Robert Gregory Evers (June 16, 1955 – August 21, 2017) was a Republican politician who served as a member of the Florida Senate from 2010 to 2016, representing parts of Northwest Florida. Prior to his election to the Senate, he served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 1st District from 2001 to 2010. Background Evers was born in Milton, Florida, and grew up on his family's farm, later attending Pensacola Junior College, and then eventually joining his family's fertilizer business. When he became the owner of the business, he moved it to Baker, where he started growing cotton, soybeans, peanuts, wheat, and corn. Florida House of Representatives In 2001, when United States Congressman Joe Scarborough, who represented Florida's 1st congressional district, resigned, State Representative Jeff Miller ran in the special election to succeed him, and resigned from his seat in the legislature. A special election was called to replace Miller in the 1st District, which included northern Escambia County, northwestern Okaloosa County, and northern Santa Rosa County. Evers ran in the special election, and faced Mary Golden, the wife of State Attorney Curtis Golden; C. Robert Hilliard, an attorney; Donald Middlebrooks, a salesman; Jim Reeves, a former State Representative and Pensacola City Councilman; and Floyd Rose, a retired sheriff in the Republican primary. Hilliard ended up receiving a plurality of the vote in the initial primary election, receiving 27% of the vote to Evers' 25%, Reeves' 24%, Golden's 17%, Middlebrooks' 4%, and Rose's 2%, but because he did not receive a majority, a runoff election was held between Evers and Hilliard. In a close election, Evers narrowly defeated Hilliard, winning 54% of the vote to Hilliard's 46%. Advancing to the general election, Evers faced Eddie Cook, the Democratic nominee and a retired oil technician. Owing to the conservative nature of the district, Evers defeated Cook in a landslide, winning his first term in the legislature with 77% of the vote. When Evers ran for re-election in 2002 to his first full term, he was challenged in the Republican primary by Santa Rosa County Commissioner Byrd Mapoles. During the campaign, Evers' daughter found the cell phone of Mapoles' son next to an Evers roadside campaign sign that had been knocked down, which resulted in a grand jury investigation that ultimately cleared Mapoles' son of criminal charges. Evers ended up defeating Mapoles handily, winning renomination with 73%