BOTH SEEKING TO RETURN: Current state Rep. Ashley Gantt has filed to retain her seat in Tallahassee, former Florida lawmaker Roy Hardemon wants to end his absence. PHOTOS COURTESY OF ASHLEY.VOT AND MYFLORIDAHOUSE.GOV
MIAMI, Fla. – State Rep. Ashley Gantt, who is seeking a second term in political office, is being challenged by former Florida lawmaker Roy Hardemon, who’s vying for a return to Tallahassee following a five-year absence.
The two Democrats filed paperwork to run for District 109 in 2024 with no Republican candidate, according to the Florida Department of Elections.
The district covers the areas of Brownsville, Liberty City, Overtown, Opa-locka and portions of Miami Gardens.
Hardemon, 62, was elected in 2016 to represent District 108, but was ousted in 2018 by state Rep. Dotie Joseph and lost a rematch in 2020.
Through redistricting in 2022, Hardemon’s home was placed in District 109.
A political novice at the time, Gantt in 2022 upset veteran state lawmaker James Bush III, who had spent 30 years in Tallahassee but whose campaign voters shied away from after he was the lone Democrat to vote for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 15-month abortion ban, S.TO.P. Woke Act which limits systematic racism taught in public schools, and Don’t Say Gay bill.
ATTORNEY, TEACHER
Gantt, a lawyer by trade, said her freshman year in Tallahassee was overwhelming, filled with ups and downs, but she was able to accomplish some of the things on her priority list.
She secured lactation spaces for nursing mothers in Florida courthouses, and a $817,000 payment for a wrongly convicted Broward man who spent 16 years in prison before he was released.
Gantt, 39, also co-sponsored legislation boosting retirement benefits for state employees, and to beef up protections for children at risk of parental harm.
"My first year was overwhelming and very informative," she said. "Some days were discouraging and some days were inspirational. I look forward to serving my constituents and continuing finding solutions to problems that impact them."
Gantt also was a vocal critic of DeSantis and the state’s education department for adopting an African American studies curriculum in which students will be taught that slavery allowed Blacks to learn job skills. She also opposes Florida’s 15-month abortion ban.
With the 60-day annual Legislative Session set to begin Jan. 9, Gantt is sponsoring bills for paid parental leave for certain state employees, to enhance the quality of early childhood education, legislation specifying information, and an issue on sentencing score sheets and restoration of voting rights.
The sentencing scores sheets bill would require that the score sheet be provided to defenders before sentencing is imposed.
Gantt said the parental paid leave for state workers bill is designed to compensate parents for up to 12 weeks and prohibits the government from refusing to grant such leave.
Current law allows state employees to use their annual or sick leave for paid parental leave, which is six weeks. Gantt said the legislation supports workers who want to start a family and avoid any financial impact while on leave.
"It’s retaining motivation and providing another mechanism for the workforce to start a family, and has the ability to support parental process," Gantt said. "State workers can return and not be impacted by taking that amount of time for leave."
Gantt said the access to quality early childhood education bill would increase the school readiness eligibility threshold to 250 percent of the federal poverty level in Florida.
Increasing the income eligibility threshold ensures that a greater number of children have access to essential early education programs, while allowing eligible low-income working families to enter and remain in the workforce, Gantt said.
"Some parents could lose eligibility for monetary support for their children’s early childhood education and have to stay home because they can’t afford the program," she said. "They have to choose between going back to work or staying at home, which has a direct financial impact on families."
Gantt, a former schoolteacher, said one issue she hopes can get resolved during the session is addressing a new state law that requires at least 60 percent of union members to pay dues.
Florida’s largest teacher union, United Teachers of Dade, failed to meet the requirement and is on the brink of decertification. If the group is decertified, about 30,000 Miami-Dade public school teachers would be left without representation.
Gantt said the bill, which was signed into law by DeSantis, is a blatant attack on teachers.
"The bill says it really doesn’t care about the quality of unions," she said. "I have advocated for the quality of life for unions for years because of the impact on teachers. I’m a staunch supporter of UTD… I was a member and it’s disheartening what they are facing. This is the governor’s agenda running for president and we see how that is working out for him."
In her law career, Gantt was last year’s recipient of the Florida Bar’s Henry T. Latimer Diversity and Inclusion Award, which recognizes individuals whose work has encouraged participation and opportunities for all within the legal profession, particularly the historically marginalized.
ACTIVIST HARDEMON
Hardemon, who is the uncle of MiamiDade County Commissioner Keon Hardemon, said his mother’s terminal illness impacted some of his work in Tallahassee and his reelection campaign.
"Back and forth to Tallahassee, my mom was passing away and my mind was off the job," he said. "I didn’t campaign or raise money."
Family tragedy struck again in 2020 and 2021. His grandson and son were shot and killed during separate incidents in Miami and Opa-locka.
"A lot of grieving was coming down with me," Hardemon said. "I couldn’t stay focused."
Hardemon said he’s ready to go back to work and address the issues that were not resolved when he left Tallahassee.
He said Liberty City is experiencing gentrification as Blacks are being forced out in favor of whites and Hispanics for new units being built in the Liberty Square area.
Hardemon said he requested state funding to keep Blacks in Liberty, Overtown and Little Haiti, by renovating hundreds of apartments for affordable housing units, but the money went unaccounted for after he was forced to leave political office.
He said Blacks living in Liberty Square were given an ultimatum: take the vouchers and move elsewhere or get evicted later.
"They had no choice," he said. "The county said there was too much violence in the area but they spent a lot of money for more police. So, how do you have violence if there are more police officers around?"
Hardemon said he requested a $2 million investment program to upgrade the industrial park which borders Brownsville and Hialeah.
The area needed revitalization to bring more jobs to the area but that money also disappeared after he left office, he said.
"My job is to restore the money and provide it to the industrial park."
He was vocal against the City of Hialeah flirting with the idea of annexing the industrial park and a portion of Brownsville in 2023 before city officials eventually backed off.
Hardemon said the revenues stayed in the Black community and expansion plans are on the horizon but elected officials currently in office must keep track of the state funding allocated to the area.
Hardemon also said he pushed to move the Jessie Trice Health and Rehabilitation Center, near NW 54th Street and 39 Avenue, back to its original location on NW 22nd and 71st Street. He said the location would benefit the Black community.
Hardemon’s checkered past came to light when he ran for state representative in 2016.
According to the Miami Herald, he was arrested 19 times since 1987 with 35 different crimes, 12 of them felonies.
The charges range from felony battery and kidnapping to municipal violations for trespassing.
He told the South Florida Times most of them were for disobeying police for trespassing while acting as a community activist.
Despite the charges, Hardemon won the 2016 election by defeating Daphne Campbell and David Riviera for District 108.
