It would be more accurate to describe Jeff Brandes as a Republican from Florida than a Florida Republican. The former legislator—who left the state Senate in 2022 after term limits precluded another run—is a heterodox conservative who breaks with standard positions on such issues as criminal justice reform. Since returning to the private sector, Brandes has led the Florida Policy Project, an organization he founded to be a “policy bank” of research.
In October, Reason’s Billy Binion spoke with Brandes by phone.