ABOVE: State Rep. Michele Rayner (C) canvasses with Equality Florida Action PAC. Photo via Rayner/Facebook.
ST. PETERSBURG | State Rep. Michele Rayner won her primary with more than half of the vote Aug. 23, advancing to November’s general election in her efforts to represent House District 62.
Rayner announced she would run for the recently redrawn seat in May, which includes parts of southern Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. The Democrat previously represented District 70, where she became the first Black, openly LGBTQ woman elected to the Florida Legislature in 2020.
The candidate faced former State Rep. Wengay Newton and newcomer Jesse Philippe in the primary. According to early results from Florida Division of Elections, Rayner received 53.32% of the vote to best Newton’s 37.82% and Philippe’s 8.86%.
“We did it,” Rayner told watch party attendees at Grand Central Brewhouse Aug. 23. “I am so incredibly grateful for all of you being here tonight and believing in our shared vision for a better Florida.”
Rayner subsequently thanked her wife and supporters in and beyond Tampa Bay, noting that “this victory tonight is not a Michele victory.”
“This is a people victory,” she said. “The people stood up and said, ‘not on our watch.’ We will do it again in November. We beat back false narratives, homophobia, misogyny, horrible partisan politics and we did it today because we are working every day for Florida that we can be proud of.”
Rayner is largely expected to return to the Florida House following November’s election. She will face extremist Republican Jeremy Brown, who is running his campaign from a Pinellas County jail on charges related to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Equality Florida Action PAC, which had previously endorsed Rayner, was among those who congratulated her Aug. 23. The organization also endorsed openly LGBTQ State Sen. Shevrin Jones, who secured his own primary victory.
“We are thrilled voters are sending openly-LGBTQ members back to Tallahassee to continue the fight,” Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith said in a statement. “As the legislature has lurched to the far right, abdicating their responsibility to Floridians to serve Governor DeSantis’ political ambitions, the voices of pro-equality legislators have been critical in fighting back against censorship and discrimination.”
To learn more about Michele Rayner’s campaign, visit MicheleForFlorida.com.
