He was first elected to the Florida House in 2002 and left office due to term limitation in 2010.

He is married to Connie Poppell, who is from Vero Beach, Florida.

They have four children, a girl and three boys, Tamra, Tim, Tyler, and Doug.

From 1960 to 1965, he worked as an assistant production manager for Indian River Exchange Packers.

He owned two businesses, Poppell Groves from 1971 to 1997, and Float-On Trailers from 1985 to 2000.