Florida House Republicans in October formally selected Rep. Sam Garrison, R-Fleming Island, to become House speaker after the 2026 elections. Garrison, 49, an attorney who was first elected to the House in 2020, represents House District 11 in Clay County. He serves as chairman of the Rules & Ethics Committee and will succeed Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami.
The News Service has five questions for Sam Garrison, with questions and responses edited for length and clarity.
Q: In your address when you were formally designated as the next speaker, you made a point of warning Republican members about becoming complacent. Is there anything you have seen that warranted that warning?
GARRISON: I was referring to human nature. People who know me know I'm a lover of history, and I know, just from my life experience, as well as looking throughout history, that when you have periods of great success, building towards that success is one talent.
Staying at that level after you've had success is another challenge altogether.
And we've had such incredible success as Republicans in the Florida Legislature the entire time I've been here, since I moved to Florida in 2001, I think it's helpful for us periodically to reflect on the fact that we need to rededicate ourselves to not just enjoying the successes that people who came before us built.
Q: In your address, you also described the legislative process as messy. Are you working already with your counterpart, incoming Senate President Jim Boyd, so we don't have the budget disagreements that we saw in the past?
GARRISON: I don't think messy is a bad word when it comes to the legislative process. I think it's messy by design. I think the best product comes through debate between the chambers.
I'm a House guy through and through, but I don't claim to have a monopoly on good ideas.
So it does not bother me in the slightest to talk about the fact that we're going to have robust debate, and we're going to try to pass the best product we can out of the House.
I expect Senate President-designate Boyd and the Senate are going to try to make our bills better. We're certainly going to try to make their bills better, because ultimately we're trying to get to that end result where we have the best possible work product.
Senate President-designate Boyd is just a great human being. He's a great friend. I really have enjoyed our partnership in the Legislature in the years preceding our time as (leaders) designate. We communicate regularly.
I expect, as presiding officers, that friendship and that mutual respect shouldn't be interpreted as meaning that we're not going to scrutinize each chamber's work product. I hope they will scrutinize ours, and I tend to scrutinize theirs. That's why we're here.
Q: Looking ahead, you have the 2026 legislative session coming up before you take over in November. Gov. Ron DeSantis already has a number of priorities, such as redistricting and tax cuts. Where do you see the 2026 session going?
GARRISON: The short answer is I don't know. Speaker Perez and I have a very close relationship. I appreciate his friendship incredibly. He's a straight shooter. The governor is a straight shooter. Senate President (Ben) Albritton has been very clear about the things he cares about.
You know, I think everybody's going to fight for the stuff they care about.
The House is going to focus very much on trying to rein in government spending. I saw Senate President Albritton proposed a … “rural renaissance” (plan) over in the Senate. … The governor cares very much about issues related to artificial intelligence. Property tax, obviously, a major issue for him, it’s a major issue for the House as well.
I think when you have strong leaders who care passionately about the things they care about, you're going to have a very robust debate. And I don't expect this year to be any different in that regard.
Q: You haven’t made an endorsement for governor. You're in charge of running the campaigns for the House. Do you see the governor’s race impacting those contests?
GARRISON: I'm a big believer in keeping the main thing the main thing, and the main thing for me is protecting and growing our conservative Republican majority in the House in campaign season.
And then campaigns are going to end in November of next year and I guarantee you that we're going to have a Republican governor who I'm going to work extraordinarily close with and work hard to make them successful.
My responsibility as speaker is, number one, to protect the institution. Number two, to work with our counterparts in the Senate and the governor's office to advance our joint agenda, things we care about and make, especially with the new governor, to make that person successful. And I'm going to focus on that. I haven't gotten involved in endorsements or things like that.
It’s not that I don’t have an opinion, I just want to keep them to myself. And I am excited to work with whoever wins that race. … (You) obviously can't take the politics out of politics. It's an election year coming up. Certainly the House is mindful of that. Our members are mindful of that. I'm mindful of that.
But my focus is on taking care of the men and women of House District 11, Clay County, and then serving the 80-plus members of my (Republican) caucus to make sure we have a great election night in November. And once election night is over, we'll get down to the business of governing.
That's a long answer, but I think we sometimes get a little too wrapped up in who's endorsing who and all that sort of stuff. What matters is the quality of the candidates and their message and does it resonate with the voters. And you know, I'm not sure my endorsement would swing votes in my household, let alone in let alone in the state of Florida.
Q: What are you listening to driving back and forth from the Jacksonville area?
GARRISON: I'm an audio book guy. I love to read. It's a gift that my mom and dad instilled in me as a young kid. I turned 49 last week (Nov. 13), and as I get closer and closer to middle age, I find there's more and more in the world that I want to know about. And so I probably got about between half a dozen to a dozen books going at any one time in print or an audio book. Ninety-nine percent of them are history.
Right now, I'm reading a (Stephen Ambrose) book on D-Day. Also, I just read the biography of Huey Long. Random stuff. Something catches my attention. You know, one of the things, when you look at history is you realize that the writer of Ecclesiastes had it right, there truly is nothing new under the sun.
So while the circumstances may change, especially talking about politics, the medium and the technology evolve, but human nature remains the same.
Our forefathers and foremothers were arguing about the same thing … we're fighting, we're working through the same things. And I draw inspiration from looking at those who've come before.
