Coral Springs Rep. Dan Daley forgoes state Senate run to seek House reelection
Coral Springs’ voice in the Florida House of Representatives, Dan Daley, has opted not to run for state Senate and will instead pursue one more term in the House before term limits set in.
Daley, a Democrat representing House District 96, said he was exploring whether to run for his colleague Tina Polsky’s seat covering Senate District 30 after she announced she wouldn’t seek reelection.
“For years I prepared seriously to run for this seat. I built relationships throughout the district, worked with local leaders and invested time into communities that I believed deserved strong and authentic representation,” Daley said in a statement.
But after conversations with community leaders and residents, he said he decided not to run.
Daley graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and worked as a prosecutor before becoming a Coral Springs commissioner in 2012, serving until he was elected to the state House in 2019.
“Over the last several weeks, it became clear that the path forward for a local, community-driven campaign had narrowed considerably due to decisions being made well outside the neighborhoods and communities this district was created to represent,” Daley said.
In Polsky’s announcement, she endorsed Lauren Book, a Florida Senator from 2016 to 2024 who represented parts of Broward County before she reached consecutive term limits.
Florida legislators can serve for no more than eight consecutive years, which shakes out to two terms for state senators and four terms for House reps. After they sit out, they’re eligible to run again.
Since Book announced her candidacy, endorsements from local elected officials have begun pouring in, including from U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, Broward Mayor Mark Bogen, Broward County Commissioner Michael Udine and Florida Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman.
The political shuffling for state seats ahead of November’s election coincides with a similar situation over who will represent Florida at the federal level, following recently redrawn congressional maps.