Florida Democratic House Leader Fentrice Driskell speaking to constituents at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center on Feb. 26, 2025. (Photo by Mitch Perry/ Florida Phoenix)
As Fentrice Driskell prepares to lead her fellow Democrats during the Florida legislative session that opens next week, she faces her greatest challenge since first elected House Democratic Leader by her colleagues three years ago.
Following another bruising election night last fall and the stunning defection of two members to the Republican Party in December, the Hillsborough County representative leads a caucus of just 33 members — compared to 86 Republicans, the largest GOP conference in the history of the Florida House. (One seat is open pending an election to fill it following the session).
Speaking to a group of around 60 constituents during a town hall meeting at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center on Wednesday night, Driskell previewed of some of the bills she personally has filed this session, as well as others by both Republicans and Democrats, adding that the normal pace of the Legislature’s work has been set back because of the multiple special sessions held this winter addressing undocumented immigration.
“Typically, we would know what the big priorities are by now,” she said. “We would be moving. By next week we’d be having floor sessions, maybe even hearing bills, and we’re really, really behind. The legislative leadership and the governor were duking it out to see who could come out on top with their respective immigration bills, and it’s caused the rest of the entire Legislature to be behind.
“So, I think we’re going to be playing a lot of catch-up; I think that we’re going to have a lot of very busy committee meetings and late nights potentially on the floor to get through the people’s agenda.”
Taking questions from the audience, Driskell was asked by one citizen whether any of the Republican members she talks to ever express different viewpoints privately than they do publicly regarding issues they contend with.
She brought up the debate in the recent special session. Driscoll voted against the legislation earlier this month, citing a provision that says that immigrants in the country illegally in Florida who are convicted of first-degree murder or raping a child would face a mandatory death sentence is unconstitutional.
“Some of those same folks who defended that bill and probably would defend it in their dying breath — yeah, in private conversations they’ll be like, ‘I know it’s not constitutional, but it’s what the White House wants.’ That’s what we’re dealing with now. I don’t see any cracks in the armor…I don’t see windows of opportunity to get them to move off message.”
Higher education
Several members of the public voiced concerns about Gov. Ron DeSantis’ interventions into higher education during his tenure, referring to his purge of progressives at New College of Florida in Sarasota and some of his appointments to Florida public university boards of trustees.
The governor’s appointment of Scott Yenor to the University of West Florida board last month has come under fire, most recently from the Florida Legislative Jewish Caucus. The bipartisan caucus has asked the governor to reconsider Yenor’s appointment, in part because of a recent thread of social media posts in which he commented on politicians’ sexual orientation, race, and “non-Jewish” status.
Driskell didn’t touch on that appointment, but did refer to the comments made last week by James Uthmeier, the governor’s former chief of staff whom DeSantis appointed to succeed Ashley Moody as Florida attorney general.
“He promises to work on that agenda to stamp out the liberal incursion into our colleges and universities,” she said — adding that if citizens feel that “what we’re seeing is not reflective of your values, just remember there’s an election coming up in 2026. We’ll have an opportunity to elect a new governor.”
Another speaker cited “the attacks on colleges and universities.”
“There’s a sense of fear and dread at USF that I’ve never experienced before, especially among professors of social sciences, humanities, and sociology professors,” said University of South Florida sociology professor Will Tyson.
“And a lot of the word coming out obviously nationally and out of the state is purposely vague…kind of paralyzing the work that we do, making us second-guess our syllabi. What we discuss in class. The grants that we apply for. I’ve heard everything from faculty deleting banned words from their faculty profiles as not to get targeted to cancelling classes so that they won’t be under the lens from the state.”
‘Challenging times’
“I’ll acknowledge that it’s a very challenging time for higher education,” Driskell responded, referring to the governor’s announcement on Monday of his plan to implement a Florida “DOGE” program that in part calls for Florida’s universities and colleges to go under independent audits.
“I think again this is smoke and mirrors designed to be very political and to keep professors like you second guessing,” she said. “It’s unfortunate. I don’t like it. We have spoken out against it but, in these uncertain times, just please follow the advice of counsel and keep yourself safe.”
Driskell concluded by saying that despite the bleak landscape for Democrats statewide, she remains optimistic the party’s fortunes could change in 2026 and 2028.
“I want to make sure that our public democracy is preserved for the generations to come and, for the young people, that we were doing all that we can to maintain this country, which is amazing, but we’ve got to take action – I truly believe – to make sure that our institutions hold,” she said.
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