Florida state Rep. Michele Rayner launches bid for Crist’s House seat

Florida state Rep. Michele Rayner (D) is jumping into the race to succeed Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) in his St. Petersburg-based House seat.

Rayner, who last year became the first openly LGBTQ woman of color to be elected to the Florida legislature, is the third Democrat to enter the contest to represent Florida’s 13th Congressional District. She’ll face off against fellow state Rep. Ben Diamond and former Obama administration adviser Eric Lynn in the Democratic primary next year.

A former public defender who now works in civil rights law, Rayner is a relative newcomer to elected office. In a recent interview with The Hill, she acknowledged the “tight turnaround” between her 2020 state House campaign and her nascent bid to replace Crist.

“It came down to where I could do the most good,” she said. 

“What we want together done in Tallahassee is not going to get done there,” she continued, acknowledging the firm grip that Republicans hold on the state legislature. “We need to make sure we have strong voices and strong advocates in D.C.”

Florida’s 13th District, which encompasses most of Pinellas County on Florida’s Gulf Coast, is a top target for Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections. It has become even more competitive since Crist announced last month that he would forgo reelection to his House seat in order to run for Florida governor.

Before Crist flipped the seat for Democrats in 2016, the St. Petersburg area had been represented by Republicans for decades. What’s more, voter registration in Pinellas County is narrowly split between Democrats and Republicans, according to state data. 

Rayner describes herself as having a “progressive view of the world,” but said that she is “clear-eyed” about the challenges Democrats face in Florida, a longtime swing state that has largely eluded Democrats in recent years in both state and federal races. 

“We know that it is going to be tight,” Rayner told The Hill. “We know this is a seat that is being eyed by the Republicans. And I think we have to make sure that we have to have someone who can not only speak truth to power, but to be able to protect this seat and hold this seat.” 

Rayner said that both Crist and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee are aware of her plans to seek the House seat, though she declined to comment on specific conversations.

The 2022 midterms present a distinct challenge for Democrats, given the party’s ultra-narrow majority in the House and the forthcoming battle over redistricting. Florida Republicans could seek to redraw the map to add more GOP voters to the 13th District, further threatening Democrats’ hold on the seat.

So far, only one Republican, Anna Paulina Luna, has entered the race. Luna sought the seat in 2020, ultimately losing to Crist by a 6-point margin. She has cast herself as a staunch supporter of former President Trump, with her campaign message so far echoing familiar GOP claims that Democrats are dragging the country toward socialism.

Rayner brushed off the likely GOP attacks, calling them “laughable.” She said that despite Democrats’ tough track record in Florida in recent years, the party’s policies remain popular, noting how Floridians approved a ballot measure in 2018 to restore voting rights to convicted felons who have completed their sentences. She also pointed to the success of a ballot measure in 2020 that seeks to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour.

“All it is, it comes down to the Trump talking points,” Rayner said of Republicans’ campaign strategy. “You have to call a thing a thing. You have to be able to speak to that. You have to be able to put truth to that.”

“At the end of the day, I think really it comes to believing in the intelligence of our voters and our country.”