A sheriff. A first responder. A husband and father. A Floridian.
Chris Nocco has spent fifteen years keeping Pasco County safe. He's running for the Florida Senate to do the same for our state.
The Sheriff
In 2011, Governor Rick Scott appointed Chris Nocco to lead the Pasco Sheriff's Office. He was 35 years old, a recent captain and major at the agency, and walking into a job most veterans would have approached cautiously.
He didn't.
In his first years, Chris rebuilt the agency around three ideas: deputies deserve the best tools, victims deserve our best work, and communities deserve a sheriff's office that shows up before the crisis — not just after. The Pasco Sheriff's Office became the first agency in the Tampa Bay area to put body-worn cameras on every deputy. He founded F1RST — Florida's Forensic Institute for Research, Security and Tactics — a one-of-a-kind training center that brings academia, law enforcement, and private-sector partners under one roof.
Under his watch, PSO built one of Florida's largest Behavioral Health Intervention Teams, pairing deputies with clinicians to respond to mental health crises with care, not just handcuffs. The agency's School Resource Officer unit was named SRO Unit of the Year by the Florida Association of School Resource Officers. Pasco deputies led a 2023 human trafficking operation that resulted in dozens of arrests and rescued young women whose families had nearly given up hope.
The people of Pasco County have re-elected Chris as Sheriff four times — in 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024 — every time without opposition. That isn't an accident. It is a community's verdict.
The First Responder
Before he was sheriff, Chris was a young officer on the East Coast. He served with the Philadelphia Public School Police, the Fairfax County Police Department in Virginia, and the Broward County Sheriff's Office in Florida.
He was a first responder on September 11, 2001. He served on the response to the Washington, D.C. sniper attacks and the anthrax mailings that followed. He has spent his career running toward the work most people pray they'll never see.
The Public Servant
Chris's career has never been confined to a single uniform. He served as Staff Director of the Florida House of Representatives' Policy and Procedure Office, where he managed domestic security, criminal justice, emergency management, economic development, and transportation issues for the chamber. He later served as Deputy Chief of Staff to then-Speaker Marco Rubio, and as Chief of Staff for the Florida Highway Patrol.
In 2017, he was appointed to the Florida Constitution Revision Commission — the thirty-seven-member body that reviews and proposes changes to the Florida Constitution.
He understands the building. He understands the work. And he understands what it takes to get an idea from a town hall in Hudson to a vote on the Senate floor in Tallahassee.
The Family
Chris is married to Bridget, and together they're raising three children in Pasco County. They are active in their church and on every youth sports field that will have them. Faith and family are not campaign talking points for Chris — they're the reason he ran for sheriff, and they're the reason he's running for Senate.
The Record
Public Service
- Sheriff, Pasco County, 2011–present (appointed by Gov. Rick Scott; re-elected unopposed 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024)
- Florida Constitution Revision Commission, 2017
- Chief of Staff, Florida Highway Patrol
- Deputy Chief of Staff, Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio
- Staff Director, Florida House Policy and Procedure Office
Education
- M.P.A., Public Administration — University of Delaware
- B.A., Criminal Justice — University of Delaware
- Graduate, FBI National Executive Institute
- Graduate, Naval Postgraduate School Executive Leadership Program
- Executive education — MIT and Harvard
- Undergraduate Certificate in Emergency Management — Florida State University
- Certificate in Business Excellence — Vanderbilt University
Recognition
- First Tampa Bay agency to adopt body-worn cameras
- Founder, F1RST (Florida's Forensic Institute for Research, Security and Tactics)
- Florida Association of School Resource Officers — SRO Unit of the Year, 2022
- Patriotic Employer — Employers Support of the Guard and Reserve
In the community
- Pasco Sheriff's Charities
- Boys and Girls Club of Lacoochee
- Pasco Police Athletic League
- New Port Richey Rotary
- Police Benevolent Association
- Fraternal Order of Police
- Gold Shield Foundation
- Renew Pasco