{"id":68381,"date":"2025-12-02T19:22:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T19:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/68381\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T19:22:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T19:22:10","slug":"in-tampa-ruths-list-trains-the-next-wave-of-women-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/68381\/","title":{"rendered":"In Tampa, Ruth’s List trains the next wave of women candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FourFrom left: Hillsborough County School Board member Nadia Combs, Pinellas County School Board member Caprice Edmond, Hillsborough County Public Defender Lisa McLean and State Rep. Lindsay Cross at Ruth\u2019s List\u2019s \u2018She\u2019s Ready to Run: Campaign Boot Camp\u2019 in Tampa on Nov. 15, 2025. Credit: Valerie Smith \/ Creative Loafing<\/p>\n

Florida women have watched their abortion rights erode at the hands of men in government. Ruth\u2019s List Florida<\/a> wants to put those women in office.<\/p>\n

The organization held one of its first in-person candidate trainings since before 2020 in Tampa last month. Ruth\u2019s List alumnae, political consultants and candidates spent the day flipping through PowerPoint presentations and swapping business cards as they geared up for the 2026 election cycle.<\/p>\n

The organization\u2019s CEO, Christina Diamond, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that Ruth\u2019s List-endorsed candidate Naya Young\u2019s recent election to Tampa City Council<\/a> is a sign of a change in U.S. politics. People like Young and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani<\/a>, Diamond said, represent a changing out of the \u201cold guard\u201d and the introduction of a lot of young faces to politics.<\/p>\n

Ruth\u2019s List Florida\u2014named after the first woman elected to the Florida House, Ruth Bryan Owen\u2014was started in 2008 by then-Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink. Sink\u2019s goal was to get more women elected to office at every level of Florida government. Since then, the organization has helped over 300 women win their races.<\/p>\n

Florida House Rep. Lindsay Cross, who represents parts of St. Petersburg and Pinellas Park, is a former Ruth\u2019s List trainee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRuth\u2019s List was there, if not on day one then on day two,\u201d Cross told CL at the November training event. Cross said the organization took care of a lot of overhead when she initially decided to run in the 2022 election. They helped Cross connect with consultants and fundraisers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cross noted that while Ruth\u2019s List helped her refine her message, they didn\u2019t try to control it. They also supported Cross in her reelection campaign. She said that Ruth\u2019s List offered more support than any other organization in both of her campaigns.<\/p>\n

\"ARuth\u2019s List Florida CEO Christina Diamond at the organization\u2019s \u2018She\u2019s Ready to Run: Campaign Boot Camp\u2019 in Tampa on Nov. 15, 2025. Credit: Valerie Smith \/ Creative Loafing<\/p>\n

Diamond told CL that Florida politics are not easy. Putting up great candidates is important, Diamond said, but women don\u2019t run for office as often as they should. Anyone can reach out to Ruth\u2019s List to be considered as a candidate, but the group will also reach out to candidates who fit the profile they\u2019re seeking using on-the-ground connections.<\/p>\n

The organization prioritizes training first-time candidates, Diamond said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRunning for office is daunting and expensive,\u201d she told CL. Women often don\u2019t run for office because they have careers and families, and when they do, they\u2019re often pressed for time and money.<\/p>\n

Diamond said that a \u201cgovernment of the people\u201d is only possible if ordinary people are able to run for office.<\/p>\n

Ruth\u2019s List seeks to enable campaigns for ordinary people. November\u2019s \u201cCampaign Bootcamp\u201d had talks on grassroots campaigns, an alumnae panel discussion with Hillsborough Public Defender Lisa McLean, and a workshop on maximizing paid media budgets. The room had a few dozen candidates and also saw many political consultants who came to schmooze with the newcomers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually love electoral politics,\u201d Diamond said in response to a question about the widespread exhaustion<\/a> many Americans feel over elections. While the work is exhausting and can feel futile in a state where Republicans control the legislature, Diamond said she thinks this work is important and it comes with a lot of fulfilling individual connections.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there weren\u2019t organizations like us organizing for women elected officials, we wouldn\u2019t be seeing women in office at this rate,\u201d Diamond told CL. Ruth\u2019s List boasted a 62% win rate in the 2024 election cycle, which Diamond said shows that women can win. Diamond said that Florida House Rep. Anna Eskamani started out as a Ruth\u2019s List intern.<\/p>\n

Ruth\u2019s List doesn\u2019t have age-specific criteria, but the people CL saw at the candidate training appeared to be a younger crowd than you might expect of local political candidates.<\/p>\n

Ruth\u2019s List is funded primarily by donations under $1,000. Diamond said that grassroots support is key to the success of the organization and of their campaigns, especially in local races like Young\u2019s election to Tampa City Council, where she received more small donations than her opponent.<\/a><\/p>\n

Cross and Diamond both stress the importance of more women running for office and encourage people outside of typical political backgrounds to get involved. <\/p>\n

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