Perry Eugene Thurston Jr. (born January 30, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Florida Senate from 2016 to 2022. He represented the 33rd district, which includes Lauderhill, Lauderdale Lakes, North Lauderdale, Margate, Oakland Park, and surrounding areas in Broward County. He previously served four terms in the Florida House of Representatives, representing the Fort Lauderdale area from 2006 to 2014, and was the House minority leader in his final term. Thurston was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for Attorney General of Florida in 2014. Early life and education Thurston was born in Pompano Beach and attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in finance in 1982. After graduation, he returned to Florida, where he worked in banking until he decided to attend the University of Miami School of Law, where he graduated in 1987. Career After graduating from law school, Thurston worked for the Broward County Public Defender's Office for four years, and then began working in private practice as a defense attorney. Florida House of Representatives When State Representative M. Mandy Dawson did not seek re-election in 1998, making a successful run for the Florida Senate instead, Thurston ran to succeed her in the 93rd District. In the Democratic primary, he faced Chris Smith, Hazel K. Armbrister, and Fred Segal. Smith placed first in the primary, but he did not win a majority, so he and Thurston, the second-place finisher, advanced to a runoff election, which Smith easily won. In 2006, Smith could not seek re-election, and Thurston ran to succeed him in the 93rd District. Against Alain Valias-Jean, Randy Smith, Sallie Tillman-Watson, and McKinley Williams II, Thurston won the Democratic primary with 43% of the vote. In the general election, he crushed his opponent, independent candidate Nick Sakhnovsky, with 82% of the vote. Thurston was re-elected in 2008 and 2010 without opposition. When Florida House of Representatives districts were redrawn in 2012, Thurston was redistricted into the 94th District, which included most of the territory that he had previously represented in the 93rd District. He won the Democratic nomination without an opponent, and was opposed by Republican nominee Scott Herman in the general election. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel endorsed Thurston for re-election, praising him as "an advocate for those issues important to his district and his party...education, economic development, and