Garrison Gets Nod as Next House Speaker

• By Jim Turner, News Service Florida
• October 9, 2025

Rep. Sam Garrison, R-Fleming Island, was formally designated Thursday to become the next House speaker.

Tom Urban

TALLAHASSEE --- House Republicans on Thursday formally designated Rep. Sam Garrison to succeed House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, after the 2026 elections.

During a designation ceremony in the House chamber, Garrison, a Fleming Island attorney, didn’t provide specifics about legislation he would pursue as speaker, one of the most-powerful positions in the state. He called Florida the “envy of the nation,” while warning against complacency among Republicans who hold a supermajority in the House.

“Our challenge ain’t the Democrats, it’s us,” Garrison, 49, told House Republicans.

“Our communities sent us here. They sent you here. And they sent us here for a reason. It is to be their voice. To bring our collective experiences to bear in addressing the challenges, and seizing the opportunities, we face as a state,” he said.

Garrison, who spent a decade as an assistant state attorney in the 4th Judicial Circuit in Northeast Florida, also warned against using time in Tallahassee for “political performance art.”

While Garrison was formally designated Thursday, he had long ago collected enough support to become speaker. Republicans are able to choose the next speaker because of their majority in the House, where they hold 85 of the 120 seats.

Senate Republicans next week are scheduled to formally designate Bradenton Republican Jim Boyd to become the next Senate president. Boyd, the current Senate majority leader, will replace President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, after the 2026 elections.

Garrison told reporters after Thursday’s designation the big issue is to “keep our economic engine humming.”

Perez has drawn attention for sometimes publicly clashing with Gov. Ron DeSantis on issues and presided over a budget standoff with the Senate that led to the 2025 legislative session ending more than a month late.

Asked if he will follow Perez’ example in pushing ideas, Garrison replied that “there's always going to be creative tension across the rotunda (with the Senate) and with the executive.”

“It is not a bad thing for the House and the Senate to have disagreements,” Garrison said. “I think it's a good thing. Ultimately, the end product is what matters.”

He also said the legislative process is designed to “be messy.”

“It's designed to have debate. And the speaker (Perez) is not afraid of that. I'm not afraid of that. The governor's certainly not afraid of that. The Senate’s not afraid of that,” Garrison said. “We're going to wrestle with these sorts of things. At the end of the day, we're going to have a balanced budget that reflects the priorities of Florida.”

Garrison, who is chairman of the Rules & Ethics Committee, has helped shepherd high-profile legislation, such as a 2024 measure intended to prevent homeless people from sleeping on public property, including at public buildings and in public rights of way. In part, the law made it easier for residents and business owners to file lawsuits against local governments that allow people to sleep or camp on public property.

Rep. Demi Busatta, R-Coral Gables, described Garrison as “a man of his word, and in the face of adversity, he will never compromise who he is and what this chamber stands for.”

During the ceremony, Garrison presented House Republicans with copies of the Federalist Papers that included leather-bound bookmarks made from chairs that until last year had been used in the House for a quarter-century.

“As designation gifts go, it is not the fanciest, but it is intentional and I hope it proves as meaningful to you, as it has to me,” Garrison said.

Garrison will be the first speaker from Clay County since Republican John Thrasher, who led the House during the 1999 and 2000 legislative sessions. Thrasher, who went on to serve as president of Florida State University, died in May at age 81.

“The last conversation I had with Speaker Thrasher was in March of this year at opening day (of the legislative session),” Garrison said. “Standing beside my desk amidst the noise and the crowd, he told me he had one more opening day in him, and how proud he was of what that day would mean for me, for my family, and for Clay County.”

Garrison also noted how the leadership time will go quickly, pointing to Rep. Jennifer Canady, a Lakeland Republican who is slated to become House speaker after the 2028 elections.

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