U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon marches in the St Pete Pride parade. (Watermark Out News file photo)
Bolstered by Florida’s Republican supermajority, Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed an unprecedented wave of anti-LGBTQ+ laws since 2019. Now, with early voting underway in the election, LGBTQ+ advocates say Floridians are fighting back.
Equality Florida Action PAC points toward the primary election as proof. Executive Director Joe Saunders says their takeaway was “simple — the pendulum is swinging in Florida.”
“The pieces are primed to shatter the conservative supermajorities in the legislature that have held our state hostage for too long,” he explains. “A powerful slate of openly-LGBTQ candidates all over Florida are fueling the real possibility that pro-equality leaders can break those supermajorities and bring more balance to Tallahassee.”
Breaking the supermajority was a key part of Pride over Politics, a virtual Get Out the Vote rally organized by the Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus Oct. 11. Its focal point was the race to succeed DeSantis, something Democrat David Jolly and Republican Byron Donalds each hope to do.
The event was hosted by Stephen Gaskill, the group’s former president. He advised the Jolly campaign is focused on economic fairness, a responsive government and building an inclusive community, “upholding a state where all people are welcomed and respected.” It’s something the former Republican first discussed with Watermark Out News last year.
Jolly reflected on his time in the party, which ended in 2018, while embracing his political evolution. He also committed to ending Florida’s “culture wars.”
“Both as a matter of law and as a matter of leadership, the LGBTQ+ community has been under attack, and particularly the trans community,” Jolly said. “We need a voice of leadership that defends and stands up for and is an ally of the community.”
He reiterated that during the primary election, sharing “Florida should be a state where every person is treated with dignity, respect and equal opportunity under the law,” and he believes that now.
Jolly tells Watermark Out News that “as your next governor, I will be an ally, and I will be a partner, and we will work together to restore freedom, respect and dignity to all Floridians, including those within the LGBTQ+ community and throughout the state of Florida.”
Donalds, who as a U.S. congressman is rated 0/100 for equality by the Human Rights Campaign, did not respond to requests for comment.
LGBTQ+ advocates say Donalds would follow in DeSantis’ footsteps, arguing that “Florida needs a fundamentally different kind of leadership in the governor’s office.”
“For far too long, Florida’s governor’s mansion has been used to divide Floridians rather than bring people together,” Saunders says. “Under Governor DeSantis, we have seen an unprecedented focus on attacking LGBTQ Floridians, restricting what students can learn, censoring classrooms and workplaces, inserting government into deeply personal health care decisions, and targeting local governments that want to support the diverse communities they serve.
“At the same time, Floridians are dealing with rising insurance costs, housing challenges and affordability concerns,” Saunders continues. “Floridians deserve a governor who will focus on making people’s lives better instead of manufacturing culture wars and using marginalized communities as political targets.”
Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus President Kristen Browde agrees. The organization also backed Jolly.
“While Democrats seem to have figured out that bigotry is bad policy, Republicans still seem to think that they can sell hate of LGBTQ+ people, particularly if they dress it up in religious trappings or make it about transgender women or children,” she says. “They’re wrong, and they’re about to discover that as they lose seats despite their gerrymandering.”
Both organizations are focused on electing Democrats up and down the ballot. The state’s Republican supermajority can be broken if voters flip two seats in the Florida Senate and five in the Florida House.
“Imagine if they build up just those two extra Senate seats, those five extra House seats, and all of a sudden we have a no more Republican governor, we have Daily Jolly as our governor,” Browde shared during the recent rally. “His vetoes will stand.”
The race for U.S. Senate between Democrat Angie Nixon and Republican Ashley Moody is another focal point.
Nixon has a pro-LGBTQ+ record from her time in the Florida House while Moody, a DeSantis appointee who served as Florida’s attorney general, does not.
In recent weeks Nixon has drawn thousands to rallies statewide featuring U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, who endorsed her in August. Attendees have included the Hillsborough LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus and Orlando’s Rainbow Democrats.
“Angie Nixon has been by our side fighting for LGBTQ+ rights in Florida for many years,” the Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus shared Oct. 12. “She is unafraid of the haters and ready to fight for us in DC.”
The candidate echoes that to Watermark Out News.
“Throughout my time in the state legislature, I’ve consistently fought back against the forces trying to divide us and strip away our freedoms, and I will keep doing that in Washington,” Nixon says.
“Unlike politicians like Ashley Moody who have built their careers by attacking and hurting LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender youth, I believe that no Floridian should have to live in fear simply for being who they are,” she continues. “The LGBTQ+ community is an essential, vibrant part of Florida, and in the U.S. Senate, I will unequivocally support the Equality Act and any other legislation that ensures everyone in our state and across this country is protected from discrimination and has the freedom to thrive.”
Moody did not respond to requests for comment.
“Angie is Florida’s AOC, someone who has burst onto the statewide scene and is winning because she offers a change from the too-timid approach of an older generation,” Browde says. “She’s a longtime ally, someone we know and trust.”
Browde says candidates like Nixon are ready to fight for LGBTQ+ Floridians are up and down the ballot.
“We have awesome out LGBTQ+ candidates like [Tampa Bay’s House District 64 nominee] Luis Salazar and [South Florida’s HD 101 nominee] Todd Delmay, who are going to take back seats in the State House — people you haven’t heard about like George Lavin, running for state Senate in a Miami district — and we have terrific allies,” she says. “We can double the number of out LGBTQ+ candidates in the legislature, and send allies throughout government, hopefully to end the onslaught of hate bills.”
HD 43 candidate Samuel Vilchez Santiago in Orlando, also chair of the Orange County Democratic Party, is another contender. He closed the caucus’ rally and noted “these elections will not be won alone.”
“They’re going to be won because of the hard work that we do on a daily basis to organize between now and Election Day — and we really need everyone to come out and vote in this election,” he shared.
“The only way we can do that is by making sure that we’re making the calls, we’re knocking on the doors, we’re doing the sign waving, we’re sending the text messages — and also if possible, we’re donating to our candidates, to our party, and to everyone who’s on the ballot up and down: from David Jolly all the way to our school board races and county commission races.”
Doing the work will turn the tide, something Saunders says is long overdue.
“For too long, the DeSantis administration and far-right leaders in Tallahassee have had the power to set Florida’s agenda, and we have seen the damage that agenda has done to LGBTQ Floridians and other marginalized communities,” he notes. “They have spent years targeting LGBTQ people, restricting what students can learn, interfering in health care decisions and undermining local governments’ ability to support their own communities.
“The LGBTQ community cannot spend every legislative session simply fighting to stop the next harmful bill,” Saunders continues. “We need to change who has the power to make these decisions and elect leaders who will fight for LGBTQ families, students, workers and communities — not use them as political targets.”
Nonpartisan municipal races also take place Nov. 3. Voters will elect the next mayors of Orange County and St. Petersburg, victors who will be tasked with leading their region’s response to SB 1134.
The state’s “anti-DEI” law will go into effect next year. It will prohibit municipalities from “funding, promoting or taking official action” on matters the state deems to be diversity, equity and inclusion, impacting celebrations like Pride.
“That censorship policy … has already put pressure on cities and counties over legacy civil rights programs and funding, LGBTQ communities and other historically marginalized groups,” Saunders says.
In Orange County, Democrat Tiffany Moore Russell is facing off against Republican businessman Chris Messina, who did not return requests for comment. Moore Russell, the former Clerk of Courts, has vowed to champion “inclusivity and diversity in our community.”
“My history has shown that I embrace diversity and will fight for it,” Moore Russell says. “…There are so many things that we celebrate in this community that I want to make sure we can continue to celebrate, so I’ll be looking for legal interpretations to protect us as a county and protect how we choose to spend our resources.”
Equality Florida Action PAC has endorsed Moore Russell in the race. Saunders says that’s because “she is committed to being an advocate on issues of equality and fairness and has pledged to always support the fight for equality.”
“Moore Russell has a documented record of LGBTQ-inclusive actions, including voting for domestic-partner benefits for Orange County employees and supporting Orange County’s participation in litigation seeking marriage equality,” he says. “More recently, she has cited her support for a domestic-partnership registry and her decision as Clerk of Courts to personally officiate same-sex marriages after marriage equality became legal in Florida.”
Moore Russell has also been endorsed by the Rainbow Democrats.
In St. Petersburg, incumbent Mayor Ken Welch is facing off against challenger Charlie Crist, Florida’s former U.S. congressman and governor. He last challenged DeSantis for his old job in 2022.
Crist told Watermark Out News in July that he expected the governor would use a second term to push anti-LGBTQ+ laws, “one of the reasons I decided to run.” He also advised he would challenge SB 1134, calling it unconstitutional.
Welch has promised to fight the legislation as well. He first spoke out against the measure in March.
“In a second term, I will keep LGBTQ+ residents at the table when decisions affecting their lives are made,” he says now. “… The state may try to limit what cities can do, but I will use every authority available to me to protect St. Petersburg’s values and make sure everyone can belong here.”
While both Democrats have vowed to fight for LGBTQ+ residents, concerns remain from some in St. Petersburg.
Crist’s support from Republicans like Florida’s former solicitor general, who joined Donald Trump’s legal team in 2022, has drawn scrutiny. He notes he ran to “restart the progress that made St. Pete great, not to run a partisan campaign,” adding that “the LGBTQ+ community will not have to wonder where their mayor stands” if he’s elected.
Welch’s critics, meanwhile, believe he could have done more when the Florida Department of Transportation removed St. Petersburg’s Pride mural during his first term. No Florida city successfully challenged the statewide directive and it’s not something that stopped Equality Florida Action PAC or the Stonewall Democrats of Pinellas County from backing him.
Voters across the state are also considering three amendments. Browde says “the Republicans have snuck onto your ballot three immensely damaging Constitutional amendments. Don’t miss them — and vote them all down.”
Equality Florida Action, Inc. adds that Amendment 3, which would increase homestead tax exemptions, would impact “support services that directly affect LGBTQ Floridians and communities of color — including HIV care, LGBTQ youth and family services, and programs in historically underserved neighborhoods.”
Browde’s answer is for LGBTQ+ and ally voters to make a stand on or before Nov. 3.
“Every year we say it’s the most important election of our lifetime,” she notes. “All you have to do is look at the price of gasoline, the price of a hamburger, the cost of the corruption that [Republicans] have brought us.
“It’s time to stop them,” Browde stresses. “Whether by mail, by early voting or by showing up Election Day, vote. It’s time to fight back.”
Election Day is Nov. 3 and early voting is underway through Nov. 1. Visit Vote.org for more information.
To learn more about Equality Florida Action PAC, the Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus and to view their endorsed candidates, visit EQFLPAC.org and LGBTQDems.org.
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