"Many don’t know that Bill Young was once the minority leader in the Florida Senate...because he was the only Republican senator."
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In this 1961 photo, Sen. C. W. Bill Young and Rep. James T. Russell describe a compromise dealing with fishing to the Florida Cabinet. Photo courtesy State Archives of Florida.
Was C.W. Bill Young ever the only Republican in the Florida Senate?
U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young announced he will not seek re-election in 2014, setting off tributes from Florida politicos to the Pinellas County Republican’s 53-year career in public office.
One tweet about Young’s early years caught our eye.
"Many don’t know that Bill Young was once the minority leader in the Florida Senate," tweeted Chris Latvala, a Republican running for the Florida House and son of Sen. Jack Latvala, "because he was the only Republican senator."
It’s an interesting claim, if for no other reason than the Senate for the past decade has been dominated by Republicans.
We did not have to go far to confirm Latvala’s tweet. All it took was a trip to the Tampa Bay Times library, which keeps records on local candidates and officials and state handbooks from way back in the day.
Young identified himself as the minority leader of the Florida Senate in an undated questionnaire that includes this key line: "In 1960, at age 29, elected as the youngest Senator and the only Republican Senator in Florida."
Young was elected to the Democrat-controlled Senate in 1960 and was the sole Republican member. He was re-elected in subsequent years, serving through 1970 when he won his first congressional election.
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