TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – The top Florida Democratic candidates for US Senate and governor arrived in Tallahassee Saturday morning in hopes of speaking with and impressing the voters.
Congresswoman Val Demmings spoke of her humble roots growing up as the daughter of a maid and a janitor.
Her opponent, Miami City Commissioner Ken Russell, vowed to abstain from negative attacks in the primary and discussed his grassroots efforts to clean parks in his local community.
Gubernatorial-hopeful Charlie Crist’s speech centered around criticism of Governor Ron DeSantis. Crist blasted DeSantis for declining to declare a state of emergency for the red tide outbreak on the west coast, especially across Tampa Bay, and claimed DeSantis’ support of the voter integrity law passed this past session was akin to voter suppression.
Crist’s primary opponent Nikki Fried highlighted her success as the only statewide elected Democrat in decades and how she has used her platform to push back against some of the governor’s policies. She said DeSantis was taking Florida in the direction of authoritarian dictatorial rule.
You can find the candidates’ speeches in the video player above.
