Tom Keen (politician)

Charles Thomas Keen III (born April 9, 1956) is an American politician, businessman, and former military pilot who is a member of the Florida House of Representatives, having won a January 2024 special election. A member of the Democratic Party, he represents the 35th district, located in central Florida, southeast of Orlando, and includes parts of the counties of Orange and Osceola.

Early life and education
Keen has a bachelor's degree from the University of Cincinnati.

Career
Keen served as a naval flight officer for the United States Navy for 21 years, and worked as a manager at Collins Aerospace at the time of his election to the state legislature.

After an unsuccessful campaign for the 35th district of the Florida House of Representatives in 2022, in which he lost the primary by a mere 57 votes, in May 2023, Keen announced his candidacy for a special election to succeed State Representative Fred Hawkins, who resigned to become president of South Florida State College. On November 7, 2023, he won the Democratic primary in what was considered an upset, as he had been outraised by his two opponents. Both parties heavily invested into winning the special election, due to Hawkins's 11-point re-election win in 2022, while President Joe Biden had won the district by five points in 2020. Keen received the endorsement of the Orlando Sentinel during the campaign. In the special election on January 16, 2024, Keen defeated Republican nominee Erika Booth by roughly 2.6 percentage points, in a flip for his party.

Personal life
Keen and his wife, Laura, have two adult children, and reside in Lake Nona, Orlando, Florida.