Florida Legislator, CSE Member Wins Prestigious Award

Delray Beach, FL – Jim Kallinger couldn’t take it anymore. A general contractor from Winter Park, Jim often worked with government agencies. Jim was becoming increasingly frustrated with the red tape and lack of free market perspective shown by the government agencies. “There are better ways to run government,” he said.

CSE member Jim Kallinger presents CSE’s
Jefferson Award to Florida House Speaker Thrasher.

Jim had voted in every election, but didn’t think he was making a significant impact. “I’m Joe Citizen, who has lost his voice,” he said.

One day, Jim opened up his mailbox and found an invitation to attend a training seminar in Orlando sponsored by Citizens for a Sound Economy. Skeptical at first, Jim and his wife Dana decided to attend upon discovering that CSE shared their own beliefs in lower taxes and less government.

Impressed with the seminar, the Kallingers came away convinced they could make a significant impact as CSE activists. Later, while attending a CSE forum on School Choice, the Kallingers were interviewed by the Orlando Sentinel. Jim felt that “Joe Citizen” was finally being heard. Energized by CSE, Jim realized that through CSE he could make a difference. Jim soon added many more voices to his own by recruiting more than 50 CSE activists. In 1999, Jim was named CSE Activist of the Year.

Jim Kallinger discusses Florida CSE’s “CSE Day at the Capitol”
with a reporter from the Orlando Sentinel.

On the heels of his CSE Activist of the Year honor, Jim decided to take his political involvement to the next level: he decided to run for, and subsequently won, a seat in the Florida House of Representatives. Following his first year in the state house, Jim was named the National Republican Legislators Association’s “Freshman Legislator of the Year.”

“Jim Kallinger represents what CSE is all about: recruiting, educating, and mobilizing citizens on the key issues of the day, and then moving them up the activist/involvement ladder,” said Slade O’Brien, director of Florida CSE. “Jim has gone from average voter, to CSE member, to CSE Activist of the Year, to Freshman Legislator of the Year. Jim is a great success story and proves that one person truly can make a difference. We are so happy to have had Jim on our team and are extremely proud of his achievements.”