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Richie (L) and Miranda Floyd at Bananas Records in St. Petersburg, Florida on Jan. 24, 2025. Credit: McKenna Schueler \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\nRichie (L) and Miranda Floyd at Bananas Records in St. Petersburg, Florida on Jan. 24, 2025. Credit: McKenna Schueler \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n
A sizzling socialist campaign in the ruby-red Sunshine State may not have been on any national political operative\u2019s bingo card for 2026, But if you\u2019re a local to St. Petersburg\u2014who\u2019s seen the values of a Democratic socialist elected official put to practice\u2014it\u2019s not hard to see how a reductive view of Florida politics might fail to capture the imagination of a working-class community on-the-ground.<\/p>\n
Last Saturday, the energy of a movement-building campaign in the Sunshine City was inescapable, with more than 100 people packed into St. Pete\u2019s Banana Records store that night to show support for the re-election campaign of St. Petersburg City Council member Richie Floyd<\/a>. Floyd, a former teacher and labor advocate, was first elected to City Council\u2019s District 8 seat in 2021 over an establishment-favored candidate as the first open socialist elected to office<\/a> in Florida in over a century.\u00a0<\/p>\n Due to changes in the city\u2019s election procedures, the 34 year-old city councilman is technically coming off a five-year term as he asks voters to re-elect him for a second term. Although he has more resources, and more knowledge about how to run a campaign this time around\u2014without a deadly pandemic to navigate\u2014Floyd maintains that what his scrappy, grassroots campaign managed to accomplish four years ago \u201ccannot be overstated.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA group of volunteers came together, learned what they were doing on the fly, and worked hard to successfully elect the youngest person ever elected to City Council,\u201d said Floyd, speaking to an enthusiastic, multigenerational crowd of local lefties, elected officials, and union members\u2014some of whom canvassed and knocked doors for first campaign for office.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur movement has succeeded in winning tenants\u2019 rights expansions, safer neighborhood streets, reproductive healthcare protections and much more,\u201d he continued. \u201cBut we can only do it together. We can only do it because everyday people gave what little time and money that they had because they believed a better world is possible, and that\u2019s what\u2019s going to take again.\u201d<\/p>\n Floyd\u2019s district is Democratic-leaning in a state that has grown increasingly red over the last five or so years. In 2021, Floyd won his election over former city councilman Jeff Danner, winning about 52% of the vote. So far, he isn\u2019t facing any challengers for his seat, which includes<\/a> the Historic Kenwood neighborhood, and other areas west of I-275 to Tyrone Boulevard.<\/p>\n Even coming off the upset victory of democratic socialist and fellow DSA member Zohran Mamdani to the New York City mayor\u2019s office last November, you wouldn\u2019t expect the kind of energy palpable in Banana Records Saturday night to materialize for a socialist candidate in a state like Florida. Although New Yorkers are facing some of the same problems as Floridians down south\u2014namely, affordability issues\u201456% of Florida voters voted in favor of putting Donald Trump back in the White House in Nov. 2024, compared to 46% of New Yorkers.<\/p>\n Still, even Mamdani\u2014the first Muslim elected New York mayor and one of the youngest in decades\u2014managed to inspire his own \u2018MAGA for Mamdani<\/a>\u2019 base by actually showing up<\/a> for constituents, regardless of their political affiliation, during his time as a New York Assemblyman and by listening to Trump voters who felt abandoned, ignored, or otherwise fed up with empty platitudes from the Democratic Party.\u00a0<\/p>\n Megan Romer, a national co-chair of DSA who typically resides in New York, was in town for Floyd\u2019s reelection launch Saturday. She told CL that Mamdani\u2019s win has inspired a lot more DSA members across the country who wouldn\u2019t have thought to run for elected office before, to reconsider.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are seeing the way that DSA itself and the sort of structure of the people-powered election movement is effective, not just for getting people elected, but also for making them more effective elected officials,\u201d Romer added.<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s victory\u2014and his affordability-driven campaign platform\u2014has also driven more interest in democratic socialism locally. Floyd told CL on Saturday that the NYC mayoral election last fall led to an influx of new members to his affiliated DSA chapter in Pinellas County. \u201cSome of those people are in this room right now,\u201d he said, gesturing to his crowd of supporters.<\/p>\n Floyd confidently told us last November that he thinks the same kind of affordability-focused messaging that won over MAGA Trump voters in New York City could similarly work in Florida, even if it\u2019s coming from a socialist. \u201cI think, you know, you\u2019ll see people say, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s New York, it can\u2019t happen here\u2019\u2014 things like that,\u201d Floyd told CL the day after Mamdani\u2019s win.<\/a> \u201cBut I\u2019ve always believed that, in general, as people see that politics that actually cares about working people and doesn\u2019t bend the knee to the billionaire class comes to power in different places, they\u2019ll gravitate towards it. And over time, it\u2019ll change things.\u201d<\/p>\n Floyd was admittedly a tough guy to pin down for even a few questions Saturday, even ahead of his official 7 p.m. campaign kickoff time, as people eager to meet or say hi to the city councilman quickly trickled in.<\/p>\n With a retired labor organizer in one corner, and a fellow DSA member in another, Floyd\u2014offering a broad grin and handshakes\u2014was eager to greet his party guests, ranging in age, race and ethnicity. Trevor Pettiford, a former reporter for Bay News 9 who introduced Floyd at the event Saturday, admitted, \u201cI am so happy, as a retired journalist, to see so many young faces.\u201d<\/p>\n Tampa city councilwoman Lynn Hurtak was also at the party Saturday, in addition to former city council candidate and faith-based community organizer Nick Carey (the latter sporting an \u201cAbolish ICE\u201d T-shirt), Pastor Andy Oliver of Allendale United Methodist Church, and advocates on the Dump Duke campaign who are angling to build a publicly-owned, municipal energy provider in St. Pete, similar to those that already exist in 33 other communities across Florida.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring his first term, Richie has shown again and again that he\u2019s not afraid to stick his neck out against the business interests, against how it\u2019s always been done, against the easy way,\u201d said \u2018Dump Duke\u2019 campaign organizer Marley Price, speaking at Floyd\u2019s campaign launch. \u201cAt every opportunity I\u2019ve seen Richie work to make real change for regular people, even when he knows it\u2019s not going to be fun, even when he knows he\u2019s going to get to City Hall and he\u2019s going to get yelled at by, sometimes, my very own NIMBY neighbors,\u201d she joked.<\/p>\n Duke Energy\u2019s 30-year franchise agreement with the city of St. Petersburg expires this upcoming summer, and local activists have seized on its expiration date in order to push for the development of a publicly-owned municipal utility. The idea is to, ideally, reduce utility rates, get rid of the profit motive for Duke and instead reinvest the profits<\/a> back into the community. With Floyd as a key backer, St. Pete City Council last August voted 5\u20133 to conduct a feasibility study for the idea, advancing what\u2019s been dubbed the \u201cDump Duke\u201d initiative.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA profit motive that seeks to suppress workers\u2019 rights and weaken consumer benefits in order to increase stock value is wholly incapable of caring for people in our society that need help the most,\u201d said Floyd. \u201cThings like medical care, housing, food, education and yes, even our electric utilities are public goods that have no business having profits skimmed off the top while people struggle to afford a decent life.\u201d<\/p>\n That idea, he told those crowded at Banana Records, \u201cis where our campaign platform gets its genesis.\u201d<\/p>\n Floyd\u2019s speech Saturday night reemphasized his stated commitment<\/a> to fighting corporate influence on the dais and pushing for policies to help make the city one that\u2019s affordable for those who haven\u2019t already been priced out by post-pandemic rent hikes or skyrocketing property insurance spikes in recent years.<\/p>\n Affordability has become the hot new term<\/a> in politics these days\u2014nationally and on a statewide level\u2014as affording decent housing, childcare, utility costs, and groceries has become increasingly out of reach for the average person, renter or homeowner alike.<\/p>\n But Floyd didn\u2019t mince words in addressing more politically-divisive issues that have pitted the Republican-controlled state Legislature and executive office in Tallahassee against the comparatively progressive, LGBTQ-friendly<\/a> city of St. Pete. \u201cWe will not roll over when attacked by hateful people, and we will not be silent when Tallahassee sends road crews in the middle of the night to erase our identities,\u201d Floyd said, referring to a state Department of Transportation directive last year that, across the state, targeted rainbow-colored crosswalks<\/a> and other roadway art installations.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRELATED CONTENT<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \u201cWe know that it\u2019s not our minority or LGBTQ neighbors who threaten our well-being,\u201d said Floyd. \u201cWe know that dividing people only serves the extremely wealthy in their constant search for profits, and we know that all people want the same thing: a dignified, safe and fun existence.\u201d<\/p>\n Floyd, deviating briefly from localized issues, addressed the fatal shooting of Minneapolis nurse Alex Pettri by federal immigration agents on Saturday, stating, \u201cWe\u2019ll not shy away from saying things like Jack-booted thugs should not be on the streets of Minneapolis or any city in this country.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe will fight for the dignity and justice for all working people, whether they\u2019re in West St Pete or the West Bank,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Floyd admitted to CL that it can be lonely being the only leftist on St. Pete City Council. But he doesn\u2019t think this has deterred his ability to advance progressive policies\u2014such as free legal aid<\/a> for low-income tenants facing eviction\u2014or forced him to capitulate to developers that seek to curry the favor of local electeds.\u00a0<\/p>\n Floyd was recently sworn in as vice chair of City Council, and said he has been able to build coalitions for different issues \u201cconstantly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s really impactful for me is having an event like this, bringing people together, going door to door, through District 8\u2019s neighborhoods,\u201d he admitted. \u201cI think the majority of the people in the city support the things that I\u2019m working on, and so that makes it a lot easier.\u201d<\/p>\n Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.<\/a><\/p>\n Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0BlueSky<\/a><\/p>\n This article appears in Jan. 22 \u2013 28, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/pinellas_county_supervisor_of_elections_early_voting.webp.jpeg\")
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Marley Price at WMNF in Tampa, Florida on Jan. 23, 2026. Credit: Ray Roa \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n
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