Senator Bobby Powell Contact information

Bobby Powell, born on September 7, 1981, is a Democratic member of the Florida Senate. He has been representing the 24th district since 2016.

Powell was born in Riviera Beach, Florida. He attended Florida A&M University, where he received his degree in public relations. He then attended Florida State University, receiving his Master of Science in planning.

Before his political career, Powell took a job working as the city planner of West Palm Beach in 2007. He then began as a legislative aide for State Representative Mack Bernard in 2009.

In 2012, Bernard declined to seek re-election so he could instead run for a seat in the Florida Senate, and the legislative districts in the state were redrawn. Powell opted to run in the newly created 88th District. He faced Evelyn Garcia, Nikasha Wells, and Charles Bantel in the Democratic primary. Powell ended up defeating his opponents by a wide margin, winning 51% of the vote to Garcia’s 24%, Wells’s 17%, and Bantel’s 8%. He advanced to the general election, where he was elected unopposed.

Entering the 2013 legislative session, Powell announced that his top three legislative priorities were allowing local governments to prohibit concealed weapons at certain events, postponing the expiration date of state-funded “health flex plans” for five years, and making it more difficult for prosecutors to try children as adults for criminal offenses.

In 2016, Powell ran for the Florida Senate after court-ordered redistricting created a new open seat based in West Palm Beach. He defeated Michael Steinger in the Democratic primary with 67% of the vote and defeated Republican Ron Berman in the general election, 54 to 46%.

As of 2024, Powell is the Florida Senator for District 24 where he has served since 2016. He also serves the Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation as the Chairman.

Powell’s career experience includes working as a planner and project manager with Urban Design Kilday Studios. Powell has served on the Urban League of PBC New Community Development Board, the business manager of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Coordinating Committee, and on the Salvation Army Northwest Community Center Advisory Board.

Powell has been assigned to several committees throughout his tenure, including the Joint Committee on Public Counsel Oversight, Senate Appropriations Committee, Banking and Insurance Committee, Criminal Justice Committee, Environment and Natural Resources Committee, and Ethics and Elections Committee.