From 2002–2012, he served in the Florida Senate, representing almost 500,000 residents of the 17th district, which included all of Hardee and Highlands and parts of DeSoto, Glades, Okeechobee, Polk, and St. Lucie counties.

Due to term limits, he will leave the senate at the end of the 2012 session, but he is intent on funding two projects in his district.

The first is the $34.5 million Heartland Parkway, a proposed toll road that has been delayed for years because there is not enough existing traffic to justify it, and it will cross sensitive environmental land.

This was controversial in some quarters, as it came during a very tight budget year, and thus the Florida Board of Governors favored a more measured approach.

[4] Alexander advanced a state budget for 2012-2013 that provided $33 million for USF Polytechnic to become an independent institution.