DeSantis awards posthumous Governor’s Medal of Freedom to Jimmy Buffett, Florida lawmakers

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has posthumously awarded five notable Floridians with the Governor’s Medal of Freedom, one of the state’s highest honors.

The awardees include the state’s last Democratic governor, Buddy MacKay, who was a citrus farmer, policy wonk and diplomat; former Democratic governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, who was known for his “workdays” when he took on the jobs of Floridians, from horse stall mucker to FBI agent; former Florida State University President John Thrasher, who also served as Republican speaker of the Florida House and chair of the Republican Party of Florida; former U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a longtime South Florida Republican congressman who fought tirelessly for a free Cuba; and Jimmy Buffett, the state’s beloved balladeer of an endless summer of warm tropical waves.

“I’m proud to recognize the legacies of these great Floridians,” DeSantis said in a written statement. “Our state is better for their contributions, and we’re proud they called Florida home.”

The five awardees “exemplified what it means to be a great Floridian” and left a lasting impact on their state, the statement reads.

Previous honorees include Bobby Bowden, the famed folksy Hall of Fame football coach of the FSU Seminoles, and Benjamin Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor of Nazis at the Nuremberg war crimes trials.

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Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.