Geraldine Fortenberry Thompson (born November 18, 1948) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party, who currently serves as a member of the Florida State Senate from the 15th district. She served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 44th District from 2018 to 2022. The district included Windermere, Winter Garden, Gotha, Lake Buena Vista, Oakland, parts of Ocoee, and the Dr. Phillips, Horizon West, and Williamsburg communities in Southwest Orange County, FL. The district contains Walt Disney World, Universal Studios Florida, SeaWorld, International Drive, and the Orange County Convention Center.
A veteran member of the Florida Legislature, she previously served as a member of the Florida State Senate from 2012 to 2016, representing parts of Orlando and western Orange County. She also served three terms in the Florida House of Representatives, from 2006 to 2012.
Life and career
Thompson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and moved to the state of Florida in 1955, where she grew up in the town of Perrine where members of her family worked in agriculture and construction. She attended Miami-Dade Community College and received a scholarship to attend the University of Miami in Coral Gables, where she enrolled shortly after that school ended racial segregation. In 1970, she received a bachelor's degree with honors in journalism and business education. She moved with her husband, Emerson, to Tallahassee, where he attended law school and she worked in state government and higher education. Her first position in Tallahassee was as Executive Secretary to Representative Gwendolyn Sawyer Cherry, the first African American woman to serve in the Florida House of Representatives. After working for several years, she sought a Master of Science degree in Communication from Florida State University, which she received in 1973. She then joined her husband in Orlando. She began work as a teacher in Orange County Public Schools. After six years, she left the classroom to accept a position as Director of the Equal Opportunity Office at Valencia Community College where she served for 24 years as Assistant to the President.
In 2002, Thompson ran for the Florida House of Representatives from the 39th District, which included parts of downtown Orlando in Orange County, against Bruce Antone, Tiffany Moore Russell, and Jon Eason. She campaigned on her support for the class size amendment that was on the ballot in the general election that year and for a sales tax referendum in Orange County that would raise the sales tax to fund school construction. The Orlando Sentinel, though praising Thompson as "well-intentioned" and citing her experience in saving the Well'sbuilt Hotel and converting it to a history museum, endorsed Antone, noting that she lacked Antone's "ability to get things done for the entire district." She ended up coming in third place, receiving 26% of the vote to Antone's 34% and Moore Russell's 31%, and Eason's 9%.
Thompson again ran for office in 2004 when she challenged incumbent State Senator Gary Siplin in the Democratic primary in the 19th District, which included parts of central Orange County and northern Osceola County. During the campaign, she attacked Siplin for his tenure in office, asserting that he was "ineffective" and focused more on talking about solutions than solving problems, alienating local leaders in the process. The Sentinel agreed with Thompson, asking, "What has Mr. Siplin actually done for his constituents?" and noting, "Even Mr. Siplin is hard-pressed to find an answer." The Sentinel ended up endorsing Thompson, commending her "political savvy and dogged determination to actually get things done." Ultimately, however, she ended up falling short to Siplin, receiving 40% of the vote to his 60%.