Doug Tudor

Douglas D. Tudor is a retired U.S. Navy Master Chief Petty Officer and is the Democratic nominee to run for the U.S. House against Adam Putnam in Florida's 12th District

Tudor was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in September 1962. He was reared primarily in Danville, Kentucky, and he graduated from Danville High School in 1980. On April 19, 1983, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy.

During his naval career, Tudor served in a variety of leadership billets, both ashore and afloat, and both in America and overseas. In 2004, he was promoted to Master Chief Petty Officer (E9), a rank which can only be held by 1% of the total enlisted force of the U.S. military at any given time. During his final eight years of active duty, Tudor served at U.S. Central Command, both at its Tampa Headquarters as well as its Qatar-based Forward Headquarters. He served as the Flag Writer, or Executive Assistant, for three Commanders, U.S. Central Command -- General Tommy Franks, General John Abizaid, and Admiral William Fallon. He has deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan with these four-star officers over 30 times. Tudor retired from the Navy on February 29, 2008.

In May 2008, Tudor filed the necessary paperwork to be a candidate for the U.S. House as a Democrat. He was not challenged in the primary race, and is currently the Democratic nominee in Florida's 12th District. His platform stresses an end to America's military involvement in Iraq's Civil War, access to Health Care for all Americans, ending corporate welfare and returning to a worker-based economy, and fixing America's educational system by repealing No Child Left Behind and ensuring that voucher systems are not allowed to put public monies into private schools.

Also in his campaign, Tudor repeatedly cites that "working people cannot be truly represented by multi-millionaires who inherit their wealth." His Republican opponent, Adam Putnam, is 33 years old and is ranked as the 39th richest member of Congress with an estimated wealth of nearly 30 million dollars. Putnam, a cousin of infamous Florida politician Katherine Harris, inherited his money from his family's citrus dynasty.

Tudor has been endorsed in his race by numerous Democratic clubs and institutions, as well as Florida's AFL-CIO. He has been recognized nationally for his principled stances in defense of the U.S. Constitution.

During his Navy career, Tudor was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (with two oak leaf clusters), the Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (with two gold stars), and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (with two gold stars) along with various unit and campaign awards. He served three tours afloat on USS AUSTIN (LPD4), USS PETERSON (DD969), and USS JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN75). His overseas assignments include Keflavik, Iceland and Stuttgart, Germany. In all, Tudor has traveled to 41 countries; the majority of those countries are in Africa, the Middle East, and in the "Stans."

He is married to the former Paula Stahl, an Air Force Technical Sergeant. They reside in Riverview, Florida, and he has three children.

[http://www.teamtudor.org/index.asp campaign site]