State Rep. Fred Hawkins, a staunch ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis, was selected Wednesday by South Florida State College trustees to succeed retiring school President Thomas Leitzel.
Hawkins, who has served in the House since 2020, was the lone finalist for the position. Details of Hawkins’ proposed contract will not be available until a June 21 meeting of the trustees, a South Florida State College spokeswoman said.
Leitzel is set to retire on June 30, and Hawkins is expected to assume the presidency on July 3, pending approval of a contract.
Hawkins did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday. But last month, after he was named the sole finalist, Hawkins suggested that his time as an elected official would soon end.
“Pages turn and new chapters begin. I am looking forward to becoming the next President of South Florida State College. My time as an elected official has been a highlight of my life, especially serving in the Florida House,” Hawkins said in a May 10 Twitter post.
Hawkins served from 2008 to 2020 on the Osceola County Commission. DeSantis suspended him in July 2020 after Hawkins was charged with impersonating a law-enforcement officer. Hawkins went on to get elected to the House in November 2020.
During a special legislative session this year, Hawkins sponsored the bill that gave DeSantis authority to appoint the board of Disney World’s Reedy Creek Improvement District, renamed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
A DeSantis spokesman did not reply to a request for comment Wednesday about Hawkins’ selection as president of the college, which has campuses in Highlands, DeSoto and Hardee counties.
Critics of Hawkins’ selection have suggested the pick was purely political.
“Another GOP politician with no real qualifications for a job like this being appointed to lead a college. Higher education institutions shouldn’t serve as job placement plans for political cronies. The grift is real,” Thomas Kennedy, a Florida member of the Democratic National Committee, wrote on Twitter.
Three candidates in recent weeks have filed paperwork to run for Hawkins’ House District 35 seat in Osceola and Orange counties. The candidates filed to run in the 2024 election. But with Hawkins vacating the seat, DeSantis likely will call a special election to determine a replacement.
Republican Demetries Andrew Grimes and Democrat Tom Keen opened campaign accounts in May, while Democrat Rishi Bagga launched a campaign account on Monday.
