{"id":413204,"date":"2026-09-28T22:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T22:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/413204\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T22:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T22:34:10","slug":"michele-rayner-lisset-hanewicz-endorse-gabriel-hament-in-st-pete-district-2-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/413204\/","title":{"rendered":"Michele Rayner, Lisset Hanewicz endorse Gabriel Hament in St. Pete District 2 race"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gabriel Hament<\/a> is announcing a fresh round of endorsements as he rolls out his first ad in the race for St. Petersburg City Council District 2.<\/p>\n

New backers include Rep. Michele Rayner, St. Petersburg City Council Chair Lisset Hanewicz and former Rep. Ben Diamond, as well as Equality Florida Action PAC, the Suncoast Sierra Club and the Stonewall Democrats of Pinellas County.<\/p>\n

Hament, an Assistant Public Defender in Florida\u2019s 13th Judicial Circuit, is running against Courtney Bermudez<\/a> for the seat being vacated by term-limited Council Member Brandi Gabbard<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cGabriel understands that public service is about people \u2014 and that\u2019s what I appreciate most about him,\u201d Rayner said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an assistant public defender, he shows up every day to serve people and make sure their voices are heard. He listens, he does the work, and he understands that leadership isn\u2019t about a title \u2014 it\u2019s about being present, being responsive, and delivering for the people you serve. That\u2019s the kind of leadership St. Pete deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Hanewicz likewise pointed to Hament\u2019s legal experience and advocacy work as strengths he could bring to the Council.<\/p>\n

\u201cGabriel brings a thoughtful, practical approach to complicated issues and never loses sight of the people affected by them,\u201d Hanewicz said. \u201cHis legal experience and commitment to advocating for others would bring a valuable perspective to City Council.\u201d<\/p>\n

The endorsement rollout comes as a political committee aligned with Hament launches \u201cMoving Our City Forward, Together,\u201d its first ad supporting Hament<\/a> in the race. The roughly 90-second spot focuses on flooding, housing costs and roadway safety before turning to Hament\u2019s work as a public defender.<\/p>\n

Hament says that work informs how he would approach serving on the City Council.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day I stand beside people during some of the hardest moments of their lives. I make sure their rights are protected, their voices are heard, and power is held to account,\u201d Hament says in the ad. \u201cThat\u2019s the same approach I\u2019ll bring to City Council: show up, listen, do the work and never forget who I\u2019m there to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

The ad also highlights the rising cost of living. Hament says working families are being priced out while some parts of St. Petersburg have gone too long without investment. He calls for stronger storm preparation, more affordable housing, safer streets and trails and additional investment in north St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are challenges we can tackle now and opportunities we can seize today. We can strengthen our neighborhoods before the next storm, build housing people can actually afford, create safer streets, better trails and more places for communities, and make north St. Pete a true gateway into St. Petersburg,\u201d Hament said.<\/p>\n

Hament\u2019s endorsement list already included former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman<\/a>, Council Member Gina Driscoll<\/a>, former Council Members Ed Montanari and Jim Kennedy, and 13th Judicial Circuit Public Defender Lisa McLean. The Sun Coast Police Benevolent Association, SEIU Florida and Activate St. Pete have also backed Hament.<\/p>\n

District 2 covers parts of northeast St. Petersburg, but the Nov. 3 race will be decided by voters citywide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gabriel Hament is announcing a fresh round of endorsements as he rolls out his first ad in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413205,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[3174,3300,82866,35957,82867,3067,8123,824,3302,202,204,203,199,1640,163672,98044,201,200,163673,143788],"class_list":["post-413204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-ben-diamond","tag-brandi-gabbard","tag-courtney-bermudez","tag-equality-florida-action-pac","tag-gabriel-hament","tag-gina-driscoll","tag-lisset-hanewicz","tag-michele-rayner","tag-rick-kriseman","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-city-council","tag-st-petersburg-city-council-district-2","tag-st-petersburg-elections","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-stonewall-democrats-of-pinellas-county","tag-suncoast-sierra-club"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413204","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=413204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}