Jesse Scheckner
Sen. Shevrin Jones officially kicked of his reelection campaign for the Florida Senate on Friday with a new video highlighting his past efforts, accomplishments, and his commitment to help the communities he serves and Florida at large rebound from the pandemic.
The Miami Gardens native and Democrat described his public service work as “deeply personal,” citing as inspiration friends he grew up with, neighbors he spoke to while knocking on doors, vital small businesses he supports, and the families he serves throughout the region.
“That’s why I’ve focused on delivering direct, meaningful impact for our communities,” he said in a written statement. “While we have made incredible progress, there is still a lot of work ahead as we recover from the pandemic, safeguard civil rights and our democracy, and look to the future to build pathways to prosperity and opportunity for every Floridian.”
Jones’ vote record supports those priorities. This month, he filed a bill that would end driver’s license suspensions for Floridians facing certain court fines. In Miami-Dade County alone, more than 665,000 licensed drivers — about a third of the county’s 2 million motorists — carry a suspended license, caught in a “debt spiral” particularly impactful to Black residents.
He’s also filed legislation in recent months to, among other things, ban brick-and-mortar businesses from refusing to accept cash, a practice that disproportionately disadvantages Black and senior consumers; expand Exceptional Student Education access, a move that could help countless families with members on the autism spectrum; and increase protections for imprisoned women.
Jones has been no stranger to working directly with constituents, holding community events to teach members of the public how to run for office, about the bill writing process and other major civics topics. He’s also toured public universities to coordinate with education leaders on reopening strategies, pushed back on Gov. Ron DeSantis and other GOP leaders for “ginning up faux outrage” over critical race theory and was a prominent, early voice in calling for a repeal of Florida’s transgender athlete bill.
He also successfully sought funding for youth mentoring and has long championed legislation to increase transparency between the public and law enforcement.
A former Broward County educator and state Representative — he served in the House from 2012 to 2020 — Jones is executive director of Florida Reading Corp., an AmeriCorps program that uses evidence-based reading intervention strategies to ensure childhood literacy by third grade.
He’s also a history-maker as the first open member of the LGBTQ community elected to the Legislature.
Though he technically only launched his reelection bid Friday, Jones has continued to fundraise and campaign, amassing more than $290,000 between his campaign and political committee, Florida Strong Finish, since winning his Senate seat last November. Of that, he had about $75,000 remaining as of Oct. 31.
It’s critical, he said, that Florida’s elected leaders remain accountable, accessible and focused on what really matters.
“Now more than ever, every Floridian deserves representation that will always fight for them, and that will always be my commitment to the people of Florida,” he said. “Together, we can build a stronger, fairer, healthier, more just Florida for everyone who calls our great state home.”
