Former Rep. Bill Posey, a Republican who represented Florida for 16 years, has passed away.

He was 78.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of former United States Congressman Bill Posey, who passed away yesterday surrounded by the love of his family,” Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R-FL) said in a statement.

“Bill dedicated his life to serving the people of Florida and our nation with integrity, humility, and an unwavering commitment to public service. His passing marks the end of a remarkable career that spanned decades of leadership at the local, state, and federal levels. He approached public office not as a path to personal recognition, but as a solemn responsibility to serve others honorably, faithfully, and effectively,” the statement continued.

“Congressman Posey represented Florida in the United States House of Representatives from 2009 to 2025, following distinguished service in both the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate. Throughout his career, he earned a reputation as a principled conservative, a steadfast advocate for fiscal responsibility and government transparency, and a tireless supporter of America’s space program and the communities he proudly represented along Florida’s Space Coast,” it added.

The Hill shared further:

Posey’s cause of death was not revealed. He died at Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, according to Hardiopolos.

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In 2009, Posey served his first term in Congress representing the 15th district after earning more than half of the vote from his constituency to defeat the Democratic nominee.

He unseated former Rep. David Weldon (R-Fla.), who’d held the seat for more than a decade by leveraging his community relationships developed during his time on City Council, Florida state House and the Florida Senate.

Posey was no stranger to Washington, D.C., his birthplace, and spent much of his stint in the lower chamber serving on the Committee on Financial Services in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

He was also a member of the Freedom Caucus, Liberty Caucus, Congressional Arts Caucus and several others.

“Bill Posey was a good man who served Florida with distinction. He will be missed. RIP,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis commented.

“Bill Posey was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and public servant who dedicated his career to giving back to his Florida community — from the Rockledge City Council and the Florida State House and Senate to the U.S. House of Representatives. As representative for Florida’s 8th Congressional District, he was a strong advocate for the Space Coast region and made a lasting impact as a member of the Financial Services and Science, Space, and Technology Committees,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said.

“Bill was a genuinely good man and a faithful friend, and we are blessed to have served alongside him. Kelly and I join in mourning this great loss, and our prayers are with his wife and high school sweetheart Katie, his family, and loved ones during this difficult time,” he added.

Florida Today has more:

Born in Washington, D.C., in 1947, Posey and his family moved in 1956 to Rockledge after his father got a job working on the Delta rocket.

He was a Rockledge boy and Brevard champion to the core. A graduate of Cocoa High, he earned an associate of arts degree at Brevard Community College in 1969. Following work as an inspector for McDonnell Douglas at Kennedy Space Center, where he was laid off after the moon landing, he entered real estate. He would go on to found Posey & Co. Realtors.

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Something those who grew up around him knew but might come as a surprise to anyone used to seeing him in a suit and tie: Posey was a formidable presence in racing dating to the 1960s, starting his career at age 16 in a 1933 Ford with a fuel-injected Hemi. Throughout the 1960s, Posey continued racing at Eau Gallie Speedway in Melbourne and at Orlando Raceway.

When Lyle Lathe, a local racer, died with COVID-19 in 2022, Posey shared memories of him along with photos and vignettes from those racing days with me.

Posey, who won trophies at the Valkaria track and hundreds of races around the state, recalled being told by car salesman Bob Dance — then at Indian River Chevrolet in Cocoa — that Dance would be getting astronaut Gus Grissom’s 1963 fuel-injected Corvette on the lot.

Turned out, it was owned by Lathe, who was trading it in for another car. Posey, who had dropped out of high school extracurricular activities to bag groceries at Publix in hopes of buying a great ride, paid $2,300 for the Corvette and two and a half years later, sold it for $2,600.

“Lyle took off the fuel injection and put on what at the time was a monster C Series AFB,” Posey said. “Much more reliable and actually more horsepower.”

He raced more after his election to Rockledge City Council, on dirt and asphalt across Florida. A year after he became a U.S. congressman in 2008, replacing Dave Weldon, he sold his racing equipment with the exception of a “classic” 1966 Malibu, he told me.

 

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