More candidates jump in race to succeed state Rep. Ramon Alexander after sexting scandal
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Several more candidates have filed to run for state Rep. Ramon Alexander’s seat in the Florida House following a sexting scandal that saw him abruptly drop his re-election bid.
The latest candidates are Hubert Brown, a Tallahassee lawyer; Trish Brown, an organizer and activist; Delaitre Hollinger, former president of the local NAACP; and Marie Rattigan, whose arrest as a child led her to politics.
Also running is Gallop Franklin II, a pharmacist and Florida A&M University professor who filed a day after Alexander, his best friend, withdrew from the race. He was included in a previous article about who was running for the District 8 seat and who wasn’t.
A running list: Race to replace Ramon Alexander in Florida House: Who's in and who's out
Alexander announced he would not seek a fourth term on May 12, two days after the Tallahassee Democrat exposed allegations by a former FAMU employee that he sexually harassed him, including groping him and sending him explicit photos and video of himself. The controversy also knocked him out as incoming House minority leader.
'Recklessness': Rep. Ramon Alexander apologizes amid sexting, harassment allegations
The House district is located in safe Democratic territory, and so far, only members of that party have launched campaigns. Here’s a look at the most recently filed candidates:
Hubert Brown
Hubert Brown is a civil trial lawyer and founding partner of the Brown and Brown firm in Tallahassee. He works on personal injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, tax and felony criminal cases.
As vice president of the firm, he shared responsibility for its day-to-day operations, according to the firm's website.
"Mr. Brown has extensive trial experience in personal injury cases," the website says, "and has been instrumental in securing a number of recoveries in excess of a million dollars.
Brown, 59, ran for the seat in 2008, after then-Rep. Curtis Richardson was term-limited out of office. He came in sixth in a very crowded seven-person primary won by Alan Williams. Brown did not respond to a phone call or email from the Democrat.
Trish Brown
Trish Brown is a community activist, leader in the local Black Lives Matter movement and co-founder of the Tallahassee Community Action Committee. She also serves as president of her own nonprofit, Power Up People, Inc.
Brown, 53, said she wants to advance policy on the state level that helps the disenfranchised, from racial minorities, the LGBTQ community and people with disabilities to those struggling with poverty, hunger and mental health problems.
"I am just a face," she said. "I am just the voice. I’m an instrument. I‘m a servant for the community. It’s not 'me' running — it’s 'we' running. It’s not my seat — it’s our seat.”
This isn't Brown's first political outing. In 2020, she challenged City Commissioner Curtis Richardson, placing third in a five-way primary.
She was among more than a dozen protesters who were arrested Sept. 5, 2020, during a demonstration outside the Florida Capitol. The charges were later dismissed. The protest came a day after a grand jury cleared Tallahassee police officers in the fatal shootings of three different suspects.
Delaitre Hollinger
Hollinger serves as president and CEO of the National Association for the Preservation of African-American History & Culture. He is a past president of the Tallahassee branch of the NAACP.
He announced his campaign on Facebook, writing that he decided to run after "much prayer" and consultation with family, friends and colleagues. He said he looks forward to running a "clean campaign" focused on building "live, work and play communities."
"This decision was not made lightly, and I pledge to work tirelessly for the betterment of all who reside in House District 8," Hollinger wrote. "For many years, I've worked to improve the quality of life for all citizens, fought for civil rights, advocated for historic preservation, improved neighborhood infrastructure and I've spent my entire professional career in the social services arena."
In 2012, Hollinger ran for a Tallahassee city commission seat, placing fifth in a six-way contest that saw Scott Maddox return to office.
Hollinger, 28, led the charge to memorialize a cemetery of once enslaved people underneath a golf course at the Capital City Country Club and asked the courts to preserve Florida A&M University's Truth Hall, which is set to be demolished by the university.
Back story:
Marie Rattigan
Rattigan came to the public's attention at the age of 13, when a minor school bus scuffle ended with her arrest for resisting an officer. Rather than enter into a plea deal as some suggested she should, she decided to fight what she considered an injustice, and the charge was dropped.
She went on to become a distinguished graduate at FAMU, an intern for Leon County Judge Tiffany Baker-Carper and a legislative aide for state Rep. Felicia Robinson, D-Miami Gardens.
More: From in front of a judge to court intern: Marie Rattigan's teenage arrest story goes viral
Rattigan, 26, also served as a lead canvasser for Raphael Warnock in 2020 as part of his successful campaign in Georgia for U.S. Senate. She said "radical right-wing Republican policies" have diminished the power of Black voters and put corporate interests above the people's needs.
“I’m running to serve the people and empower the people and represent the people every day," she said in an interview. "I’ve spent a lot of time working downtown at the Capitol so I have a front-row seat to Republicans crafting laws that hurt every day people. And just a few miles away communities are being plagued with issues like the rising cost of groceries, affordable housing, mental health issues, gun violence, a woman's right to choose and minimum wage, to name a few."
Rattigan also served as second vice president for the local NAACP and was appointed to the Leon County Commission on the Status of Women & Girls.
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: More candidates jump in race to succeed state Rep. Ramon Alexander after sexting scandal
