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House Democrats Fentrice Driskell, Michele Rayner face off in SD 16

Two House Democrats who have spent years confronting the same Republican majority are now running against each other for one of Tampa Bay’s most Democratic Senate seats, and the race will be decided during the Primary.

Florida House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell and state Rep. Michele Rayner face off Aug. 18 in Senate District 16, where they are competing to succeed term-limited state Sen. Darryl Rouson. With no Republican in the race, the Primary will decide who represents the district, which stretches across portions of Tampa and St. Petersburg.

There is plenty the two candidates agree on. Both have focused on affordability, public education, healthcare and working families, and both have spent their legislative careers opposing much of the agenda advanced by Republican leaders in Tallahassee.

Despite those similarities, the two Democrats contrast in their political approach and the roles they have built for themselves in the House. 

Citing his own experiences with homelessness, Elijah Manley focuses campaign on helping working people

Elijah Manley is running in a crowded Democratic Primary for Florida’s 20th District, where redistricting has upended a district that has been represented by Black lawmakers for decades.

The new boundaries pit incumbent U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz against former U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who resigned from Congress in April amid an ethics investigation but quickly refiled to win back her seat. Luther Campbell and Dale Holness are also running in the Democratic Primary.

Three Republicans and an independent are also running, though the Broward County-based district is one of the most heavily Democratic in Florida.

Florida Politics asked all candidates to answer a few questions. We are publishing their responses unedited so voters can hear directly from candidates.

With a $93M bid, group wins auction for former Spirit headquarters in Broward

An entity linked to a Boston investment firm has won an auction for Spirit Airlines’ former Broward County corporate headquarters, one of its most valuable assets.

DPC HoldCo LLC, an affiliate of Hill City Capital in Boston, made a winning offer of $93.25 million in cash. That was slightly up from its earlier bid in July of $88 million.

The auction took place Aug. 11 at the now defunct airline’s former headquarters, 1731 Radiant Dr. The results were revealed in a notice of auction results in a court filing on Aug. 12 at 8:07 p.m with the New York bankruptcy court overseeing Spirit’s case. That court will still have to approve the sale in a hearing scheduled for Aug. 19.

REM Acquisition LLC was chosen as the alternate bid.

As a result, 17,000 people were put out of work. More than 2,500 employees were based at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Just two years earlier, the airline moved into its new headquarters in Dania Beach. Spirit was important for Broward’s economy. The carrier accounted for the most passengers at FLL in 2025.

$9 Million State Grant to Support 2,000 Jobs at Port of Pensacola

Florida will provide $9 million to the city of Pensacola for infrastructure improvements supporting two new shipbuilding facilities at the Port of Pensacola, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday.

The funding, awarded through the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund, will support site development, utilities and facility construction tied to an advanced shipbuilding and maritime manufacturing operation known as Project Maeve.

The project is expected to include about 400,000 square feet of manufacturing space and support approximately 2,000 manufacturing and related jobs, according to the governor’s office.

State officials said the expanded facilities will increase the port’s capacity to produce complex modules for U.S. Navy submarines and surface ships, including vessels measuring up to 400 feet long. The project is part of a broader effort to expand domestic maritime manufacturing capacity as demand grows across the national shipbuilding industrial base.