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Steve's Bio Minimize
Steve is not a politician and is an unconventional congressional candidate. His love of Country and desire to rein in the ever-expanding federal government have drawn him in to this very challenging race. He believes his real-world experience as a small business owner and community volunteer qualify him to challenge the perennial liberal representation in Florida’s District 11 congressional race. Steve hopes to serve his community in this role and work very hard to diminish the influence of the federal government in our lives and reduce the burden of debt being levied on our children.  Read more...
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Mission Minimize
To offer the people of Florida’s 11th congressional district a viable, conservative option in the general election of 2010, and ultimately provide representation and leadership that guides national policy to give future generations opportunities well beyond ours. I will apply my core beliefs to issues - that government should be smaller and operate within its means, that free markets and the collective efforts of free-thinking and free-acting people are superior to government mandates, that the current progressive tax code is unfair and should be replaced, and that the United States, with its abundant natural resources and nearly limitless human ingenuity, will continue to serve as an example for all peoples of the world to aspire. 
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test3 Minimize
Steve is not a politician and is an unconventional congressional candidate. His love of Country and desire to rein in the ever-expanding federal government have drawn him in to this very challenging race. He believes his real-world experience as a small business owner and community volunteer qualify him to challenge the perennial liberal representation in Florida’s District 11 congressional race. Steve hopes to serve his community in this role and work very hard to diminish the influence of the federal government in our lives and reduce the burden of debt being levied on our children.
Steve Stanford is a 20-year Tampa resident. Born in North Carolina on September 8, 1963 to Donald and Bonnie Stanford, Steve grew up in the town of Wellington in Palm Beach County where he attended John I Leonard High School in Lake Worth. Steve’s parents have returned to live in North Carolina near Steve’s younger sister Sharon, husband, and twin girls.
After high school, Steve attended the University of Florida where he studied agriculture and horticulture, earning a BS degree Agriculture in 1986. While in school, he was inducted to Gamma Sigma Delta, the honor society of Agriculture, and earned a scholarship from the Orlando Garden Club. Working through school, he served as treasurer of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, assistant manager to the Gator basketball team, and worked summers as a professional water skier at Sea World of Orlando.
In 1986 Steve began a career in the landscape and golf business working as project manager at Orlando’s Grand Cypress Resort before moving to Tampa in 1989. From Tampa, Steve travelled the country outsourcing golf course maintenance and large-scale landscape maintenance operations including many municipally owned facilities. He is a Florida Certified Pest Control operator. From 2000 to 2004, he went to work with his cousin in a software development business where he marketed, installed, and trained users on a web-based distribution management system designed for automotive paint distributors. In 2004, Steve achieved a life-long goal of owning a company when he bought in to a Tampa-based plant sales and leasing company and rebranded it ‘PLANTZ’. In 2006, the company acquired a Lakeland-based plant leasing company and it now serves a diverse customer base in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas, Polk, and Sarasota counties. 
Steve has served the community in a number of ways - In the early 90’s, he volunteered as a mentor in the Time to Read program that develops a love for reading among elementary-age children; he served as a volunteer in the Mayor’s Beautification Program organizing efforts to beautify and maintain Kennedy Boulevard; he was a member of the Angel Flight Southeast executive committee raising funds the non-profit organization that provides free transportation for patients who require medical treatment; and, for the past several years, Steve has worked through his church’s Angel Tree program that provides gifts for children who have an incarcerated parent.
Currently, Steve combines his love of baseball and community service as president of Palma Ceia Little League. The league provides baseball and softball instruction for over 500 south Tampa children through a network of over 100 volunteer coaches and organizers. Keeping current with coaching trends and under Steve’s guidance, the league rolled out a coaches training program under the Positive Coach Alliance – a non-profit organization encourages positive attitudes and behavior in all athletic endeavors. Right after God, family, and country, the league is a true labor of love for Steve and he spends countless hours ensuring a quality experience for Tampa’s youth.
Steve is a family man - he and his beautiful wife Lynn of 15 years have two children, Blake and Mallie, both who attend St John’s Episcopal Day School.  They are parishioners of St John’s Episcopal Church and their family life revolves much around the church, school, and little league. They are also members of Palma Ceia Golf and Country Club. The family enjoys summer and winter trips to Boone, NC and water skiing with friends where Steve tries to maintain some semblance of his old form but is now resigned to skiing vicariously through his son Blake. 
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