{"id":163332,"date":"2026-02-21T01:18:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T01:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/163332\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T01:18:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T01:18:07","slug":"antione-fields-announces-hd-21-campaign-pledging-to-fight-for-working-families-and-take-on-corporate-influence-in-tallahassee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/163332\/","title":{"rendered":"Antione Fields announces HD-21 campaign, pledging to fight for working families and take on corporate influence in Tallahassee"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Press release from the Antione Fields campaign<\/p>\n

OCALA, Fla.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Democracy reform advocate and former Florida legislative aide Antione Fields today announced his candidacy for Florida House District 21, launching a campaign focused on lowering costs for working families, defending fundamental rights, and taking on what he calls a Tallahassee political system that serves corporate interests over everyday people.<\/p>\n

A lifelong Floridian, Fields enters the race as families across North Central Florida struggle with rising rent, insurance costs, and healthcare expenses while state leaders focus on distractions, culture wars, and political division.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo many people I know are doing everything right and still falling behind,\u201d Fields said. \u201cPeople working full-time jobs who still can\u2019t afford rent. Families putting off having kids because buying a home feels impossible. The American Dream is slipping out of reach for working people \u2014 and that didn\u2019t happen by accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fields argues that corporate influence and political corruption have driven policy decisions that benefit wealthy insiders while everyday Floridians pay the price.<\/p>\n

\u201cCorporations and special interests are making record profits while working families struggle to keep up,\u201d Fields said. \u201cAnd too many politicians are siding with those interests instead of the people they represent. That\u2019s why I\u2019m refusing corporate PAC money. You can\u2019t fix a broken system if you\u2019re funded by the same people who broke it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Running as a progressive Democrat from Ocala, Fields says voters are ready not only to oppose Republican leadership, but to support a bold vision focused on affordability, healthcare, democracy, and public safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Zohran Mamdani\u2019s historic election in New York showed is that across the country there is real and growing demand for a progressive vision that actually makes people\u2019s lives easier,\u201d Fields said. \u201cUniversal healthcare, a living wage, paid family leave, and public transit aren\u2019t radical ideas. They\u2019re attainable \u2014 but only if we elect leaders who aren\u2019t bought by special interests and are willing to fight for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fields says his political worldview was shaped early by witnessing injustice in Florida.<\/p>\n

As a teenager, he watched in horror as the murder of Trayvon Martin gripped the nation and George Zimmerman was allowed to walk free \u2014 an experience he says fundamentally changed how he saw Florida, justice, and whose lives are protected.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat moment stayed with me,\u201d Fields said. \u201cIt made clear that systems don\u2019t always protect everyone equally \u2014 and that change only happens when people organize and fight for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fields later served as a Legislative Assistant to Rep. Dotie Joseph (D\u2013North Miami), the former House Democratic Minority Pro Tempore. When reflecting on his time in the Legislature, Fields said he\u2019s most proud of his work on Florida\u2019s criminal justice reform package, HB 7051, which passed in the aftermath of the George Floyd protests. Fields directly backed Rep. Joseph in securing three major provisions which were originally filed as standalone bills. Those provisions included: requiring a duty to intervene, a duty to render medical aid, and the creation of a statewide law enforcement use-of-force database.<\/p>\n

He later went on to lead digital strategy at MissionWired, a national Democratic digital fundraising firm that supports progressive candidates and causes nationwide, before joining Common Cause, the nonpartisan democracy organization known for defending voting rights, exposing corruption, and reducing the influence of big money in politics.<\/p>\n

Fields says those experiences \u2014 working both inside and outside government \u2014 convinced him that systemic change requires leaders willing to reject corporate influence.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur communities and our democracy are under attack, and working families are being left behind,\u201d Fields said. \u201cThis moment demands leaders with courage, honesty, and a real vision who are willing to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

More information about Antione Fields and his campaign for Florida House District 21 is available at FieldsForFlorida.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Press release from the Antione Fields campaign OCALA, Fla.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Democracy reform advocate and former Florida legislative aide Antione Fields…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":{"0":"post-163332","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tallahassee","8":"tag-tallahassee","9":"tag-tallahassee-headlines","10":"tag-tallahassee-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}