Desmond Meade, former head of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, announced Thursday he had submitted his name to enter the state’s 2026 gubernatorial race. Meade made the announcement on social media, posting that evening, “The wait is finally over!!” “Today I submitted the necessary documents to officially form a candidate committee,” the post states. “While I am truly excited about taking this next step in the process, there is one more step needed to officially be on the ballot. In the next couple of (weeks) I would still need to successfully navigate the ‘qualifying period.’ Until then I will continue to meet folks throughout the state and better understand the needs of Floridians.” Meade’s name now appears as active and under no party affiliation in the state’s 2026 gubernatorial candidate listing. As president and executive director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, Meade led a movement before the 2020s to realize a constitutional amendment that sought to restore voting rights for people convicted of non-violent felonies upon completion of all terms of their sentence, including probation and parole. Nearly two-thirds of Florida voters approved the measure, Amendment 4, in 2018. The state responded by enacting a new law, SB 7066, which requires felons to pay all restitution, fines, and fees before they are eligible to vote. A U.S. district judge blocked SB 7066, ruling that the 24th Amendment prevented conditions of payment with regard to voting, but an appeal filed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — which eventually led to the judge’s injunction being overturned — had already, in effect, stopped thousands of felons from registering to vote in the upcoming primary and general election. Gov. DeSantis in 2020 blocked a pardon for Meade and had questions about his criminal past. Meade has been vocal about being a former drug dealer who was given a dishonorable discharge from the Army in the 1990s, convicted of aggravated battery after a fight with his brother and serving sentences for felony drug possession and possession of a firearm as a felon. In the appeal to Gov. DeSantis, Meade said he had “emerged from a very dark place” to become “a beacon of hope and inspiration to so many people,” to which the governor suggested the panel should take the issue under advisement until more information could be gathered. >>Previous coverage in video below: Desmond Meade denied pardon by DeSantis Meade seeks to enter a gubernatorial race against Democratic-registered candidates such as Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and former Republican congressman David Jolly, as well as notable Republican candidates including Florida state Rep. Byron Donalds, Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, former Republican congressman Paul Renner, and James Fishback. >> The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. —
Desmond Meade, former head of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, announced Thursday he had submitted his name to enter the state’s 2026 gubernatorial race.
Meade made the announcement on social media, posting that evening, “The wait is finally over!!”
“Today I submitted the necessary documents to officially form a candidate committee,” the post states. “While I am truly excited about taking this next step in the process, there is one more step needed to officially be on the ballot. In the next couple of (weeks) I would still need to successfully navigate the ‘qualifying period.’ Until then I will continue to meet folks throughout the state and better understand the needs of Floridians.”
Meade’s name now appears as active and under no party affiliation in the state’s 2026 gubernatorial candidate listing.
As president and executive director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, Meade led a movement before the 2020s to realize a constitutional amendment that sought to restore voting rights for people convicted of non-violent felonies upon completion of all terms of their sentence, including probation and parole. Nearly two-thirds of Florida voters approved the measure, Amendment 4, in 2018.
The state responded by enacting a new law, SB 7066, which requires felons to pay all restitution, fines, and fees before they are eligible to vote. A U.S. district judge blocked SB 7066, ruling that the 24th Amendment prevented conditions of payment with regard to voting, but an appeal filed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — which eventually led to the judge’s injunction being overturned — had already, in effect, stopped thousands of felons from registering to vote in the upcoming primary and general election.
Gov. DeSantis in 2020 blocked a pardon for Meade and had questions about his criminal past.
Meade has been vocal about being a former drug dealer who was given a dishonorable discharge from the Army in the 1990s, convicted of aggravated battery after a fight with his brother and serving sentences for felony drug possession and possession of a firearm as a felon. In the appeal to Gov. DeSantis, Meade said he had “emerged from a very dark place” to become “a beacon of hope and inspiration to so many people,” to which the governor suggested the panel should take the issue under advisement until more information could be gathered.
>>Previous coverage in video below: Desmond Meade denied pardon by DeSantis
Meade seeks to enter a gubernatorial race against Democratic-registered candidates such as Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and former Republican congressman David Jolly, as well as notable Republican candidates including Florida state Rep. Byron Donalds, Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, former Republican congressman Paul Renner, and James Fishback.
>> The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.