M. Mandy Dawson | |
---|---|
Member of the Florida Senate | |
In office November 3, 1998 – November 4, 2008 | |
Preceded by | Matthew Meadows (30th)[1] Steven Geller (29th)[2] |
Succeeded by | Ron Klein (30th) Chris Smith (29th)[3] |
Constituency | 30th district (1998–2002) 29th district (2002–2008) |
Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 93rd district | |
In office November 3, 1992 – November 3, 1998 | |
Preceded by | Debby P. Sanderson[4] |
Succeeded by | Chris Smith[5] |
Personal details | |
Born | Muriel Mandy Dawson July 18, 1956 Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse |
Hobson Bethune
(m. 2010; died 2017) |
Education | Barry University (BS) |
M. Mandy Dawson (née Muriel Mandy Dawson; July 18, 1956) was a Democratic member of the Florida Senate, representing the 29th District from 1999 to 2008. Previously she was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1993 through 1998.
Dawson was born in Fort Lauderdale and moved to Daytona Beach when she was six years old.[6] She attended Florida A&M University from 1975 to 1980 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in social work from Barry University.[7]
She was the first African-American female elected to the Florida Legislature from Broward County.[6] During her time in the legislature, she worked on bills restoring civil rights for ex-offenders, penalties for leaving children in locked cars, and keeping Black physicians on managed care panels to address health care inequalities.[6] Since leaving office, she has worked as a political campaign manager.[8]
She married Hobson Bethune, a retired Marine and longtime youth athletics coach, in 2010.[6] Bethune died in 2017.[6]
Mandy Dawson suffered from chronic back pain requiring hospitalization and surgery. She later became addicted to prescription drugs.[6] In 2002, Dawson was arrested and charged with felony prescription drug fraud for altering a painkiller prescription from 60 pills to 160. In return for dismissal of the charges, she entered a pretrial intervention program.[9]
On July 20, 2011, Dawson was charged with federal income tax evasion and failure to file tax returns.[10] In court papers filed in early February 2012, Dawson signaled her intention to plead guilty to the tax evasion charges.[11][12]