[3] In 2006, when incumbent Democratic state senator Skip Campbell was unable to seek re-election due to term limits, Ring ran to succeed him in the 32nd District, which included Coral Springs, Pompano Beach, and Sunrise in northeastern Broward County.

[4] He faced Broward County Mayor Benjamin Graber and James W. Haddad in the Democratic primary, and invested nearly a million dollars of his own money to develop an effective field program.

The Sun-Sentinel endorsed Ring for re-election, praising his "willingness to work with rival Republicans to advance public policy" and his "firmer grasp of business development and the importance of properly funded and targeted university investments.

He won the Democratic primary uncontested, and faced college student Soren Swensen, the Republican nominee, in the general election.

"[7] The Sun-Sentinel endorsed him for re-election, arguing, "He's one of the few state lawmakers that can talk authoritatively about venture capital strategies one minute and devise a bill to tweak a problematic law to help city pension plans stay solvent the next.

[9] While serving in the legislature, Ring requested approval to work for Sterling Partners, a private equity firm that aimed to win state contracts, as a consultant.

Though he had previously indicated that he would not be a candidate for any position before his term was up, he considered running for Chief Financial Officer of Florida in 2014 when the incumbent CFO, Jeff Atwater, who had also applied for the FAU presidency, was selected as a finalist.