Florida will now have its largest caucus of openly LGBTQ state legislators in history

Moms for Liberty’s influence on education policy has collapsed

Quinnie Perez makes history as the state’s first openly transgender elected official

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. — Florida voters delivered an earthquake last night that will reshape politics in the state and made an undeniable declaration: Florida is a swing state once more and the time to invest is now. 

Joining the pro-equality, pro-democracy tsunami that swept the nation, Floridians defeated all efforts to gerrymander multiple congressional districts, crushed the years-long conservative supermajorities in the legislature, gave Republicans their smallest state House majority since they took control in 1996, flipped 18 state legislative seats, and came close to shocking Republicans in statewide races despite pro-equality candidates being outspent and largely written off by national groups. Notably, the organizing prowess of Equality Florida Action Inc.-endorsed Angie Nixon, a progressive Black woman who refused to abandon LGBTQ people in her race for the U.S. Senate, juiced turnout and sparked hope in voters across the state.

“Florida’s far right era of chaos and division has been repudiated,” said Equality Florida Executive Director Stratton Pollitzer. “Voters sent a message that a new chapter must be written in our state, one that treats everyone with the dignity they deserve, lets everyone thrive, and makes life better for people instead of tearing others down. The strategy of attacking and demonizing transgender people to score political points should now be declared dead, as it backfired so spectacularly. It is no accident that the power of last night’s victories lives in diverse candidates, more of whom were openly LGBTQ than ever before, who caught organizing fire and reignited Florida’s status as the nation’s largest swing state. Representation matters and Florida just demanded seats at the table for the people who know their lives and care about their struggles. We are proud that Equality Florida and its supporters have built a machine to turn these waves into a political sea change. Make no mistake: As Florida goes in 2028, so goes the nation once more. The time to invest in this wave sweeping the state is now.”

Equality Florida Action PAC and Equality Florida Action Inc. invested more than a million dollars in key races across the state. Those efforts included:

• Hundreds of volunteers across the state joining 124 Days of Action where they knocked doors or called voters 
• Knocking more than 12,500 doors knocked, placing more than 93,000 calls to voters, sending more than 350,000 texts and delivering over 800,000 pieces of mail
• A digital program with 46 ads, generating over 2.3 million impressions
• Directly contributing and raising over $540,000 for pro-equality candidates

See full lists of endorsed candidates here.

DEFYING THE DUMMYMANDER

At the behest of Donald Trump, Governor Ron DeSantis rammed a mid-decade gerrymander through the state legislature in an attempt to guarantee Republicans a U.S. House majority. Those efforts backfired spectacularly. Floridians rebuffed the gerrymanders, sending Equality Florida Action Inc.-endorsed Democrats to Congress in each seat. That includes re-electing Congressman Darren Soto, despite him being forced to run in a district that Trump carried by 18 points just two years ago.

SHATTERING THE CONSERVATIVE SUPERMAJORITIES

Last night, voters crushed conservative supermajorities in the state legislature that have spent years making Florida the epicenter of far right attacks on LGBTQ people, reproductive health, immigrant communities, Black history, inclusive education, voting rights, and more. In all, Democratic candidates flipped 18 state legislative seats, the largest number of flips by a party in over 60 years. Among those seats, Equality Florida Action PAC identified and endorsed in 14 key races in the Break the Supermajority program, delivering wins in each one. Conservatives will now have their smallest state House majority since taking control in 1996. 

The shift in power dynamics in Tallahassee will drive major changes in what issues are prioritized, which bills are provided hearings, the makeup of committees, and will force lawmakers to reckon with a Florida voting population that is demanding an end to far right, culture war politics.

EXPANDING THE LGBTQ CAUCUS, DEFEATING ANTI-LGBTQ ANTAGONISTS & ELECTING THE STATE’S FIRST OPENLY TRANSGENDER ELECTED OFFICIAL

In an absolute repudiation of the DeSantis era of anti-gay and anti-trans attacks, Florida now has a record eight openly LGBTQ legislators, with half of them winning red-to-blue flip districts. Representation is power, and out candidates capturing the districts where they have been targeted and used as political pawns marks a sea change in the state’s politics. This is Florida’s largest LGBTQ legislative caucus ever, powered by incredible candidates whose stories reflect the vibrant diversity of the state itself. The openly LGBTQ, pro-equality champions who won last night are: Dr. Jane Aman, Todd Delmay, Dan McDow, Luis Salazar, Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet, and Samuel Vilchez Santiago. They will join Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith and Representative Mitch Rosenwald in the Capitol. 

“A larger-than-ever contingent of openly-LGBTQ lawmakers means better policy, fiercer advocacy, and voices that have too long been sidelined or demonized are now squarely in the conversation,” added Pollitzer. “And further proof that the pendulum has officially swung was the defeat of many candidates seen as our community’s biggest villains. Doug Bankson, sponsor of the Trans Erasure Bill and a book-banning expansion bill, was fired. 

Rachel Plakon, sponsor of the anti-transgender bathroom bill, was fired. 

Scandal-plagued Fabian Basabe, who voted in favor of every anti-LGBTQ bill while bemoaning the LGBTQ’s community refusal to support him, was fired. LGBTQ candidates are rising while those who have taken aim at our community are packing their bags.”

In addition to huge victories in state legislative races, Central Floridians elected Quinnie Perez to the Orange County Soil and Water Conservation District board, making her the state’s first openly transgender elected official in history. Equality Florida Action PAC was proud to both endorse Quinnie and do multiple Days of Action to support her, turning out pro-equality voters in her race. Her victory is a rebuke of the yearslong effort to terrorize transgender people out of public life entirely by the DeSantis Administration and its enablers.

FIRING MOMS FOR LIBERTY

Floridians have made their disgust with Moms for Liberty extremism clear. In 2026, Moms for Liberty endorsed 15 candidates for school board in 6 counties (Bay, Clay, Brevard, Lee, St. Lucie and Collier), losing 53% of their priority races. Equality Florida Action PAC endorsed 33 candidates across 18 counties, winning 70% of our races. In all, we flipped 5 school boards to a pro-equality majority.

Most notably, the Sarasota school board, ground zero for Moms for Liberty attacks on public education, flipped. And not only did the Pinellas and Manatee school boards flip to pro-equality majorities, but an additional 5 Moms for Liberty members lost after failing to run away from the organization’s toxic brand in Brevard, Lee, and Volusia counties. 

DESPITE REPEATED WARNINGS, THE RIGHT WING DOUBLED DOWN ON FAILING ANTI-TRANS ATTACKS – AND PAID THE PRICE

Even as polls made clear that Floridians, like voters around the country, were exhausted by divisive politics and most concerned about rampant government corruption and soaring costs, the far right doubled down on failing anti-trans attack campaigns. Over the last two years, the anti-equality machine has spent more than $400 million on anti-trans ads across the country. Just this cycle, candidates dumped tens of millions into those same tired ads in Florida. But voters saw through them and sent anti-equality campaigns one devastating blow after another. In fact, even Governor Ron DeSantis lamented today that the anti-trans ad obsession was a part of the GOP’s demise.

Floridians have said, “Enough is enough.” The anti-trans smear campaigns are a failure and have done nothing but tear our communities apart. Voters want leaders with a vision to make life better for people and public servants who will do the work, not divide us.

FLORIDA IS BACK – AND THE TIME TO INVEST IS NOW

What happens next in Florida is just as important as what happened at the ballot box last night. Pro-equality statewide candidates came within inches of delivering a stunning blow to the MAGA movement at ground zero despite being massively outspent and largely written off by the national power brokers. Voters sent shockwaves through the state and local political machinery. And the pieces are in place for Florida’s return as the nation’s most important swing state. 

But, just as has been built in Texas and Georgia over multiple cycles, that trajectory will require financial investment and infrastructure. Last night, Florida sent a message to the country: The pendulum has swung. Despite our far right political future being declared intractable, we are back. And the time to invest in the next chapter is now.

“Today, we celebrate the people who showed up, organized, knocked on doors, made calls, and refused to give up on this state. But our work is just getting started. We have to decide what kind of Florida we want to be now – and where we want to take this country. Ours is a vision of a future that is more free, more equal for everyone. And that’s the future Equality Florida was made to build. The time to roll up our sleeves has come,” said Pollitzer.

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Equality Florida is the largest civil rights organization dedicated to securing full equality for Florida’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. Through education, grassroots organizing, coalition building, and lobbying, we are changing Florida so that no one suffers harassment or discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Transgender equality not a top issue driving voters, data shows voters trust Democrats more on “transgender issues” despite yearslong anti-trans fear mongering campaigns

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Data continues to make the undercurrents of the midterms elections clear: voters are worried about corruption, inflation, gas prices and healthcare. Yet right wing politicians continue to spend time and campaign resources attacking transgender people, even as trends point toward those attacks ringing hollow with voters. 

A new Fox News Poll reveals that voters are overwhelmingly focused on pocketbook issues and institutional integrity, not the divisive culture wars that have come to define the right wing’s agenda. According to the survey, 88% of voters are extremely or very concerned about government corruption, followed closely by inflation and high prices at 85%, gas prices at 83%, and healthcare at 80%. Meanwhile, despite the obsession with transgender people from right wing politicians and talking heads, transgender equality is nowhere to be found in voters’ top concerns. Three other national polls showed the same trends, with “transgender issues” either not registering or coming in dead last among voters’ priorities. In fact, data from the ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll found voters more likely to trust Democrats on “transgender issues” by 9 points years into the right wing’s manufactured anti-trans hysteria campaign.

“The pendulum is swinging in Florida and around the country,” said Equality Florida Action PAC Executive Director Joe Saunders. “Floridians are worried about the cost of housing, groceries, health care and insurance. They are sick of the politics of chaos and division and want a government that works for them. Instead, far right politicians have spent years peddling transphobia and promising that the solution to our problems is hating our neighbors just a little more. Voters aren’t buying it. They can smell this cynical strategy a mile away and know that every time they see another ad attacking transgender people, it’s just a desperate Trump-brand politician trying to distract from their losing record and bankrupt agenda. We are demanding leaders with real solutions to our real problems, not hate peddlers who have nothing to offer but tired attacks on our friends and neighbors. Change is coming.”

The national data mirrors electoral shifts in Florida. During the August 2026 Florida primaries, 81% of Equality Florida Action PAC-endorsed candidates advanced or won their races, while candidates heavily aligned with anti-LGBTQ platforms suffered severe losses. Moms for Liberty’s hostile takeover of Florida’s school system was halted and the organization is now in retreat after dumping money into anti-trans fear mongering. And voters are poised to break the conservative supermajorities and expand the LGBTQ caucus to its largest size ever just a few years after the DeSantis Administration made Florida’s politics synonymous with the anti-LGBTQ agenda. 

Around the Country, Anti-Trans Attacks Keep Failing and GOP Leaders Are Begging the Party to Focus on Voters’ Concerns

Anti-trans attacks took center stage in the 2024 election cycle as the Trump Campaign poured hundreds of millions of dollars into ads attacking Vice President Kamala Harris for her support of fair treatment in jails and prisons. But in the wake of that election, it was clear that anti-trans attack ads did not break through because the American public is inherently transphobic – they tapped into a broader frustration about what politicians were focused on while the economy struggled and people’s everyday lives got harder.

Nevertheless, the right wing took the wrong lesson away and salivated over the chance to weaponize anti-trans attacks over and over in future cycles. Those attacks promptly failed. In 2025, the right wing machine dumped millions into anti-trans attack ads in Virginia, New Jersey, Nebraska, and others. Pro-equality candidates stood their ground, called out the bizarre right wing obsession with the trans community, and won. In Virginia, for example, former Lt-Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and her allies spent more than 50% of their ad budget on anti-LGBTQ attacks. She went on to lose by double digits. 

The addiction to anti-trans attacks at the expense of addressing voters’ real concerns has GOP operatives and leaders begging their party to refocus. In the 2025 cycle, GOP operatives warned that Earle-Sears had no vision to resonate with voters. Former Lt-Gov. Bill Bolling blasted her campaign strategy as well, saying of her obsession with transgender people, “If this is all the Sears campaign has to talk about, I think they are in serious trouble.” Now, GOP leaders are sounding the alarm again. In a recent interview with Texas Monthly, Former Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan said anti-trans attacks are “just not resonating.”

Florida’s Anti-Equality Candidates Double Down Anyway

Despite all the data telling candidates to focus on voters’ top concerns if they want to win, far right campaigns in Florida are doubling down. Millions have already been spent targeting pro-equality candidates on every level of the ballot with anti-trans ads, including a multi-million dollar buy in August from GOP gubernatorial nominee Byron Donalds. But while the right wing hyperventilates about drag queens and middle school soccer fields, Floridians continue to demand answers to the soaring cost of living, crushing housing costs, skyrocketing gas prices, out of control property insurance rates, cratering health care access, and more. 

“Tormenting transgender people isn’t making anyone’s life better. And that’s why these attacks are a loser. We deserve a Florida with a vision for a brighter future, not one constantly stuck in reverse. And November 3, we will send that message loud and clear,” said Saunders.

Paid political advertisement paid for by Equality Florida Action PAC, 15257 Amberly Dr., Ste. 382, Tampa, FL 33647, independently of any candidate or committee. This advertisement was not approved by any candidate.

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Full clip here: https://www.instagram.com/reels/De0RDWVShki/ 

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — At a stop on his bus tour, GOP gubernatorial nominee Byron Donalds was confronted about the ongoing Epstein File cover-up and his obsession with the transgender community by a veteran. Donalds responded by repeatedly disrespecting and insulting the former servicemember, leading bystanders to call out his behavior. 

The confrontation comes amidst Donalds’ multimillion dollar obsession with transgender people and ongoing efforts to use the transgender community to distract from his failure in Congress and lack of agenda for solving Florida’s most pressing problems. The Donalds campaign has spent tens of millions of dollars on anti-trans attack ads, despite nationwide warning signs that the anti-trans scapegoat agenda is a political loser. Similar big bets on anti-trans messaging failed spectacularly in Virginia, New Jersey, and Nebraska in the 2025 cycle, and GOP leaders have warned that the attacks are not resonating with voters frustrated by soaring costs and endless chaos.

Equality Florida Action PAC Spokesperson Brandon Wolf released the following statement:

“It’s no surprise that, when confronted with real questions about rampant corruption in DC, Byron Donalds defaults to insulting and disrespecting someone who sacrificed for our country. His campaign has poured tens of millions into his obsession with demonizing transgender people because that’s who he is – another MAGA politician with no plan to make life better for people and nothing to offer but tired hate. But here’s the problem for Byron: voters can smell this cynical nonsense from a mile away. Floridians are sick and tired of failed politicians treating our neighbors like garbage while they try to run this country into the ground. November is coming, and voters want real leaders with real solutions who don’t unravel when it’s time to answer tough questions.”

Paid Political Advertisement paid for by Equality Florida Action PAC, 15257 Amberly Drive, Suite 382, Tampa, FL 33647, independently of any candidate or committee. This advertisement was not approved by any candidate.

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Rising housing costs, insurance, groceries, and everyday expenses are already stretching Florida families thin. Amendment 3 may sound like tax relief — but what happens to the services and investments we rely on when local governments lose the money to pay for them?

Amendment 3 would dramatically increase the homestead property tax exemption, costing local governments an estimated $12 billion in annual revenue loss.

That means cities and counties could face difficult choices about what to cut, reduce, or stop funding — after paying for essential services like police, fire, and emergency response.

What’s at stake?

Local property-tax dollars help fund parks, youth programs, public health, homelessness prevention, neighborhood services, and partnerships with nonprofits serving vulnerable Floridians.

They also 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.

These aren’t extras. They are investments that help keep people healthy, housed, supported, and connected to their communities.

How Amendment 3 Could Affect Renters

When local governments lose significant revenue under Amendment 3, they are likely to raise taxes or fees on rental properties to make up for it, which means Amendment 3’s costs could be passed on to renters through higher housing costs.

That’s not making Florida more affordable.

We need solutions that help all Floridians — not a constitutional amendment that gives homeowners a larger tax break while putting local services and renters at risk.

• LGBTQ Floridians are more likely to rent than own a home, particularly LGBTQ people of color and lower-income LGBTQ households, and could pay more if local governments raise taxes and fees on rental properties to replace lost revenue.
• Renters get little or no direct tax benefit because the proposed property-tax savings primarily benefit homeowners.
• Lost local revenue could mean cuts to services renters rely on, including housing, transportation, libraries, emergency services, and other community programs.
• The benefits are uneven. Certain homeowners receive the tax break, while many renters could face higher costs without receiving the same direct benefit.

Vote NO on Amendment 3.

Paid political advertisement paid for by Equality Florida Action, Inc., 15257 Amberly Dr., Ste. 382, Tampa, FL 33647, independently of any committee.

Anti-Diversity in Local Government Law poised to disrupt local economies already reeling from soaring costs, stagnating tourism

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Wednesday night, local leaders from one end of the state to the other stood up for their diverse communities and pushed back on Florida’s new Anti-Diversity in Local Government law. Their proactive steps are protecting support threatened by the law.

Facing the new law’s vague and sweeping prohibition on local support for policies, programs, and funding related to race, color, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity, the Miami Beach and Tallahassee City Commissions preserved crucial funding for diverse, inclusive programming – especially for LGBTQ issues particularly targeted under the law.

“Thank you to the unwavering local leaders who stood up for their community and refused to abandon their constituents and their values,” said Jon Harris Maurer, Equality Florida General Counsel and Public Policy Director. “LGBTQ people are part of the fabric of this state — as residents, business owners, workers, visitors, families and community leaders. Protecting Pride and other inclusive programs recognizes that welcoming communities are the lifeblood of our state and a message to leaders across the state: do not comply in advance or concede your authority beyond the law’s scope. Every Floridian deserves a state where their local leaders have the freedom to champion their communities. That’s the Florida we’re fighting for.”

Local governments are scrambling to analyze the law, apply potential exemptions, and preserve funding for key community and cultural programs before the law’s effective date, January 1, 2027. For example, last night from the dias the Tallahassee City Attorney revised her analysis to identify a carve-out that should protect support for the local Experience Asia and Filipino Festival, which had been slated for defundingThe law is forcing local governments to spend valuable time trying to decipher what support they can and cannot provide for their communities. Rather than focus on the issues keeping Floridians up at night, local leaders are navigating a chaotic maze of vague restrictions, legal questions, and competing interpretations.

Still, leaders in Miami Beach and Tallahassee were able to chart a path forward for key programs in FY2027, including:

• $250,000 for Miami Beach Pride, which attracts nearly 200,000 visitors annually
• $47,000 for the Pridelines Community Center’s efforts to combat HIV
• $25,000 for the Miami-Dade County LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce
• $12,500 for the Miami Beach Police Department’s LGBTQ Outreach Program
• Maintaining contract funding and staffing for Tallahassee’s Commission on the Status of Women & Girls 
• Fully funding support for Tallahassee Pride, Experience Asia Festival, and the Filipino Festival

In Miami Beach, where the LGBTQ initiatives had been slated for across the board defunding, Commissioner Alex Fernandez introduced a measure co-sponsored by Commissioners Tanya Bhatt, Laura Dominguez, Joe Magazine, and Monica Matteo-Salinas to allocate funding to Miami Beach Pride and the LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce prior to the law’s effective date.  During debate, Commissioner Bhatt amended the proposal to similarly advance part of the Miami Beach Police Department’s (MBPD) LGBTQ Outreach Program. The measure passed unanimously in a bipartisan vote. The Commission had also helped Pridelines hone its funding request to avoid potential complications from the new law.

Additionally, the Commission committed to seek court confirmation that the city can contract to provide multi-year funding for such events and initiatives, as a more long-term solution. 

In Tallahassee, Mayor Dailey balked at the idea of eliminating funding for key community events and programs that enjoyed such deep and longstanding community support at the behest of Governor DeSantis and the legislature. Instead, he pressed the Commission to honor their commitment to the community and fully fund the programs, which the full commission enthusiastically supported.

THE LAW’S COST: CHAOS, CONFUSION, AND ECONOMIC PAIN

The Anti-Diversity in Local Government law, championed by Governor DeSantis, places new restrictions on how counties and municipalities can fund, promote, and carry out certain programs, policies, and official actions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

While the law does not take effect until January 1, 2027, confusion and threats of overcompliance are sweeping the state. Apopka Mayor Nick Nesta recently unveiled a draft budget that called for slashing funds for the Martin Luther King Jr. and Christmas parades, Halloween in the Park, Breakfast with the Bunny, Holiday Tree Lighting, the 4th of July, Emancipation Day, Hispanic Heritage Celebration, Juneteenth, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and more. Cities and counties are reevaluating successful programs to support minority-owned small businesses and local food and culture festivals. Miami-Dade County is considering eliminating key advisory boards and slashing grant funding to communities that most need it, and in St. Petersburg, even St. Patrick’s Day celebrations could be eliminated.

Upending inclusive programming and community support doesn’t just send a devastating message to millions of Floridians, it is a drag on local economies already strained under the weight of soaring costs and slowing tourism. Pride festivals alone generate tens of millions of dollars for local economies across the state each year, easily returning on local governments’ investments in them. The same is true for cultural celebrations, festivals, and more. And investments in inclusion and diversity more broadly, like  minority-owned business grant programs and support for organizations aimed at lifting communities who need it most, make municipalities stronger. Ample data show that inclusive, welcoming cities attract more talent, build more diverse economies, and are more economically resilient.

THE MOMENT CALLS FOR BOLD, COMMUNITY-CENTERED COURAGE

The courage of Miami Beach and Tallahassee leaders sends a clear message to others around the state: do not comply in advance or hurl your local government beyond the law’s scope.  These cities join others like Key West in pushing back, as it recently allocated $25,000 for an LGBTQ art installation prior to the law’s effective date. Programs and events can still be funded prior to the law going into effect. Pre-existing contracts can be honored. Public safety support can still be provided. Grant applications can be revised. Florida is months from the implementation of this law, still clarifying its contours, and its language doesn’t require that local governments abandon the communities they were elected to serve.

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This horrifying revelation comes on the heels of reports detailing his antisemitic and anti-Black white nationalist ties, including:

• Marching in the 2017 Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, VA that led to the murder of Heather Heyer
• Participating in events hosted by the League of the South, an infamous neo-Nazi group whose leadership has spewed antisemitic bile online and claimed that Jewish people are “weakening” white identity
• Repeated calls for secession from the United States
• Social media posts downplaying the horrors of slavery and smearing the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Equality Florida Spokesperson Brandon Wolf issued the following statement: 

When Florida’s leaders pile up years of anti-LGBTQ, anti-Black, and Stop Woke-style policy that is designed to embolden extremists, candidates like Marshall Rawson come crawling out of the chaos. His despicable record does not exist in a vacuum. Under Governor DeSantis, Florida has become the poster child for the right wing’s hysteria campaign, banning books, censoring curriculum, targeting teachers and families, ripping healthcare from thousands, and more.  

Rawson’s appalling comments should disqualify anyone from positions of leadership or public trust. This division and dehumanization should have no place in our state. And any politician should be able to answer a simple question: Will you vocally denounce this violent rhetoric or will you be complicit? Silence allows hate to fester. Hesitation is unacceptable. Floridians deserve leaders who will show a spine for what’s right. We all deserve a state where everyone belongs, everyone is safe, and everyone has the opportunity to thrive. That is the Florida we will continue to build. 

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St. Petersburg, Fla. — For years, Representative Angie Nixon has been fighting for a Florida where no one is left behind—and she’s never been afraid to stand up and speak truth to power.

Today, Equality Florida Action, Inc. endorsed State Representative Angie Nixon for the United States Senate, recognizing a fierce, proven champion for LGBTQ+ Floridians and a leader who has consistently fought for working families, people of color, immigrants, and communities too often pushed to the margins. If elected, Nixon would be Florida’s first Black U.S. Senator.

“Angie Nixon understands something that far too many politicians have forgotten: our communities are worth fighting for. She has shown up when it was difficult, spoken out when it was unpopular, and refused to let politicians use LGBTQ+ people as political punching bags,” said Stratton Pollitzer, Executive Director of Equality Florida Action, Inc. “At a time when the right wing is working tirelessly to roll back our rights and demonize our very existence, we need fighters in Washington who aren’t afraid to go toe-to-toe with the White House and put a check on this out of control administration. Equality Florida Action, Inc. is proud to stand with Angie Nixon because we know what a fighter looks like.”

Nixon has built her record by showing up, speaking out, and taking on the forces trying to divide Floridians and strip away their freedoms. She has been one of Equality Florida’s strongest legislative champions, consistently using her voice and her vote in the state legislature to stand up when LGBTQ+ Floridians and other marginalized communities are under attack.

As Ranking Member of the House Education Administration Subcommittee during the 2025 and 2026 legislative sessions, Nixon has been on the front lines of the fight over what Florida students are allowed to learn, read, and discuss. She has challenged efforts to expand Florida’s book-ban regime and restrict academic freedom, standing up for students whose identities and histories are increasingly being erased from classrooms.

Nixon also introduced the Freedom to Learn Act, a comprehensive package designed to reverse years of legislative attacks on LGBTQ+ and marginalized students and restore academic freedom in Florida schools and universities. The legislation would end Don’t Say LGBTQ censorship of LGBTQ+ people and families, protect students’ ability to have their pronouns and names respected, prevent unsafe forced outing of LGBTQ+ young people, push back against book bans, and restore academic freedom in higher education.

Nixon has consistently opposed Florida’s most sweeping anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, including bans on gender-affirming care, restrictions targeting transgender people in public spaces, efforts to censor LGBTQ+ history and discussions in schools, restrictions on LGBTQ+ expression, and legislation designed to create new avenues for discrimination. She also stood against Florida’s 2026 Anti-Diversity in Local Government law, which targets diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across local governments and institutions.

Her commitment to equality and justice extends beyond the Capitol. In 2024, as Florida lawmakers intensified attacks on Black history, books, and education, Nixon opened Cafe Resistance, a bookstore and community space in North Jacksonville dedicated to organizing, educating, and preserving Black history and culture. A former union organizer and longtime community advocate, she has championed expanded childcare, fought price gouging and pushed to make life more affordable for everyday Floridians.

And when Florida’s political leaders attempted to use a partisan mid-decade redistricting effort to further entrench their power, Nixon took the fight directly to the Capitol. In 2026, she protested on the House floor and staged a sit-in at Governor Ron DeSantis’ office, where she was then arrested.

That willingness to put everything on the line and refuse to back down is exactly what Florida needs in the U.S. Senate.

Paid for by Equality Florida Action, Inc., www.eqfl.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

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St. Petersburg, Fla. — Florida’s LGBTQ communities have been fighting for our freedom, our families, and our future for decades. In recent years, the right wing tested and perfected the anti-LGBTQ attacks in Florida that then became a cornerstone of the nation’s Project 2025 nightmare. Many of the assaults on healthcare, education, inclusive workplaces, and the freedom for transgender people to live full and open lives were cooked up in the Sunshine State before being exported across the country by the Trump Administration.

This is why pro-equality champions from Florida are best positioned to take the fight to Washington and help write a different, freer next chapter in American history. Today, Equality Florida Action Inc. announced its first wave of endorsements for the U.S. House of Representatives, backing candidates who represent the kind of leadership Florida needs in Congress: leaders who will stand up for LGBTQ+ people, defend democracy, protect families and reject the politics of division and discrimination; leaders who will fight for freedom and equality for all Floridians.

“The country is sick and tired of the politics of division and chaos – and hungry for leaders who will stand up and fight for what’s right. Today, we are endorsing candidates who take extremism head on,” said Stratton Pollitzer, Executive Director of Equality Florida Action, Inc.

“For years, the right wing has pitted neighbor against neighbor, using LGBTQ lives as a scare tactic, while costs soar, corruption runs rampant, and the American dream slips further away from too many. Enough. The pendulum is swinging back toward freedom and equality, and it’s our job to build a better future for all of us. That starts by showing up for these pro-equality candidates who have the fight it takes to win. We are ready to answer the failed right wing agenda of chaos and hate with one of our own: a freer, more equal America where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.”

The endorsements include six Democratic incumbents with a history of supporting equality, as well as five viable, pro-equality challengers for seats that can help determine the balance of power in Washington. Together, they represent an important first wave in Equality Florida Action Inc.’s broader effort to retake a pro-equality majority in Congress.

The Endorsed Candidates for U.S. House are:

• District 5: Rachel Grage
• District 8: Jennifer Jenkins
• District 9: U.S. Rep. Darren Soto (i)
• District 10: U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost (i – elected without opposition)
• District 12: Kimberly Overman
• District 14: U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (i)
• District 20: U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (i)
• District 22: Pia Dandiya
• District 23: U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel (i)
• District 25: U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (i)
• District 27: Eliott Rodriguez

The right-wing agenda launched in Florida has been the model for what has become a national crisis: dividing the nation, stripping away our freedoms, and making attacks on LGBTQ people a Trojan horse for an assault on democracy itself. But Floridians are swinging the pendulum back, organizing, mobilizing, and electing pro-equality champions up and down the ballot.

“Florida doesn’t need more politicians who are willing to sacrifice our communities for political points. We need leaders who will stand up and fight. These candidates understand that LGBTQ+ Floridians are not a political wedge issue—we are families, workers, students, neighbors and voters who deserve the same freedom, dignity and opportunity as everyone else,” said Pollitzer.

Congress will play a crucial role in defining the waning years of the disastrous Trump Administration. A pro-equality majority can defend federal civil rights protections, protect LGBTQ families and young people, safeguard access to public institutions, hold cruel and corrupt public officials to account, and use their power to thwart efforts to roll back hard-won equality.

These endorsements represent the first wave of Equality Florida Action, Inc congressional endorsements for 2026, with additional endorsements to come. Find Equality Florida Action, Inc.’s ongoing endorsement list here.

Paid for by Equality Florida Action, Inc., www.eqfl.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

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The key to safeguarding public education and empowering school board members to do the jobs they were elected to is an engaged, organized public

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Last week’s pro-equality school board election victories underscore an important trend across Florida: people want books on shelves, inclusive and accurate curriculum, support for LGBTQ+ students and teachers, divisive politics out of school boards, and school board leaders who will use their power to fight for those values. And putting pro-equality leaders on school boards is key to safe, inclusive environments for all students. But new research warns that those champions for public education, despite being tapped by the voters, are often stepping into hostile political environments and are being personally and professionally targeted by Florida state officials, including the Governor and State Board of Education commissioners. Those school board members, the data illuminates, need an unrelenting and engaged community around them in order to weather attacks from the State.

“These real and heartbreaking stories from school board members are both a warning to the nation about looming attacks on public education and a reminder that our champions need us all year, every year,” said Brandon Wolf, Equality Florida Senior Director of Communications Strategy. “Florida is ground zero for many of the attacks on books, curriculum, history, and the freedom to learn. For us, this research is an affirmation that we must organize, mobilize, and show up to throw sand in the gears of the right wing machine. For the rest of the country, let this data serve as an important reminder: what is cooked up in Florida doesn’t stay here. We are your canary in the coal mine – and the frontline where the resistance to hate and censorship is being built.” 

While the research and election results show that Moms for Liberty has fallen out of favor with voters, researchers document large ripple effects of right-wing politicians publicly humiliating and threatening school board members, threatening school district funding, and passing laws to limit local control and decision-making on matters of education. School board members report a widespread sense of fear; limitations to their personal freedoms, limitations to their ability to support high-quality education that is welcoming to all students, and an erosion of their independence as duly elected public servants. The report finds that:

• ​The State regularly surveils school board members’ meetings and personal social media, publicly threatens school board members on social media, and summons them to State Board of Education meetings to pressure them into compliance.
• The State also weaponizes the legal system to harass school board members who deviate from their policy agenda. Examples include retaliatory loss of funding and removal from office.
• The State passes seemingly innocuous laws that remove local power from school board members.
• Individuals and organizations meant to advise school board members, such as school district attorneys and professional associations, are instead rewarding silence and compliance with the State’s far-right agenda.

The school board members interviewed described intense personal, professional, and public impacts arising from the State’s bullying tactics:

• 35 percent limit their own personal freedom out of fear.
• 53 percent say that they are unable to advocate for what matters.
• 24 percent chose not to run for re-election because of the intense pressure.
• 71 percent describe the loss of educational opportunities.

The report also connects the dots between the right-wing culture wars and Florida’s crusade to privatize education. As one school board member explains:

And what’s really happening is you are dismantling public education from every angle…. It is like, everyone is being ingrained with all this terrible noise about public schools and making other choices…. So combine that with right-sizing, combine that with declining enrollment, combine that with funding issues. It feels like a full-on attack on public education. It’s so scary. It’s like a win-win for them. It’s just, the chaos just works.

The findings underscore the urgent need for Floridians to continue engaging with school boards outside of election cycles. Moms for Liberty and their far-right political enablers leverage the power of government and extra-legal tactics to subvert the voices of pro-equality, pro-public education school board members because their agenda is deeply unpopular. The best answer is the democratic one: an organized and energized public that pushes back against state-sanctioned harassment, shows up relentlessly to support and defend pro-equality champions, and organizes year round to school board meetings. 

This formula has been proven to shake communities free of the grip of Moms for Liberty and the far-right. In Sarasota, after Moms for Liberty secured a right-wing majority in 2022, school board meetings descended into chaos. The school district was hijacked by book banning and curriculum censorship. So when anti-LGBTQ hate was routinely being spewed at the only openly LGBTQ member of the board without consequence, the community fought back. Sarasotans began showing up to school board meetings in overwhelming numbers to show support for their pro-equality board members and publicly reject Moms for Liberty’s agenda. When school board Chair Bridget Ziegler’s scandals derailed the board’s work, the community showed up to demand she step aside. And after years of that tireless organizing, the community won. Ziegler announced she would not seek reelection and, in last week’s primaries, voters flipped that board to a pro-equality majority.

Many school board members in the study believe Florida and other states across the country are up against an existential threat to public education, a cornerstone of our democracy. As one school board member put it: “You get tough and stay strong, do two good terms, and then train up somebody else so they could take over for you. But we have to stand up and take public education. We just got to, at whatever cost.” 

The report shares some of the creative ways that school board members continue their advocacy despite these challenges. But it also makes clear that they cannot do it alone. We, the people, must reject anti-equality, anti-public education politicians, push back against the tactics of bullying from the State, and stand in support of pro-equality school board members who refuse to bow to the right wing pressure campaign.

Read the full report here.

81% of all Equality Florida Action PAC-endorsed candidates won their primary elections or advanced to November

Powered by a slate of openly LGBTQ candidates, pro-equality voters are primed to break the conservative super majorities in the legislature

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Last night, primary voters in Florida delivered a seismic message: fire Moms for Liberty, get politics out of our classrooms, protect every student, respect every family, and meet hate head-on with bold, unapologetic champions. Across the state, school board races were dominated by pro-equality public education defenders as book banning, Moms For Liberty-backed extremists faced one humiliating defeat after another. And, fueled by a powerful slate of openly LGBTQ candidates, voters appear primed to crack the conservative super majorities in the legislature that have foisted culture war chaos on the state for years. In all, 81% of Equality Florida Action PAC-endorsed candidates won their primary elections or advanced to November’s general election.

“Last night, Florida voters roared. Moms For Liberty is in free fall. Communities are fighting back against book bans, curriculum censorship, and the whitewashing of history. Voters, from the US Senate and Governor’s races to school boards and state legislative contests, chose pro-equality champions. And we are primed to shatter the conservative supermajorities in the legislature in November,” Joe Saunders, Executive Director of Equality Florida Action PAC. “Every win was made possible by the people who showed up, organized their communities, knocked doors, made calls and refused to give up on the Florida we know is possible. Make no mistake: the pendulum is swinging in the Sunshine State back toward freedom, equality, and dignity for all. Florida is and always will be worth fighting for. Now it’s time to carry this momentum forward to November and write a better, freer chapter in our state’s history.”

Defeating Moms for Liberty and Reclaiming Florida’s School Boards

Since 2021, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the far right have elevated groups like Moms for Liberty to censor curriculum, ban books, whitewash history, and demonize the teachers and public schools communities depend on. But in recent years, their influence has been steadily declining. Money has dried up and outrage over their hijacking of school boards to advance an extremist political agenda has grown. 

At their peak in 2022, Moms for Liberty proudly claimed over 30 elected school board members. Since, mired in controversy and exposed as manufactured political operatives, their influence has crumbled. In 2024, Equality Florida Action PAC and its partners defeated 76% of Moms for Liberty-backed school board candidates. Earlier this year, The Florida Trib reported that Moms for Liberty had “not made any contributions to local school board candidates across Florida and is poised to be just a minor player this cycle.” And last night, their influence on the state’s education politics was dismantled. Of the more than 30 school board members who championed their Moms for Liberty credentials at the organization’s peak, 20 have been defeated, did not seek reelection, or are limping into runoff elections  as pro-equality and pro-diversity candidates are poised to oust them in November. Those that remain in elected office are desperately trying to shed the Moms for Liberty label and ditch the toxic, book-banning brand.

Nowhere has the collapse of the group been more evident than Sarasota. Once hailed as Governor DeSantis’s greatest triumph against public education and the freedom to learn, the community has retaken its power. Sarasota County is a deep red county with a 2-to-1 Republican voter registration advantage. It is also home to New College of Florida, the public college that Governor DeSantis hijacked and remade in his right-wing image. In 2022, Moms For Liberty was founded in the county and the coordinated project to warp the school board into an incubator of the most far-right think tank driven ideas began.  That same year Bridget Ziegler, Moms for Liberty’s scandal-ridden co-founder, successfully flipped the the board to a right wing super majority. But Sarasotans across parties quickly grew tired of Ziegler’s extremism, DeSantis’s meddling, and the chaos that ensued. The community began organizing, mobilizing to school board meetings, and building a movement to recenter diversity, student success, and supporting teachers as priorities. 

Last night, just months after Ziegler announced she would not run for reelection, the community won. Equality Florida Action PAC-endorsed candidates Megan Tennimon (District 4) and Beth Mayberry (District 5), staunch supporters of teaching accurate history and rejecting Moms for Liberty extremism, won their races. And Jimmy Glover (District 1), another Equality Florida Action PAC-endorsed champion for public education, advanced to a runoff. That means the Sarasota School Board, once a Moms for Liberty laboratory, will have a pro-equality, pro-public education super majority – with the chance that the Board will be 5-0 in favor of protecting all students and respecting all families once the November dust settles.

In Orange County, Equality Florida Action PAC-endorsed Angie Gallo won her race for School Board Chair handily. Gallo defeated Alicia Farrant, a right wing extremist candidate who has spent her time on the school board targeting LGBTQ students and staff and advocating for book bans. That is the story that played out time and again across the state. 

In all, 81% of Equality Florida Action PAC-endorsed candidates for school board (25 of 31) won or advanced to a runoff. Top priority candidates who received a boost from Equality Florida Action PAC and SPLC Action Fund’s historic voter engagement program, including a 20-piece $250,000 direct mail campaign, surged even more strongly: 93% either won or advanced to a runoff. The lesson is clear: voters in Florida are taking right-wing extremism on school boards head on, firing Moms for Liberty, and electing proven champions for equality, academic freedom, and student success.

What’s At Stake In November

Now, all eyes turn to the general election, where voters have the chance to extend their demolition of Moms for Liberty, expand the LGBTQ caucus in the legislature, break the conservative supermajorities, elect pro-equality champions statewide, and secure crucial municipal wins. 

Democrats need only flip two State Senate seats and five State House seats to crack the conservative supermajorities in both chambers. Crossing these thresholds would remake legislative committees, shift the power dynamic in Tallahassee, and send a clear message that runaway far-right extremism is a losing strategy. The road to breaking the legislative supermajorities is paved with powerful, diverse, openly LGBTQ candidates across the state, several of whom won big primaries last night. An expansion of the LGBTQ legislative caucus and a shift in the balance of power would open the door to a new chapter in Florida politics.

Priority EQFL Action PAC endorsed, openly LGBTQ state legislative candidates on the November ballot include: 

• Dr. Jane Aman, Florida House District 37
• Felipe Sousa Lazaballet, Florida House District 42
• Samuel Vilchez Santiago, Florida House District 43
• Luis Salazar, Florida House District 64
• Todd Delmay, Florida House District 101

For a current list of EQFL Action PAC endorsements, see here.

Equality Florida Action PAC’s Commitment

Last night’s primary election results come after months of organizing, voter contact, fundraising and coalition-building by Equality Florida Action PAC and its supporters. Those efforts include:

• 53 phone bank or canvass days to support 21 priority candidates in 10 counties
• A historic $250,000 school board mail campaign in partnership with SPLC Action Fund that delivered 349,000 mail pieces to nearly 175,000  voters in key school board districts
• Over $200,000 raised or donated directly to EQFL Action PAC candidates so far
• Over 120,000 text messages educating priority voters and reminding them to vote
• A four-week digital ad campaign including 21 unique ads generating nearly 1 million impressions 

“Last night was not the finish line,” said Saunders. “It was a reminder that organizing works, that equality wins, and it was a moment to recommit to the work ahead. The pendulum is swinging in Florida. It’s our job to grab ahold of it and bring it back toward freedom for all.”

Paid Political Advertisement paid for by Equality Florida Action PAC, 15257 Amberly Drive, Suite 382, Tampa, FL 33647, independently of any candidate or committee. This advertisement was not approved by any candidate. 

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