Ray Sansom

Sansom, who once worked in the Okaloosa County school system directly under Don Gaetz, would have his political career derailed just as he had risen to House speaker. He and Gaetz were friends and allies and Gaetz celebrated when Sansom was first designated as speaker. But Sansom was indicted in 2009 over charges he steered state funds to a project benefitting a GOP donor. The charges were eventually dropped, but Sansom also came under fire for getting a high-paying job with a community college that got help in the state budget. His use of a Republican Party of Florida credit card also came under scrutiny. Samson eventually resigned, paving the way for Matt Gaetz to win the House seat in a special election. Samson hired Matt Gaetz initially as his legislative aide, but then switched him to a job with the Republican Party. But after a period of three to four months, he fired the younger Gaetz because he failed to show up to work. When Sansom tried to mount a political comeback by running for school superintendent. The Gaetzes backed his opponent — with money going from a federal committee linked to Matt Gaetz to a Florida political committee that ran ads attacking Sansom as untrustworthy.