTON BEACH State Rep. Ray Sansom and state Sen. Don Gaetz were seated at the end of a long conference table, meeting as they often did with the Northwest Florida Daily News editorial board, when Sansom received the call notifying him that he had been designated to serve as Speaker of the House during the 2009-10 legislative sessions.
It was hard to tell, on that day in 2005, which of the two men was happier when Sansom shared the news.
Gaetz and Sansom were friends and political allies before either attained state office. In 2000, after Sansom lost his first race for the Florida House to veteran politician Jerry Melvin, Gaetz, then-Okaloosa County s School Superintendent, hired him as the school district s director of community affairs.