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Last night State Senator Jim King lost his battle with pancreatic cancer.

King began serving in the Florida legislature in 1986. He was senate president from 2002 to 2004. King’s diagnosis came just days after the end of the 2009 legislative session. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson served in the state legislature with King in the late 80s. Bronson says King was never afraid to speak his mind.

“The state of Florida is losing a great legislator and someone who was willing to stick his neck out on issues and follow through. Sometimes in the world of politics today people like to lick their finger and stick it in the air and see which way the wind blows. If it was an issue he felt strong about, even if he was the only person standing, which the way I am on certain issues, then that’s the way he was,” said Bronson.

King was most famous for fighting legislation that would have allowed the state to reinsert Terri Schivo’s feeding tube in 2005. The move led to the death of Schivo who had been in persistent vegetative state for more than a decade. King also blocked changes to the class size amendment.