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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tErik Morris celebrates his aunt\u2019s 100th birthday with family members \/ Photo courtesy of Erik Morris.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tErik Morris celebrates his aunt\u2019s 100th birthday with family members \/ Photo courtesy of Erik Morris.<\/p>\n
Tampa project manager Erik Morris is running for Florida governor as a write-in candidate, proposing greater investment in public schools, stronger insurance coverage, and local oversight of new data centers.<\/p>\n
Morris described how his professional experience and concerns as a father shaped his campaign. He wants to apply the skills he uses to coordinate complex projects to problems facing Florida families.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care whether you\u2019re red or blue or green or a no-party affiliation,\u201d Morris said. \u201cIf you are in Florida, I want to try and help make things easier for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bringing project management to government<\/p>\n
Morris has never held elected office. He pointed to his service on nonprofit boards and experience coordinating large projects as preparation for leading the state.<\/p>\n
He works as a designer and project manager at Quince Imaging, where he said he leads permanent installations for theme parks, museums, and sports venues. His responsibilities include coordinating teams, assessing risks, and keeping projects on schedule and within budget.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always listening to people, seeing what their needs are, seeing what their concerns and their risks are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The candidate said he entered the race because he wanted to bring his proposals directly to voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t think of how I could actually get that message out to the people that needed to hear it, except by being on the ballot myself, and that\u2019s why I did that.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he would meet with every state legislator, document their priorities, and identify concerns that affect multiple communities.<\/p>\n
Morris described himself as a registered Democrat and his running mate, LeRoy Alaways, as a registered Republican.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t care about those labels,\u201d he said. \u201cWe care about helping as many people as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/wx_camera_1786317154862-169x300.jpg\")
Erik Morris and LeRoy Alaways in the workshop\/ Photo courtesy of Erik Morris.
\nExpanding school programs and supporting teachers<\/p>\n
Morris\u2019s daughter is 13. He wants her and other Florida students to have opportunities to attend college or trade school, pursue the arts, or start a business.<\/p>\n
His main education proposal, the ENOUGH Act \u2013 which he described as Educational and Nutritional Funding for Florida \u2013 would expand public-school programs, raise teacher pay, and provide free lunches for students, teachers, and school staff.<\/p>\n
The plan also includes expanded access to free breakfast for lower- and middle-income students. Morris wants Florida farmers and ranchers to supply food for nutritious school meals.<\/p>\n
He advocates for stronger instruction in foreign languages, arts, vocational studies, and STEAM.<\/p>\n
For teachers, Morris proposes increasing the minimum salary and tying it to inflation. He argues that stronger compensation would help Florida retain educators and recruit new ones.<\/p>\n
Morris would fund the proposal through a tax on high-end luxury tourism and by closing corporate tax loopholes. He said the plan would avoid tax increases for Florida families and 98 % of Florida businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is never a bad investment to invest in your kids,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Strengthening insurance coverage<\/p>\n
Morris wants insurers to provide coverage that better addresses the risks Floridians face.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen a lot of people need insurance, insurance finds a way to not be there for them,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, what are we actually paying for?\u201d<\/p>\n
He argued that homeowners insurance should cover hurricane and flood damage. He also supports health coverage without exclusions for preexisting conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re going to provide home insurance, you need to cover hurricanes and floods,\u201d Morris said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t want to do that, we don\u2019t need you here either.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morris described the state\u2019s insurance option as a useful fallback for residents.<\/p>\n
Giving communities a voice on data centers<\/p>\n
The gubernatorial candidate supports a moratorium on new data centers and a hold on planned projects until developers address community concerns.<\/p>\n
He wants residents to review projects\u2019 benefits and risks, including electricity demand, water consumption, noise, light pollution, and environmental damage.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you live in that region, you should have an opportunity to have your voice heard,\u201d Morris said.<\/p>\n
He suggested developers examine solar energy, water recycling, and environmentally responsible desalination to reduce pressure on local resources.<\/p>\n
Morris said he would support projects when communities approve them, and developers take steps to reduce their impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they don\u2019t have those plans in place, then they\u2019re not going to happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Proposing an ammunition tax<\/p>\n
Morris said his proposed Second Amendment Integrity Act would impose an excise tax on ammunition to support mental health services, environmental protections, and school resource officers.<\/p>\n
He said he asked gun-shop owners and friends who own guns to review the proposal, asking, \u201cDoes this negatively impact you?\u201d Morris pointed out that the proposed tax would serve \u201ca very specific purpose\u201d and emphasized that \u201cgun rights are still an American right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo instead of just talking and arguing about it, let\u2019s do something about it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Challenging immigration enforcement<\/p>\n
Morris identified the detention facility known as Alligator Alcatraz and the administration\u2019s terrorism designations among his priorities.<\/p>\n
He said he would ensure the facility was closed and seek an investigation into its operation, including concerns about costs falling on Floridians.<\/p>\n
He also called for removing charitable organizations from the terrorism list and reviewing organizations he believes use intimidation and violence.<\/p>\n
Considering support for youth sports<\/p>\n
\u00a0Morris said he would consider extending access to youth sports through public-private agreements and potential funding from his education plan\u2019s projected surplus.<\/p>\n
The candidate played youth sports growing up in Florida, and his daughter now swims competitively.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/20261004_185518-225x300.jpg\")
Erik Morris with his daughter\/ Photo courtesy of Erik Morris.<\/p>\n
He encourages her to succeed while supporting others.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you can win and succeed and along the way, also bring up other people, that is about the best outcome that you can have in any walk of life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Running with limited resources<\/p>\n
Erik Morris said his family encouraged his candidacy.<\/p>\n
His wife urged him to act after hearing him discuss his ideas and struggle to find a way to share them.<\/p>\n
\u201cStop talking about it and start doing something,\u201d he recalled her saying.<\/p>\n
His daughter supported the decision while running for school treasurer herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, we were both running campaigns at the same time, which has been fun,\u201d Morris said.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged how difficult it is to win as a write-in candidate. An uncle warned him about his low chances, but Morris said running allowed him to put his proposals into public discussion.<\/p>\n
His limited budget also affects how he reaches voters. Morris explained that the campaign could not afford many yard signs.<\/p>\n
Morris said some organizations sought hundreds or thousands of dollars for participation in town halls and chamber-of-commerce events.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the interesting things that I\u2019ve noticed in this campaign is how ridiculously baked into the system money really is,\u201d Morris said.<\/p>\n
He said he would not compromise his beliefs to gain funding and has no ambition to pursue higher office. After serving as governor, he would return to the career he enjoys.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have any aspirations for anything beyond this except for making Florida as strong as it can be for as many people as possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Erik Morris celebrates his aunt\u2019s 100th birthday with family members \/ Photo courtesy of Erik Morris. Tampa project…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[47499,2715,22654,4833,28909,30415,135,137,136],"class_list":["post-442926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-2026-elections","tag-elections","tag-florida-governors-race","tag-florida-politics","tag-gubernatorial-race","tag-news-and-public-affairs","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442926","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=442926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}