Sources: Fentrice Driskell is mulling run for Florida Senate, but perhaps she shouldn’t

Fentrice Driskell prepares for an abortion rights battle.

State Rep. Fentrice Driskell has, for the past two years, led the House Democratic Caucus, and she’ll be leading it for another two until she reaches term limits in 2026.

With her tenure in the House coming to an end, Driskell is no doubt already planning her next move, and sources with knowledge of her thinking have told Florida Politics she’s considering a run for the Florida Senate in the district that current state Sen. Darryl Rouson will be vacating after 2026.

If she ran, Driskell would challenge a member of her own caucus, state Rep. Michele Rayner, who has already filed to run for Senate District 16.

And while Driskell would no doubt earn support among some within the Democratic Party, sources who spoke to Florida Politics on condition of anonymity suggest she may not be as popular as some might think. The sources painted a picture of Driskell’s leadership that is rife with disappointment, including arguments that she put her own political aspirations ahead of caucus members and failed to lead the party in the 2024 cycle.

While she acknowledges challenges within the caucus as it relates to 2024 performance and being in a super-minority, Driskell refutes criticism of her leadership.

“Leadership is a tough job, I expect it to be,” Driskell said. “When we have bad days people look to the leader. It comes with the job.”

Members who spoke to Florida Politics also lamented Driskell’s role in losing state Rep. Susan Valdés from the caucus, after Valdés announced last week that she had left the Democratic Party and changed her voter registration to Republican.

One source said Valdés’ statement was factual — Valdés had said, “leadership expects” her “to ignore the needs of my community” and claimed she had been ignored. The source called Driskell self-serving, even “nasty and mean” at times. “It’s not Fentrice for Florida, it’s Fentrice for Fentrice,” the source said, adding that it was often clear that decisions were made not to benefit the caucus but to benefit Driskell’s political goals.

For example, a source claimed Driskell had “deprioritized” South Florida races to “screw over” state Sen. Shevrin Jones because he might run for Governor, a goal sources said Driskell had been entertaining herself before it became clear this election cycle that a Democrat winning statewide might not be in the cards.

While Jones did not directly refute that claim, he did offer a statement making clear that he and Driskell “are not at odds with each other for any reason.”

“We all did our best with the resources we had. At the end of the day, this situation isn’t benefiting Democrats right now. I believe that if it’s not putting food on people’s tables, fixing our broken property and car insurance systems, helping children learn, and ensuring the health of Floridians, then I don’t want anything to do with it,” he said.

And Driskell called the claim “absolutely ridiculous,” noting that the caucus fully supported Joe Saunders, who lost his bid for House District 106 to Republican Rep. Fabián Basabe. She also points out, correctly so, that South Florida, Miami-Dade County in particular, went red this cycle. Indeed, President-elect Donald Trump won the county by a staggering 11.4 percentage points, and Democrats lost races at just about every level of government throughout the county. And it wasn’t just in South Florida; Republicans over-performed in other areas, too. That includes in Pinellas County where Republicans flipped to County Commission seats leaving Democrats with just one member left on the dais. The Hillsborough County Commission also lost a Democratic seat, giving the GOP a super-majority there.

Still, one source told Florida Politics they’d “rather deal with Susie Wiles” than Driskell because “at least with her, you know what you’re getting.” Wiles served as co-Chair for President-elect Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, and was tapped as Chief of Staff for his incoming administration. She’s no friend to Democrats.

Other sources corroborated the allegations when asked about claims against Driskell.

But at least two sources have countered criticism. Rep. Kevin Chambliss said he was shocked by the criticism leveled against Driskell.

“This does not speak for the body,” he said of the claims.

It’s worth noting that Florida Politics did not speak to every member of the House Democratic Caucus. But even without sources expressing frustration, Driskell is having a troubled end to 2024.

Heading into this year’s election cycle, Democrats’ goal was to chip away at the supermajority that Republicans hold in the House. Instead, because of GOP gains in the 2024 elections and Valdés’ party swap, the Republican Party now has the largest GOP conference in Florida House history.

One source lamented that as Driskell’s constituents in the Tampa Bay area were recovering from back-to-back hurricanes, Driskell traveled to Maine on a fundraising trip for the caucus.

While the source said it was a necessary trip, they argued the timing and optics weren’t helpful to caucus members. The source pointed out that Driskell was staying in an expensive hotel (which the source, who did not have direct knowledge, estimated to be $500 per night) while residents in her district were without power, some for days on end.

Again, Driskell refutes the claim. She points to work she did prior to the trip helping residents both within and outside of her district, including helping a senior citizen clear out a home that had been damaged by the storms.

“We do the best we can to balance those priorities,” Driskell said, adding that many members often don’t realize the unseen work that goes into leading a caucus. She also said she would not have attended the fundraising trip had she not felt that the region was in good hands.

But the problems with Driskell, a source said, date back to when Driskell was considering a bid for U.S. Senate. In 2023, Driskell had briefly weighed a run against incumbent Republican Rick Scott, but abandoned the plan last August in favor of seeking re-election to her House District 67 seat. That’s about when she began mulling a bid for Governor and, according to sources, began using the caucus to further her own political ambitions.

Sources said that Driskell’s plans to possibly run for the Florida Senate against Rayner are an open secret. Yet despite the possibility of Driskell entering the race, House Democratic Caucus members are already endorsing Rayner.

After Rayner announced earlier this month that she would run to replace Rouson, she rolled out a slate of 18 endorsements from caucus members. It’s expected that Rayner will be unveiling more between now and the new year. There are only 34 Democrats in the House, meaning Rayner has already secured support from more than half.

All of the speculation begs the question as to whether Driskell should run for the Florida Senate and, if she does, whether she can win. While it seems Rayner has an early jump, on paper, it would be a tough race.

Driskell is Harvard-educated, with a law degree from Georgetown. She’s telegenic and has a strong platform as a party leader.

But Rayner’s résumé is strong, too. She’s also a lawyer who focuses on civil rights cases and works alongside civil rights icon Ben Crump. She was the first openly Black LGBTQ woman elected to the Legislature. And Rayner has endorsements from two members of Driskell’s leadership team — Floor Leader Mike Gottlieb and minority whip Christine Hunschofsky. Aside from Driskell herself, only Dotie Joseph and Kelly Skidmore from leadership have not endorsed Rayner.

Rayner declined to comment on speculation that Driskell might challenge her.

Asked how to move forward in what is clearly a caucus with some divides, Driskell was resolved to move forward.

“I have always been accessible to members and regularly invite them to share questions, frustrations, or suggestions with me directly.

The truth is, being a Democrat in Florida is difficult right now, but I am disappointed by the inclination to lash out with anonymous and unsubstantiated comments. 

In the meantime, I am focused on getting my caucus prepped for session to do the work that Floridians elected us to do, and I’ll continue to evaluate all my options for the future.”