J. W. Grant

James W. "J.W." Grant (born September 20, 1982) is a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 64th District, which includes northern Hillsborough County and northern Pinellas County, since 2015, previously serving in the House from 2010 to 2014.

Grant was born in Tampa, to John A. Grant, Jr., a former member of the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate. He attended Auburn University, from which he graduated with a degree in marketing in 2006. After graduation, Grant was a student at the Stetson College of Law, receiving his Juris Doctor in 2009.

When incumbent State Representative Kevin Ambler could not seek another term in the House due to term limits and instead decided to unsuccessfully run for the Florida State Senate, Grant ran to succeed him in the 47th District, which included parts of Hillsborough County. In the Republican primary, Grant ran against Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair, Irene Guy, and Tom Aderhold. He ultimately emerged victorious with a 37% plurality and moved onto the general election, where he faced former congressional candidate Michael Steinberg, the Democratic nominee. Grant dispatched Steinberg without much difficulty, winning 59% of the vote.

In 2012, when Florida House districts were redrawn, Grant opted to run in the newly created 45th District, which included most of the territory he had previously represented in the 47th District, but added parts of Pinellas County. He was unopposed in both the Republican primary and the general election, winning his second term uncontested.

While in the legislature, Grant encountered legislation that aimed to prevent abuses at unlicensed religious children's homes, following an investigation that the Tampa Bay Times did that revealed that "virtually anyone can claim a list of religious ideals, take in children and subject them to punishment and isolation that verge on torture--so long as they quote chapter and verse to justify it." After legislation was proposed that would require the Florida Association of Christian Child Caring Agencies (FACCCA) to disclose information about homes that they accredited, Grant authored an amendment that would "remove any new requirements of FACCCA," citing inefficiences within Florida state government, but the amendment was ultimately unsuccessful.

In 2014, Grant ran for re-election, and was opposed by Miriam Steinberg in the Republican primary. Because a write-in candidate, Daniel John Matthews, also filed to run for the seat, the primary between Grant and Steinberg was closed to only registered Republicans. Steinberg's husband filed a lawsuit to disqualify Matthews from the ballot, as he did not live in the district at the time of qualifying, as the law required. A circuit court judge agreed, and removed Matthews from the ballot, opening the Republican primary to all registered voters in the district, invalidating the results of the closed Republican primary that would be held in August, and putting the election on the general election ballot in November. Grant won the election over Steinberg handily, winning 60% of the vote to her 40%, but an appeals court ruled that Matthews was improperly removed from the ballot, so the Florida House of Representatives voted to invalidate the results and declare the seat vacant.

Governor Rick Scott then called for a special election to be held in the district. Grant, Steinberg, and Matthews all planned on running in the special election, but Steinberg refused to pay the qualifying fee for the special election, as she claimed that the qualifying fee that she paid for the invalidated election should have transferred, so she did not qualify to run, so Grant won the Republican primary unopposed, and advanced to the general election, where he faced Matthews. The Tampa Tribune criticized the complex legal situation that caused the special election to occur, and called Matthews' candidacy "a sham and affront to our electoral process," and ultimately endorsed Grant, praising him for representing the district well. Ultimately, Grant defeated Matthews in a landslide, winning 91% of the vote and returning to the legislature.

During the campaign, speculation abounded that Grant, who ordinarily would have been term-limited in 2018 had the 2014 general election results been valid, would be able to run for re-election until 2024 under the state's term limits laws, and that Grant would be an attractive candidate for Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives for the 2022-2024 legislative term. Grant refused to address the speculation, noting, "My focus is on getting re-elected. Anything else is a distraction."