State Sen. Dorothy Hukill of Port Orange dies at age 72
Dorothy Hukill, who served Volusia County in the Legislature for the past 14 years, died in hospice care, her son Jonathan announced on Facebook Tuesday.
[PREVIOUSLY: State Sen. Dorothy Hukill exits race, citing cancer's return]
Hukill, 72 of Port Orange, last week announced she would be exiting a race for re-election to Florida Senate District 14. While her name will remain on ballots in Volusia and Brevard counties, the Republican Party will be allowed to nominate a candidate to run against Democrat Melissa "Mel" Martin, a former judge advocate in the Marine Corps.
"Dorothy was many things. Before everything else, she put her family first," Jonathan Hukill's announcement states. "She was a faithful daughter, a loving wife and a caring mother. She also took great pride in her work, the work of improving the lives of people she cared about."
Hukill worked as a teacher and in 1978 graduated from the St. Johns School of Law, launching a career as an attorney who worked probate and trust, as well as business and real estate cases.
Getting involved
Hukill was a leading member of a group of mothers whose children played near an undeveloped property in Ponce Inlet, said Jeaneen Clauss Witt, town manager. The mothers organized PLAY, Ponce Living Actively all Year long, and ultimately the town purchased the land for a 41-acre park. After a long effort, Ponce Preserve was opened by 2007.
"This grassroots effort led to this naturally beautiful area being preserved and made publicly accessible for our present enjoyment and for generations to come," Witt said.
In 1992, Hukill was first elected to the Ponce Inlet Town Council, where she served for two years.
After she moved to Port Orange, she served as that city's vice mayor from 1998 to 2000, when she won a four-year term as mayor.
Don Burnette was a residential lender and member of the Port Orange-South Daytona Chamber of Commerce when he first met Hukill about that time. His first impression: She didn't take herself too seriously and enjoyed being with other people.
Later, after Burnette followed in Hukill's footsteps in becoming Port Orange mayor, he sought her advice.
"She told me basically, if you ever want to do well at this, be ready to make tough calls that some people are not going to like," Burnette said. "It's more important to do the job than it is to be popular."
In 2004, she was elected to the Florida House of Representatives.
She reached her limit of four consecutive two-year terms in the House, then ran for the Senate in 2012, defeating former Volusia County Chair Frank Bruno. She won re-election in 2016.
Hukill missed the entire 2017 legislative session while seeking treatment for cervical cancer. That year she watched much of the session on the Florida Channel and routinely kept in touch with her colleagues by phone, emails and text messages.
Later in 2017, she declared the cancer was gone. But last week she announced it had returned and she would be entering hospice care and no longer pursuing treatment.
[PREVIOUSLY: Dorothy Hukill tells constituents: 'I'm back']
Also that year, senators unanimously approved the "Dorothy L. Hukill Financial Literacy Education Act." Although the bill failed to pass the House, it spotlighted an issue Hukill consistently sought to raise. She wanted all Florida high school students to take at least a one-semester course on personal finance and money management.
Hukill also consistently acted to help small businesses, pushing through tax breaks to help foster a business environment friendly to job creation. In one case, she sponsored a 2016 law that made permanent the elimination of a sales tax on manufacturing machinery and equipment.
That law was expected to save the industry $77 million per year, according to the Manufacturers Association of Florida.
"Sen. Hukill was a true leader in the Florida Senate and served the public with distinction," Gov. Rick Scott said in a statement Tuesday. "She worked to make our state a better place to live and leaves an incredible legacy."
Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, called Hukill "a strong and passionate advocate for her community" who faced her medical challenges with courage.
"I personally admired her passion for education and was proud to have Dorothy serve as chair of the Committee on Education during my service as Senate president," Negron said. "She worked closely with Sen. (Bill) Galvano, myself and many others on the Senate's legislation to expand the Bright Futures Scholarship."
Blaise Ingoglia, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, called Hukill "a truly passionate conservative" public servant.
"She has shown great strength, immense grace and steadfast leadership in every battle she’s fought," Ingoglia said.
The Port Orange City Council thought so highly of her service, it voted in 2017 to name one of its buildings the Dorothy L. Hukill City Center Annex.
[ALSO: Port Orange council votes to name annex for Hukill]
That year, addressing a Southwest Volusia Chamber of Commerce event, she made it clear how she felt to be returning to her work in Tallahassee.
"I love serving," she said. "I love being a senator."
A private, invitation-only family service will be held, while public memorial services will be announced at a later date, her son's message states. In lieu of flowers, her family asks that loved ones consider a donation to the Halifax Health Hospice facility in Port Orange.
Looking ahead
Tony Ledbetter, the Volusia GOP boss and his counterpart in Brevard County, Rick Lacey, will be part of a meeting called by Republican Party State Chairman Blaise Ingoglia in the next week to select a replacement on the ballot for Hukill.
A vote for Hukill will count as a vote for the replacement.
Ledbetter, Lacey and the elected state committeemen and state committeewomen in both counties, six people in all, will determine their new nominee for Florida Senate District 14, which covers southern Volusia and northern Brevard counties.
Ledbetter said anyone interested in being nominated as the replacement candidate should email him at miraclevisor@msn.com.