LGBTQ+ Democratic candidates for the Florida state legislature are hoping to break the Republican supermajority in both houses of the government and win the seats needed to defeat the wave of discriminatory bills introduced by state lawmakers there.

And for them, it’s personal: These candidates said they felt inspired to run to counter Florida Gov. and former Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis’ war on queer and trans rights, abortion and everything he believes “wake up”.

Ashley Brundage, a Tampa-area Democratic candidate for the 65th House District, said DeSantis’ support for “culture war bills” — like the state’s The “Don’t Say Gay” Law.that banned classroom discussions of gender and sexuality, or the law banning the use of trans people government owned baths that align with their gender—are what pushed her to run for office.

If elected, Brundage, a business owner and mother of two, would become Florida’s first openly trans woman elected to the state legislature. She will face Republican state representative Karen Gonzalez Pittman. The Florida House Republican Campaign Committee has been launched campaign emails which raised concerns about Brundage’s qualifications and used unflattering images of her, including a photo of the candidate in a bikini. The state GOP has also used anti-trans rhetoric to heighten antagonism against trans athletes.

Brundage said he hopes DeSantis, who signed at the 2022 “Spirit of the Community” award that Brundage received from the Florida Commission on the Status of Women, attends her upcoming swearing-in in January.

“Obviously, just being elected will change the way they have conversations,” Brundage said lawyer. “Ron DeSantis’s neck is going to hurt every room he moves into, checking to see if I’m in the room.”

Brundage added that more trans and queer representation in the state House of Representatives would “systematically” change “the entire political operation.”

Florida currently has only two LGBTQ+ members of state government, both Democratsboth elected in 2020. Shevrin Jones is the first black and first gay state senator, and Michele Rayner is the first black lesbian state representative.

But now at least five LGBTQ+ candidates — including three trans candidates, any of whom would be Florida’s first trans lawmakers — are running for more than boosting LGBTQ+ representation in government. They focus on progressive issues, including protecting reproductive rights, expanding access to affordable health care, and improving infrastructure as climate change threatens Florida’s future.

Florida Democrats have a unique opportunity this election to crack the state republicans‘ suffocation. The party will need to pick up at least five seats in the state House and two in the state Senate, as well as hold onto their current seats, to overturn the Republican supermajority.

While other states saw a blue wave during the 2022 midterms, Florida saw an increase in Republican turnout and the state opted for Donald Trump in 2020 and 2016. Election experts have suggested that Florida, once considered a swing state in presidential races, it could now be permanent weak republican. And that was a boon for DeSantis, who has governed since 2022 alongside a veto-free GOP legislature. For the past two years, reliable Republican power has allowed DeSantis to sign more anti-LGBTQ+ bills and enact a range of radical policies that affect the lives of immigrants, people of color, working-class people, and other vulnerable communities.

But Nikki Fried, chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, said WCJB that she feels confident voters will help bring a streak of blue to state government this year because they’re fed up with DeSantis’ leadership and believe Republican Party has “gone too far”.

“I think not only will we crack the supermajority for the seats we need, but we’ll have a lot of surprises on November 5 because people are frustrated with extremism,” Reid said.

Nate Douglas, a black and gay candidate for Florida’s 37th House District, which includes Orlando and the University of Central Florida, is running in one of the most competitive state House races. The 23-year-old Gen Z candidate has said that overturning Roe v. Wade, environmental issues and DeSantis’ anti-LGBTQ legislation pushed him into politics.

“There is absolutely no place for bullies in our education system,” Douglas said said LGBTQ Nation. “The hard truth is that the biggest bully we have right now in our education system is Governor Ron DeSantis and his State House legislators who passed the Don’t Say Gay bill.”

At age 19, Douglas, a sustainability policy researcher and recent graduate of the University of Florida, was elected to the Orange Soil and Water Conservation District, a local agency responsible for environmental conservation and protection.

Now Douglas is aiming to unseat Rep. Susan Plasencia — and has already more than doubled his Republican opponent’s fundraising. While Plasencia voted against a now defunct bill last year to restrict trans people from updating their gender on driver’s licenses, she Vote in favor of Senate Bill 254which banned sex-affirming medical care for minors and many adults in Florida and also supported other anti-LGBTQ+ bills. Agenda PAC, a committee that seeks to hold anti-LGBTQ elected officials accountable, labeled Plasencia one of 10 lawmakers. “Hate team.”

“Right now we’re seeing a big push for authoritarianism, where state government is telling people how they can live their lives, who they can love, how they can express themselves,” Douglas said. lawyer. It felt very shameful and it was also scary.”

LGBTQ+ candidates in Florida include both political newcomers and seasoned LGBTQ+ rights advocates. Vance Ahrensa Marine Corps veteran and trans woman, is running for state Senate District 19 for the first time. She hopes to unseat Randy Fine, a Republican state House member who sponsored SB 254. He also defended an invoice that would ban drag shows, though he argued the bill would have no impact on the LGBTQ+ community.

“If it means wiping out a community because you have to target kids, then we damn well don’t,” fine. said of the invoice.

Supreme Court later blocked Florida’s gun ban — which DeSantis signed into law — to go into effect.

Other candidates, such as Nathan Bruemmer, former head of the state’s LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus; Joe Saunders, former state MP and teacher; and Jim Brenner, who served as an economic policy adviser to former Secretary of State John Kerry; it could also usher in a new wave of LGBTQ+ elected officials.

Bruemmer, a candidate for House District 61 and a trans man, has spoken out against some of the policies that DeSantis — and state agencies close to DeSantis’ staff — have put in place to make life harder for trans people.

In January of this year, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles quietly issued a memo prohibiting residents from updating or changing their gender on their state driver’s licenses. That memo, which also based its reasoning on a very narrow definition of legal sex that makes no provision for transgender people, had immediate effects on the lives of trans Floridians.

Bruemmer said Jax Today that trans people who cannot obtain accurate identification will face higher rates of harassment and violence.

“Our government agencies must remember that their responsibility is to serve Floridians — not the failed agenda of a power-hungry governor who is out of touch with the people of Florida,” he said.