{"id":349899,"date":"2026-07-23T14:34:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T14:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/349899\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T14:34:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T14:34:29","slug":"frank-peterman-adds-st-pete-support-for-fentrice-driskell-in-open-sd-16-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/349899\/","title":{"rendered":"Frank Peterman adds St. Pete support for Fentrice Driskell in open SD 16 Primary"},"content":{"rendered":"

House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell has earned support from former state Rep. Frank Peterman in her bid for Senate District 16.<\/p>\n

Driskell is running to replace outgoing state Sen. Darryl Rouson, who is facing term limits. Driskell faces fellow state Rep. Michele Rayner in an open Democratic Primary on Aug. 18.<\/p>\n

Peterman, who also served as a St. Petersburg City Council member and Secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, is an influential voice in St. Pete politics, particularly in the city\u2019s Black community. His endorsement is a big get for Driskell, whose current House district is wholly housed in Hillsborough County. The St. Pete-based support could help her curry favor across the Bay where Rayner is based.<\/p>\n

SD 16 spans portions of both Tampa and south St. Pete.<\/p>\n

\u201cFentrice Driskell has shown the kind of leadership Tampa Bay needs in the state Senate,\u201d Peterman said. \u201cI\u2019ve spent my career fighting for youth and families, in the Legislature, in state government, and now in the pulpit. I know what it looks like when someone shows up and does the work. Fentrice\u2019s steady, stable leadership is what this district needs. I\u2019m proud to endorse her and I\u2019m asking the people of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties to join me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Peterman currently serves as pastor at Rock of Jesus Missionary Baptist Church in St. Pete. In the Legislature, Peterman represented then-House District 55, which covered parts of Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas and Sarasota counties, beginning in 2000. Rouson succeeded Peterman in the House after Peterman was appointed in 2008 to lead the Department of Juvenile Justice by then-Gov. Charlie Crist, who is now running for St. Pete Mayor.<\/p>\n

As a Representative, Peterman earned several accolades, including the St. Pete City Council\u2019s Service Award, the James B. Sanderlin Community Service Award, and the Pinellas County Urban League\u2019s Government Award, among others.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrank Peterman, Jr. has spent his life in service to this community, in the Legislature, protecting kids in state government, and now shepherding his congregation,\u201d Driskell said. \u201cThat kind of service is rare, and I\u2019m honored to have his trust and his support. This district spans Tampa and St. Pete, and we need leadership that shows up for both. I\u2019m grateful to have him in my corner as we do that work together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peterman\u2019s endorsement adds to a growing list of support for Driskell just three weeks before the election and as mail voting has already begun. Key supporters include Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman,\u00a0Senate Democratic Policy Chair Tina Polsky, state Reps. Wallace Aristide, Daryl Campbell, Dan Daley, Michael Gottlieb, Leonard Spencer, Kelly Skidmore and Debra Tendrich, Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen, Hillsborough County Public Defender Lisa McLean, Hillsborough County School Board Member Shake Washington, Tampa City Council Member Luis Viera, former U.S. Rep. Jim Davis, former state Sens. Arthenia Joyner, Les Miller and Jim Hargrett, former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, former St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman<\/a>, former Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, former Hillsborough County Commissioner Betty Castor, former Tampa City Council Member Gwen Miller, former state Rep. Adam Hattersley, former Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren,\u00a0 former Temple Terrace City Council Member Cheri Donohue, and community activists Gwendolyn Reese and Tammye Moore.<\/p>\n

She also earned support from a trove of labor and environmental groups<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Driskell has a big cash advantage<\/a> in the race, with latest reports showing more than $315,000 on hand between her campaign account and two affiliated political committees. Rayner, as of the same reports, maintained just over $58,000.<\/p>\n

But despite the cash gap, the race is expected to be competitive, with Rayner consolidating support from the more progressive wing of the Democratic Party and Driskell securing support \u2014 or at least cash \u2014 from more establishment interests.<\/p>\n

Driskell will be a formidable candidate in the race. She\u2019s Harvard-educated, with a law degree from Georgetown, and is telegenic with a strong platform as a party leader.<\/p>\n

And she is also the first Black woman to lead the Florida House Democrats and was the first person in more than 30 years to be elected to the position twice.<\/p>\n

But Rayner is likely to capitalize on more progressive support, and she boasts her own impressive r\u00e9sum\u00e9 as a civil rights lawyer. Perhaps most famously locally, Rayner represented the family of\u00a0Markeis McGlockton, who was shot and killed in 2018 during a parking space dispute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell has earned support from former state Rep. Frank Peterman in her bid for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[820,12665,135342,824,141709,141710,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-349899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-darryl-rouson","tag-fentrice-driskell","tag-frank-peterman","tag-michele-rayner","tag-sd-16","tag-senate-district-16","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349899","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=349899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}