Chris King (entrepreneur)

For other people named Chris King, see Chris King.

Dr. Thomas Christopher King (born October 18, 1978)^[1] is an American entrepreneur and political candidate. He officially entered the Florida gubernatorial election in 2018 before becoming Andrew Gillum's running mate. ^[2]He also founded the Elevation Financial Group and is a board member of Grace Medical Home.^[3]

Personal life

Chris King was born to David and Marilyn King. His father was a lawyer for the Fair Districts movement, which worked to combat partisan gerrymandering in Florida by proving that the Constitution of Florida was violated by the Florida Legislature when it redrew congressional and Florida Senate district lines.^[3] Chris' mother, Marilyn King, served 27 years as a board member, including two terms as chair, of Orlando's premier health organization, Orlando Health. Marilyn was also the founding Chair of Grace Medical Home, a not-for-profit medical facility that serves those without affordable health care. Chris served on both the Board of Grace Medical Home and on the Foundation Board of Orlando Health.

Career

King graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Religion, Politics and American Public Policy. King, an evangelical Christian, narrowly lost a race for president of Harvard’s undergraduate council in 1999 after the Harvard Crimson declined to endorse him, noting that his ticket’s “ties to religious groups have raised concerns among students.” “I was nailed to the cross,” King told the Newhouse News Service after the election. “And most of the editorial staff that was so hard on me, the vast majority were Jewish.” ^[4] He then received his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Law School.^[3] He is currently a board member of the non-profit Grace Medical Home which provides medical care to uninsured Floridians. He is also the founder and chairman of The Elevation Foundation.^[3]

King founded the Elevation Scholars Program which works with the University of Central Florida and Orange County Public Schools to provide merit scholarships to students from Title I schools. King also developed the Elevation Global Initiative, which works on tree reforestation, fish farming and entrepreneurship training in Haiti and areas of Africa.^[3][5][6]

He founded Elevation Financial Group, LLC which specializes in real estate investment, property management and property renovation.^[3] The group launched six private equity funds. Currently, Elevation owns and operate assets in five states in the US.^[3]

Chris King speaking at an Anti Trump Family Separation Protest at the Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, Florida on June 30, 2018

Politics

In 2004, Chris was defeated for selection as the Republican candidate for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives by Michael J. Grant.^[7]

In 2018, having converted to the Democratic Party, he ran and was defeated for the Florida Governor candidate for the Democratic Party nomination. He ran against former U.S. Representative Gwen Graham (a daughter of Governor Bob Graham), Philip Levine, former Mayor of Miami Beach, Andrew Gillum, Mayor of Tallahassee and billionaire real estate developer Jeff Greene. King was the first gubernatorial candidate to promise to refuse to accept campaign contributions from the Florida sugar industry.^{[8][9][10][11][12][13]} King's polling average was about 4.5%. Following his election defeat, King congratulated and endorsed Andrew Gillum for governor. On September 6, 2018, Andrew Gillum announced Chris King as his selection for Lieutenant Governor.

References