Our endorsements: Angie Nixon for U.S. Senate, Mark Davis for Congress, Dr. Linsey Grove for St. Pete City Council
This is an editorial, the opinion of Florida Man News Network. It is separate from our news reporting. Our Spotlight profiles of every candidate in these races are straight news and have not changed. We take no money from campaigns, and no candidate asked for or saw this endorsement before publication.
Disclosure: Florida Man News Network publisher Joseph Jackson and Mark Davis became friends on Threads before Davis's campaign began. Jackson says both men were later doxxed by a local group that posted their home addresses online, and that both received threats. Davis’s campaign has also paid Eat This Dessert First, a bakery Jackson owns, to cater campaign events. Disclosure: FMNN’s founder, Joseph J. Jackson, owns Eat This Dessert First. Disclosure: FMNN sells merchandise referencing Donald Trump. Our reporting follows the record regardless. Joseph J. Jackson is the founder of FMNN and author of The Death of the American Dream.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting starts as soon as Oct. 19 in some Tampa Bay counties, including Manatee (Manatee County Supervisor of Elections). Here is who we're backing, and why.
U.S. Senate: Angie Nixon
Florida families are paying more for less. More than 440,000 Floridians left the ACA marketplace after enhanced tax credits expired, the biggest drop in the country (Axios Tampa Bay). Sen. Ashley Moody voted against extending those credits (WUSF). She voted for the 2025 budget law that KFF projects will leave about 590,000 more Floridians uninsured by 2034 (KFF).
Angie Nixon says she would file a bill on her first day to restore those credits (WLRN). She wants federal action on the property insurance crisis, universal child care and a minimum wage tied to inflation (campaign site). She won her primary by 12 points while being outraised about 16 to 1 (WFSU). Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says Nixon takes no corporate PAC money, in a statement Nixon's campaign issued (Fox News). Moody is backed by a super PAC whose donors include billionaire Ken Griffin (Reuters).
We have disagreements, and readers should weigh them. Nixon's record of passed bills is thin in a Legislature where Democrats hold little power (WLRN). Her protests got her reprimanded by the House and arrested at the Capitol this year. Her lawyer says the charges will be dismissed once she meets the agreed conditions (Florida Phoenix). We think a senator who fights too hard for working Floridians beats one who votes against their health coverage. Read our Spotlight on Nixon.
Florida's 16th Congressional District: Mark Davis
This is the hardest call we made. The 16th District, open after Rep. Vern Buchanan's retirement, covers Manatee, DeSoto and Hardee counties and parts of Pinellas, Sarasota and Polk (WWSB). Republican Sydney Gruters is Trump-endorsed and married to the Republican National Committee chair (WUSF). She has raised more than $1 million (FEC). We think the district needs an independent voice, not a party machine.
Mark Davis, a no-party candidate from Parrish who says he is an Air Force veteran, puts accountability first (campaign site). He has pledged to take a salary equal to the average Manatee County teacher's instead of the full $174,000, and to keep voters updated on major votes (WMNF). He supports single-payer health care, federal protection for abortion rights and taxing billionaires (campaign site). He opposes tariffs (WMNF; campaign site).
Voters should know the rest. Davis had raised about $51,000 as of July 29 (FEC). Democrat Kelly Kirschner, a former Sarasota mayor, shares many of his goals and has more money and experience (FEC). Davis was arrested in July and charged with obstruction without violence during a child-welfare visit. The children were found safe (ABC Action News). He calls the complaint false and retaliation (WUSF). We found no reported resolution of the charge. Our publisher's friendship with Davis is disclosed above. We endorse Davis because he has offered District 16 the clearest break from business as usual. Read our Spotlights on Davis, Gruters and Kirschner.
St. Petersburg City Council District 6: Dr. Linsey Grove
The next council member for District 6, the downtown seat, will help decide the future of the Tropicana Field site, the city's Duke Energy contract and water and sewer upgrades (Tampa Bay Beacons). The Trop site covers 86 acres (Tampa Bay Beacons). Every city voter gets a say in this runoff.
Dr. Linsey Grove, who holds a doctorate in public health and runs a firm that supports nonprofits, has the clearest plan. She calls the Trop site "a taxpayer asset." She says the council must include the Community Benefits Advisory Council's recommendations and accountability measures in any deal (Tampa Bay Beacons). She wants to limit private equity purchases of single-family homes, expand home repair programs and upgrade stormwater systems (campaign site). She notes that 41% of the city is a Coastal High Hazard Area (The Weekly Challenger). Her campaign says that as League of Women Voters president, she helped pass the council resolution declaring racism a public health crisis (campaign release).
Trevor Mallory is a strong opponent, a housing nonprofit leader. He is president of Neighborhood Home Solutions (WUSF), which helps first-time homebuyers and fights foreclosures (Tampa Bay Beacons). Either would serve with care. We pick Grove for her detailed answers on the Trop, housing and flooding. Read our Spotlights on Grove and Mallory.
How to vote
Find your county's early voting dates, sites and ballot in our Tampa Bay Voter Guide.