A lifelong native of Daytona Beach and graduate of Bethune Cookman University, Patrick Henry is a former member of the Florida House of Representatives, where he proudly represented District 26 which encompasses the cities of Daytona Beach, DeLand, Holly Hill, South Daytona, Orange City, Lake Helen and parts of Ormond Beach and Port Orange.
Prior to being elected to the Florida Legislature in 2016, Henry served on the Daytona Beach City Commission for 6 years (2010-2016). During his tenure on the city commission he was instrumental in working in a bi-partisan effort to revitalize Daytona Beach’s economy, making much needed repairs to the ageing infrastructure and supporting measures such as “ban the box”- a campaign aimed at eradicating discriminatory based hiring practices and providing individuals with a criminal history a second chance at successfully reintegrating back into society.
Prior to his successful election to the Florida House of Representatives in 2016, Rep. Henry worked with “The House Next Door” in DeLand, FL for almost 30 years where he was a mental health counselor. As a State Representative, his focus was criminal justice reform, economic development, education and workforce training and mental health access.
During the 2018 Legislative session, he introduced several bills for consideration. These Bill ideas ranged from a proposal to implement text-to-911 technologies throughout the state to the successful passage of a bill that would make Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune the first African American to have a statue representing a state in the United States Capitol. In 2018, he also successfully passed legislation recognizing the third Saturday in December as “Harriette V. & Harry T. Moore Day” in the state of Florida.
In the Florida Legislature, Henry served on the following committees and subcommittees: Government Accountability Committee, Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee, Agriculture & Property Rights Subcommittee, Health Innovation Subcommittee, Oversight, Transparency & Administration Subcommittee. In 2018 he loss his re-election by 61 votes out of a total of over 62,00 votes cast. He is currently running to go back to the legislature and serve as Representative for House District 26.
Facts about the race
• Patrick is a former State Representative for District 26
o He was elected in 2016
• He loss his 2018 re-election by 61 votes
• Prior to being elected in the legislature he served on the Daytona Beach City
Commission from 2010-2016 •
His top issue areas are:
o Education (trade/workforce training)
o Livable wage jobs o Affordable and Accessible Healthcare
o Environment/clean water
• Volusia County and its neighboring counties of Brevard, Flagler, and Seminole have no Democrat representing them in Florida Legislature.
• If we do not elect Patrick to the Florida Legislature, we will not have a Democratic voice representing Volusia County during the redistricting process done every 10 years after the Census.
o This could result in us not having a chance to elect a Democrat in Volusia for over
10 years.