(The Center Square) — Florida politicians from both sides of the aisle paid tribute to former President Jimmy Carter, who died Sunday at age 100.
Carter on Oct. 1, 2024, became the first U.S. president to live to be 100.
He was commander in chief for four years after winning election in 1976 in the aftermath of President Richard Nixon’s resignation followed by two years of President Gerald Ford.
The Democrat is remembered for negotiating a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, the Camp David Accords, and his post-presidential work for free elections, human rights and building homes for the poor with Habitat for Humanity.
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., offered prayers for Carter’s family on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Through his decades of public service & charitable work, President Carter devoted his entire life to serving others,” Scott said. “Please join Ann & me in praying for the Carter family, their friends & all who worked alongside the former president.”
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, D-Fla., said in a statement released on X that Carter “renewed trust in government a ta time when America needed its values and faith restored. And he was a generation ahead of his time in confronting climate change.”
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis offered his thoughts on X as well.
“Rest in peace President Jimmy Carter, he had a devotion to God that is the kind of thing our society needs,” said Patronis, a Republican who is running in the special election to replace U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz in the 1st Congressional District in northwest Florida.
The Florida Democratic Party offered its condolences to the former president’s family in a statement.
“Jimmy Carter was the living embodiment of Democratic values, but lived a life that truly transcended politics,” the statement read. “From the beginning, he dared to dream of a New South — one that left segregation in the past and could see a future built on justice, fairness, and equality. His dedication to those principles carried him from his peanut farm in Plains to the Governor’s mansion in Atlanta and onward to the White House, where he often put aside what was politically advantageous to do what he felt was right for the American people.
“President Carter only spent four years in the White House, but what he did in the following 44 years cemented his legacy. Instead of retiring from public life, he spent decades teaching Sunday school and building Habitat for Humanities homes with his own two hands.”
The statement continued.
“He established The Carter Center, which has worked tirelessly to end diseases, strengthen democracy, and make peace across the globe. Above all, he used his platform to champion universal human rights, expanding on his dream of a New South to imagine a better world for all of us.
“There will never be another president quite like Jimmy Carter — but we can honor his memory by rededicating ourselves to public service, patriotism, and peace.”