Trump nominates Florida Republican Holder to be ambassador to Bulgaria
US president Donald Trump has nominated Douglas Holder, a Republican former member of the Florida House of Representatives, to be ambassador to Bulgaria, according to a notice on the White House website on June 1.
The post of US ambassador to Bulgaria has been vacant since Kenneth Merten’s resignation in January 2025.
Holder, born in the state of Georgia in 1966, attended Middle Tennessee State University, where he got a degree in political science.
He moved to Florida in 1997.
Holder’s Linkedin entry shows him as president of Doug Holder Real Estate Services from August 2005 to present and a partner in the Legis Group, a lobbying firm, from January 2017 to present.
He was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 to 2014, when term limits meant that he could not continue in office. Holder was a candidate for the Florida Senate in 2018 but lost in the Republican primary.
He is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association.
The Herald-Tribune noted in a March 10 2013 report that during his tenure as a member of the Florida House of Representatives, Holder had pushed legislation to reduce unemployment compensation costs for employers and worked on bills to create economic incentive packages to lure businesses to Florida.
In a report on November 22 2017, the Herald-Tribune said that Holder was to pay $6500 in civil penalties to resolve an ethics complaint that he filed “inaccurate” financial disclosures in 2010-14.
The Sarasota County Republican agreed to the settlement, which was disclosed by the Florida Commission on Ethics. He admitted to filing inaccurate financial disclosures and later filed corrected disclosures, according to the filing. Holder also “acknowledged a $20 000 loan” he had failed to report as a liability.
