Larry Cretul
Encyclopedia
Larry Cretul is a Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 real estate broker
Real estate broker
A real estate broker, real estate agent or realtor is a party who acts as an intermediary between sellers and buyers of real estate/real property and attempts to find sellers who wish to sell and buyers who wish to buy...

, Republican politician, and Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...

 of the House of Representatives
Florida House of Representatives
The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The House is composed of 120 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 156,677.The House convenes at...

 of the State
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. He represents House District 22, based in Ocala.

Cretul was subsequently elected Speaker Pro Tempore of the State House on November 18, 2008. On January 30, 2009, Speaker Ray Sansom
Ray Sansom
Ray Sansom was a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing portions of Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties from 2002 to February 21, 2010....

 announced he was "recusing" himself from his duties as Speaker due to a scandal over accepting an unadvertised job at Northwest Florida State College
Northwest Florida State College
The Collegiate High School at Northwest Florida State College is a charter school in Niceville, Florida that was established in 2000. The Collegiate High School at Northwest Florida State College is an innovative charter school that enables 10th, 11th and 12th grade students to simultaneously earn...

. Under the rule allowing him to recuse himself, Sansom named Cretul acting Speaker until Sansom could return. Sansom and Cretul are roommates in Tallahassee while the state House is in session.

However, on February 2, just minutes before the Republican caucus was due to oust him, Sansom resigned as House Republican leader, a post which automatically made him Speaker. Cretul was unanimously elected his successor, and was named Speaker at the start of the legislative session on March 3.

Representative Cretul was born on January 18, 1948 in Trenton, Michigan
Trenton, Michigan
Trenton is a small city in Wayne County in the southeast portion of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 18,853...

. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1967 to 1971, including a tour aboard USS Forrestal. He moved to Florida in 1971. He attended Lawrence Technological University
Lawrence Technological University
Lawrence Technological University, also known as Lawrence Tech or simply LTU, is a private university located in Southfield, Michigan. The school offers undergraduate, masters, and doctoral programs in engineering, science, mathematics, architecture, graphic design, and business...

. He was elected to the Marion County
Marion County, Florida
Marion County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county is 316,183. Its county seat is Ocala....

 Commission in 1994 and was re-elected 1998. He was first elected to the Florida House in 2002, and subsequently re-elected to three more terms. He is married to Lana J. Delves of Wyandotte, Michigan
Wyandotte, Michigan
Wyandotte is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 25,883 at the 2010 census, a decrease of 7.6% from 2000. Wyandotte is located in southeastern Michigan, approximately south of Detroit on the Detroit River, and is part of the collection of communities known as...

 and they have two children, Brian and Scott.

Sources

  • Project Vote Smart profile
  • Florida House of Representatives Profile
  • Leary, Alex; Steve Bosquet and Marc Caputo. State House is in chaos as Sansom steps aside. St. Petersburg Times
    St. Petersburg Times
    The St. Petersburg Times is a United States newspaper. It is one of two major publications serving the Tampa Bay Area, the other being The Tampa Tribune, which the Times tops in both circulation and readership. Based in St...

    , 2009-01-30.
  • Fla. House Speaker Ray Sansom Resigns. Associated Press
    Associated Press
    The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

     via WFOR-TV
    WFOR-TV
    WFOR-TV, virtual channel 4.1 , is the CBS owned-and-operated station in Miami, Florida. WFOR shares its TV studio facilities with sister station WBFS-TV in Doral, near Miami International Airport, and its transmitter is located in Miramar.WFOR-TV also previously had two translator stations in the...

    , 2009-02-03.
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