A news photograph by Ray Roa showing Political signage outside the West Tampa Library in Tampa, Florida on Aug. 17, 2026. Captured in a wide outdoor shot in bright daylight, a dense collection of political campaign yard signs is staked into a grassy lawn and along a trimmed green hedge. Visible campaign signs display names including "Mike Beltran for U.S. Congress," "Alex Vindman," "Bea Valenti," "Angie Nixon," "Cindy Stuart," and "Aileen Rodriguez," set beneath palm tree fronds and blue sky.Political signage outside the West Tampa Library in Tampa, Florida on Aug. 17, 2026. Credit: Ray Roa / Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

It’s a tradition started by the late Rob Lorei, WMNF’s long-time news director: before elections we provide a platform for candidates to record a short message that we will play on the air.

Each week, we will compile all the recent eligible recordings and play them on air during Community Speaks, which airs from 12:06 p.m. until 1:01 p.m. on Mondays on WMNF 88.5 FM (or the WMNF community radio app or on wmnf.org).

Bookmark this page because if you miss the recordings when they air live you can listen to them on this page and see which candidates have made recordings. I’ll update it every Monday through Election Day.

Candidates may leave a short voicemail at 813-819-7300.

This is the outgoing message you will hear: “This is WMNF’s candidate recording line. As a public service, WMNF is giving free air time to candidates on the 2026 General Election ballot in the greater Tampa Bay area. Please begin with your name, your political affiliation, what seat you’re running for and the general area that includes. You have sixty seconds. If you go over, we will edit your recording for time, but you might get cut off mid-sentence, so it’s best to stay within the time limit. Please be respectful. We reserve the right not to play recordings that violate WMNF’s style statement.”

Only candidates may record a message; no surrogates.

Your best bet is to record the message by Oct. 29. We’ll do our best to get late ones on, but there are no guarantees.

Thanks to WMNF volunteer Jordan for her help with this project.

Thank you for trusting WMNF 88.5 FM and wmnf.org as your source for election news.

Seán Kinane, WMNF news director

WMNF STYLE STATEMENT is below. (tl;dr: Don’t be mean)

The manner in which we conduct our business, make our decisions and interact with each other is the cause and effect of the attitudes we bring to WMNF. Whether listener-sponsor, volunteer, board member or staff, we are all proud to be a part of WMNF.

Our interactions are grounded in the assumption of the good intentions of all.

We believe that we are all empowered as much by our efforts as by our results.

We believe that the good of WMNF and its service to its audience and the community is more important than any of our individual goals.

We respect the uniqueness, diversity and integrity of each of us.

We are committed to building and organization that values trust and trustworthiness.

We believe in the values reflected in our mission statement.

We remain mindful that during times of change, when conflict may be unavoidable, acceptance

and appreciation of each other’s idealism are the keys to resolving conflicts.

We believe that conflict can be p0roduct5ive when we remain non-antagonistic and objective and discuss issues not people.

We believe in open and non-judgmental communication and value and support the direct resolution of interpersonal conflicts.

We believe in the principles of equality and value the ethics of honesty, integrity and accountability to others and to our community.

We value each other’s talents, experiences and abilities and support the opportunity to teach and to learn from each other.

We recognize that all of us involved with WMNF are here by choice, and we take part in decisions and to what role we play, how we work together and how our work and our organization are structured.

We are respectful of the group- process by voicing all our opinions openly, by attending to divergent opinions and by listening when others speak.

We are committed to a process of inclusion and recognize and encourage the participation of all.

We recognize that the creation and ongoing success of WMNF is the result of the cooperation and team work of everyone involved in WMNF, including listeners, members, volunteer, and board members and staff.

This story first appeared at WMNF News, which is part of the Tampa Bay Journalism Project  (TBJP), a Creative Loafing Tampa Bay effort supported by grants and a coalition of donors who make specific contributions via the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation. If you are a non-paywalled Bay area publication or donor interested in Tampa Bay Journalism Project, please email [email protected]. Support WMNF News by visiting the community radio station’s support page.

This article appears in Oct. 01 – 07, 2026.

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