Charles
Bronson
Title: Commissioner
Organization: Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
Election Category: Elected November 2002
Office Phone: 850-488-3022
Office Fax: 850-922-4936
Mailing
The Capitol, PL10
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0810
Shipping
The Capitol, PL10
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0810
Commissioner Charles Bronson manages the largest state Department of Agriculture in the country, with more than 3,700 employees. Commissioner Bronson, a fifth-generation Floridian, is the Department’s tenth Commissioner.
His responsibilities include overseeing and promoting products of Florida’s vast agriculture industry; safeguarding the state’s food supply, protecting consumers from unfair and deceptive trade practices, and managing about one million acres of state forests.
He was appointed Florida Agriculture Commissioner by Gov. Jeb Bush in May 2001, was elected in November 2002, and re-elected in 2006. A former SASDA President, Commissioner Bronson is a member of the Governor’s Council on Efficient Government. Born into a ranching family in Kissimmee in 1949, Commissioner Bronson’s family traces its agricultural roots back to the year 1635.
He received the B.S. degree in agricultural education and engineering, animal and meat sciences from the University of Georgia in 1972. He worked in the fertilizer, chemical and sod businesses, and ultimately managed the family’s central Florida cattle business. A certified law enforcement officer, the Commissioner was a reserve deputy in both Miami-Dade and Brevard counties.
He was elected to the Florida Senate in 1994 and re-elected in 1998. He led both counties’ legislative delegations, and chaired the Florida Senate’s Agriculture & Consumer Services and Natural Resources committees.
Commissioner Bronson has been honored by the FFA, The Nature Conservancy, the Florida Farm Bureau and the Florida Sheriffs and Florida Police Chiefs associations.
He and his wife, Regina, have two adult daughters, Michelle and Melanie.