ABOVE: State Rep. Michele Rayner, photo via Rayner’s Facebook page.
LARGO, Fla. | State Rep. Michele Rayner, the first Black, openly LGBTQ woman elected to the Florida Legislature, officially launched her campaign to represent Florida’s 13th Congressional District on June 14.
The district includes Pinellas County’s St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Largo, the site of the Lighthouse Church of Jesus where Rayner made her announcement. The church was built, founded and led by her minister grandfather for years.
Rayner is seeking to succeed U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist. The longtime LGBTQ ally is currently running for governor to oust incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis.
You can watch her announcement below:
“I am truly honored and grateful for the opportunity to make my case to the people of Florida’s 13th Congressional District,” Rayner shared afterwards. “Pinellas County is my home – I was born and raised here in Clearwater.”
The candidate noted that her mother was one of St. Petersburg’s first Black social workers and that an uncle of hers served as a state representative in the district she historically won last year. Another was the first Black secretary of the Florida Dept. of Corrections.
“I was taught from a young age to always do good, to strive to serve others, and to serve my community,” she explained. “That’s why I became a public defender, that’s why I became a civil rights attorney and I have been honored to continue this path of public service as a state representative.”
It’s as a state representative that Rayner championed a number of issues. She served on the Health & Human Services Committee, the Justice Appropriations Subcommittee and more, advocating for all Floridians.
She also vehemently fought against Senate Bill 1028, the anti-transgender legislation signed into law by DeSantis June 1. “During the debate on the bill aiming to ban trans children from playing in sports, I was distraught – and my words seemed to fall short of the gravity of the situation before me,” Rayner wrote for Watermark earlier this month.
“I watched my colleagues coldly advocate for policies that would hurt Floridians including my friends and neighbors,” she noted. “I watched while partisanship won over the people we serve.”
The representative expanded on that and more during after her announcement.
“Despite our best efforts, Democratic attempts to provide economic relief, racial justice and public safety for the people of Florida have been stymied time and time again by far-right, partisan Republicans in Florida’s legislature,” she explained. “The systemic nature of the issues we are facing had me looking at where I can make the most impactful changes.”
That’s in Washington, D.C., Rayner asserted.
“I am running for Congress because I believe that is where I can do the most good for my community: the community that raised me, the community that I love,” she said. “We need representatives in Congress who understand that politics is a calling to public service, not self-service.”
Rayner also reflected on the historical nature of her campaign.
“If elected, I will be one of the first openly Queer Black women to serve in Congress, and I intend to continue to serve my community with the same determination, tenacity, selflessness and commitment to public service that I have employed throughout my entire life here in Florida,” she advised. “That is my promise to you.”
Rayner joins LGBTQ ally State Rep. Ben Diamond and Eric Lynn, who served as a congressional aide on President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign in the Democratic Primary. You can watch her announcement video below and visit MicheleForFlorida.com for more information.
