Background
Powell was born in Riviera Beach, and attended Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, where he received his degree in public relations.
Powell was born in Riviera Beach, and attended Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, where he received his degree in public relations.
He then attended Florida State University, receiving his master of science in planning.
Powell then took a job working as the city planner of West Palm Beach in 2007, and then began as a legislative aide for State Representative Mack Bernard in 2009. In 2012, Bernard declined to seek re-election so he could instead run for a seat in the Florida Senate, and the legislative districts in the state were redrawn, so Powell opted to run in the newly-created 88th District. He faced Evelyn Garcia, Nikasha Wells, and Charles Bantel in the Democratic primary, and he earned the endorsement of The Palm Beach Post, which praised him for his "good record of community service" and for his familiarity with the district.
Powell ended up defeating his opponents by a wide margin, winning 51% of the vote to Garcia"s 24%, Wells"s 17%, and Bantel"s 8%, and advanced to the general election, where he was elected unopposed.
Entering the 2013 legislative session, Powell announced that his top three legislative priorities were allowing local governments to prohibit concealed weapons at certain events, postponing the expiration date of state-funded "health flex plans" for five years, and making it more difficult for prosecutors to try children as adults for criminal offenses.