Jennifer Carroll

Jennifer Sandra Carroll (née Johnson; born August 27, 1959) is a Trinidadian-born American politician who was the 18th Lieutenant Governor of the U.S. state of Florida. The first black American and the first woman elected to the position, she assumed the office on January 4, 2011.
She was the first black person elected lieutenant governor of Florida, and the first black person elected to statewide office in Florida since Reconstruction. Carroll previously served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2003 until 2010. She is the bestselling author of an autobiography, “When You Get There.”
The New York Times reported that Carroll's tenure as lieutenant governor was "marred by scandal and poor judgment" and she was "increasingly viewed as an embarrassment to the man who chose her for the job." She resigned her post as lieutenant governor on March 12, 2013, at the request of Governor Rick Scott. Florida Department of Law Enforcement concluded that she did not break any laws.

Carroll as a U.S. Navy officer.

Carroll was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. She moved to the United States at the age of eight, and graduated from Uniondale High School in Uniondale, Long Island New York in 1977. She enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1979. After serving as an aviation machinist's mate (jet engine mechanic), she was selected for the Enlisted Commissioning Program, becoming an Aviation Maintenance Duty Officer in 1985. She retired from the U.S. Navy in 1999 as a lieutenant commander.

In 1981, she received an Associate of Arts degree from Leeward Community College. She followed this in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of New Mexico. She moved to Florida in 1986. She received a Master of Business Administration degree from unaccredited and now defunct Kensington University in 1995. Carroll resigned her position on the National Commission of Presidential Scholars to accept a presidential appointment to the Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission. She then returned to school to earn an accredited Master of Business Administration degree online from St. Leo University in 2008.

Carroll is a member of the Clay County Republican Executive Committee. In 2000, she ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the Florida's 3rd congressional district. Incumbent Democrat U.S. Congresswoman Corrine Brown defeated Carroll 58%–42%. After redistricting, she ran for a rematch against Brown in the newly redrawn 3rd district in 2002. Brown defeated her 59%–41%.

Following her defeat in the 2000 election, she was appointed Executive Director of the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs by Republican Governor Jeb Bush and served in that post until July 2002. Republican President George W. Bush appointed Carroll to the Commission on Presidential Scholars from 2001 to 2004, and then a seat on the Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission from 2004 to 2007.

She is one of the founders of Maggie's List.

Elections

Carroll ran for a seat Florida House of Representatives in the 13th state House district after incumbent State Representative Mike Hogan, also a Republican, resigned in 2003. In the April 2003 special election, she won the Republican primary with 65.5 percent of the vote, defeating Linda Sparks, who won 34.5 percent of the vote. She became the first African-American female Republican ever elected to the Florida Legislature. She won unopposed in 2004, 2006, and 2008.

Committee assignments

Carroll was appointed Deputy Majority Leader from 2003–2004, and served as Majority Whip in 2004–2006. She was Vice Chair of the Transportation and Economic Development Committee (2003–2004), Chair of the Finance Committee (2006–2008) and Chair of the Economic and Development Council (2008–2010).

Carroll's husband is Nolan Carroll, a retired senior master sergeant in the United States Air Force and together they have three children. Her son, Nolan Carroll II, played college football for the University of Maryland, and is now a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.