Jeff Atwater Backs Tom Lee Over Rachel Burgin

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Former Senate President Tom Lee continues to gain the backing of the Republican leadership for his return to Tallahassee. While Lee faces Rep. Rachel Burgin, R-Tampa, in the Republican primary for a state Senate seat, a host of prominent GOP leaders continue to endorse him. On Monday, state CFO Jeff Atwater, who served as Senate president himself before running for his current post in 2010, announced that he was backing Lee.

?"?Tom Lee is the conservative Republican that Hillsborough County needs to fill the seat currently held by my former colleague and friend Ronda Storms," Atwater said on Monday. As a longtime family business owner in Hillsborough County,? ?Tom fits the profile of the kind of citizen legislator we need more of in the Senate.

??I know Tom will continue to carry on the exemplary conservative leadership that Tom showed while serving alongside Governor Bush, Atwater added.? ?As a fellow senator,? ?I saw Tom's commonsense,? ?effective leadership make great things happen for the people of Florida.? ?And I can't wait to see Tom get back to work on behalf of Hillsborough County again.?"