ABOVE: Michele Rayner. Screenshot via YouTube.
ST. PETERSBURG | State Rep. Michele Rayner announced the suspension of her congressional campaign May 16 to focus on another run for the state House.
Rayner launched her campaign to represent Florida’s 13th Congressional District last June. She made history the year prior by becoming the first Black, openly LGBTQ woman elected to the Florida Legislature.
The lawmaker cited Governor Ron DeSantis’ recent redistricting efforts among her reasons for the suspension, which significantly altered CD-13. DeSantis vetoed the Legislature’s initial congressional map and held a special session in April to approve his own.
“Every ten years, our state is constitutionally obligated to draw new maps for elected representation that reflects our communities,” Rayner explains on her website. “Governor DeSantis had different plans. For the first time in the history of our state, our Governor drew his own lines for the congressional maps, parts of which have already been deemed unconstitutional.
“I don’t want to mince words: these maps are a racist depiction from our Governor who wants to erase equitable representation in our state to fit his overtly partisan agenda,” she continues. “We cannot lose the type of bold representation that this district and all Floridians need in the State House to stop Ron DeSantis and his Republican cronies in their tracks.”
The map gives the Republican Party a 20-8 congressional seat advantage. LGBTQ and other civil rights advocates throughout the state have already filed legal challenges against it.
Rayner announced her decision with a video shared via social media.
“As many of you know, about a year ago, we launched a campaign for congress right here in Pinellas County,” Rayner shared, reflecting on the joy she and her wife have experienced campaigning. “It’s been a special joy for me because I grew up here right in Clearwater.
“But as many of you know, we have a governor and we have a legislature that is out of control,” she continued. “They have drawn maps that are racist, that are partisan, and that I believe – and quite frankly, many people believe – are illegal, and that that’s what makes it difficult to have a free and fair election in Pinellas County for this congressional seat.”
Rayner added that she will “take our fight back to Tallahassee” to hold DeSantis accountable.
“We’re going back to the State House,” she shared. “I hope to earn your support. I hope that you’ll get involved because this election is the most vital election of our lifetime.”
View her full announcement below:
In a subsequent statement, Rayner also noted that “I am proud of the movement we’ve built to bring working-class issues into the national conversation. I am grateful and humbled for the outpouring of support from grassroots and national leaders and organizations across this country in our campaign for Congress.
“While this campaign is coming to a halt, our work is just beginning,” she concluded. “Pinellas and Hillsborough county families can continue to rely on their champion for working people to bring home results.”
Rayner will seek to represent Florida’s newly drawn seat for House District 62. It includes parts of southern Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.
For more information about Rayner’s campaign, visit MicheleForFlorida.com.
