Adam Hughes Putnam (born July 31, 1974) is an American politician who served as the 11th Florida commissioner of agriculture from 2011 to 2019.

Putnam was initially considered the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, but lost the primary to U.S. Representative Ron DeSantis.

The district, numbered the 12th, included all of Putnam's home constituency as well as other areas of Polk County and rural Central Florida.

However, Putnam mentioned that there remained severe discontent within the GOP circle over Gonzales and as the Chairman of the House Republican Conference, he thought that it was important to send this message out.

[12] In February 2009, Putnam declared himself a candidate for Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services in the 2010 election and that he would not seek a sixth term in Congress.

As head of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Putnam was responsible for issuing concealed weapons permits after conducting background checks on applicants.

[14][15] An investigation by the Office of Inspector General found that from February 2016 until May 2017 the department stopped conducting national background checks on applicants for concealed weapons permits, because a worker could not log into an FBI database.

Putnam later said that 365 applicants should have been further backgrounded, and that 291 permits ended up being revoked for noncriminal disqualifying factors (drug abuse, mental illness, fugitives).

[17] In response to the 2013 series Worst Charities in America by the Tampa Bay Times and the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR)—the result of a year-long joint investigation,[18] in 2014 Putnam crafted CS/SB 638 and CS/HB 629—legislation that was intended to crack down on "fraudulent and deceptive organizations" to prevent them from misusing charitable contributions donated by residents of Florida.

[19][20] In May 2017, Putnam announced his campaign for the governorship of Florida in the 2018 election to succeed term-limited Republican Rick Scott.