Former Tallahassee City Manager endorses Loranne Ausley in new radio ad

Loranne Ausley has some winning ideas about the environment. Image via The Workmans.

In her second new radio ad in as many days, Sen. Loranne Ausley is unveiling a new endorsement, this one from former Tallahassee City Manager Anita Favors.

Favors retired as City Manager in November 2015. During most of her tenure, Ausley was serving as a Democratic Representative for Tallahassee. In the 30-second ad, which comes with four weeks remaining until her Election Day against Republican candidate Corey Simon in Senate District 3, Favors says, “We know Loranne Ausley.”

“We have heard a lot, but here’s what we know,” Favors says. “Loranne Ausley got pay raises for our state workers and our teachers. Loranne fought tirelessly against efforts to ban abortion and teaching Black history in Florida schools. Loranne brought over $1 billion to our district for infrastructure improvements and other programs.”

Ausley is one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats seeking re-election, and holding her seat has become a statewide effort for Senate Victory, the caucus’ campaign arm. Republicans are only one seat shy of a three-fifths majority, the threshold needed to advance proposed constitutional amendments, among other measures.

“Loranne Ausley is the right voice for us in the Florida Senate because she fights for the values of our community and Loranne has proven to be a leader we can count on to get the job done,” the Ausley campaign’s general consultant, Sean Pittman, said in a statement. “If Loranne doesn’t see a clear path, step aside because she will make one.”

“In the wake of Hurricane Michael in 2018, Loranne was out there everyday helping communities recover and later fighting to bring dollars back home to help Floridians across the Big Bend rebuild,” Pittman continued. “We need to keep lawmakers like Loranne in the Senate.”

This cycle, Democrats are hitting Simon and Republicans as extremists. The Ausley campaign has touted their candidate as a defender against the Republican Legislature’s “extremist views.” The campaign arm of Senate Democrats has attacked Simon as an extremist as well, including in one ad that has spurred controversy for depicting the Republican, a Black man, and children on shooting targets.

While Republicans have hammered Ausley and Democrats repeatedly over the mailer — including by highlighting statements from Ryan Petty and Andrew Pollack, parents of Parkland victims — the Ausley campaign is ramping up its re-election efforts. On Monday, the campaign released an ad featuring Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil endorsing Ausley.

Democrats are also attacking Simon for his declining to say President Joe Biden was “duly elected” in 2020 during a debate last week.

Simon is a former Florida State University and National Football League football player and former CEO of Volunteer Florida who is in his first campaign for office. Ausley served in the House from 2000 to 2008 and 2016 to 2020 and was elected to the Senate in 2020. Both live in Tallahassee.

Senate District 3 covers Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Madison, Suwannee, Taylor and Wakulla counties and part of Liberty County in North Florida.