Former State Sen. Jack Gordon dead at age 83

State Senator Gordon died as the result of being hit by a car last Saturday in California. He served in the Florida State Senate from 1972-1992.

I didn't follow Florida politics(First I didn't move to FL till 1976, I enlisted in the Navy in 1979) in depth throughout most of Gordon's years of service, but I remember him. He was a liberal Democrat and a partisan one. He did do many things good for this state, improving the education requirements for high school students and the creation of the homestead exemption.

Gordon was also a bit of a maverick. In the early 80's he was a supporter of the legalization of marijuana in Florida, an issue that had little support. That's probably what I remember him most for, I had some community college friends who were very keen on the Senator for that reason.

He honorably served the state of Florida and its citizens for 20 years and we should be thankful for that. RIP

Open Post- Bright & Early, Bloggin Outloud, Land of Ozz, Third World County,

Jack Gordon, a former state senator from Miami Beach best known as a stalwart champion of liberal Democratic causes, died Friday after being struck by a car near his home in Palm Desert, Calif. He was 83.

Sen. Gordon served 20 years in the Legislature following an eight-year term on the Miami-Dade School Board. He was elected to the state Senate in 1972.

He moved to California in 2001 and split his time between homes there and in Washington, D.C.

About 6 p.m. Friday, a vehicle struck Sen. Gordon as he was walking near his Palm Desert home. He died from internal injuries at the Desert Regional Medical Center. Alcohol was not a factor in the accident, and the driver's name was not released, according to a spokesman for the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

During his decades of public service, Sen. Gordon sponsored constitutional amendments ensuring the right to privacy and the homestead exemption, an initiative for bilingual education and, in 1979, the Equal Rights Amendment.