Florida
Who’s running to replace Sen. Geraldine Thompson? Meet the candidates in Florida’s district 15 race
Homegoing service for State Sen. Geraldine Thompson
A memorial was held to honor the life of State Sen. Geraldine Thompson. Family, friends, and the Orlando community brought flowers to the “homegoing” service at the Majestic Life Church. She passed away this month due to complications from knee surgery. Thompson was a wife, mother, and even great-grandmother. She spent years championing education, healthcare, and civil rights reform. She was 76.
ORLANDO, Fla. – The death of State Senator Geraldine Thompson earlier this year left a notable vacancy in Central Florida politics, prompting a crowded field of candidates eager to fill her seat in the Florida Legislature.
Who are the candidates in the Democratic primary?
What we know:
A Democratic special election will be held on Tuesday with four candidates in the race:
- Representative LaVon Bracy Davis (Sister of Randolph Bracy)
- Former state Senator Randolph Bracy (Brother of LaVon Bracy Davis)
- Former firebrand congressman Alan Grayson
- Personal injury attorney Coretta Anthony-Smith
This race comes with a sibling face-off between Representative LaVon Bracy Davis and former state Senator Randolph Bracy. The sibling’s mother, civil rights icon LaVon Bracy, has endorsed her daughter over her son.
Representative LaVon Bracy Davis | Former state Senator Randolph Bracy | Former firebrand congressman Alan Grayson | Personal injury attorney Coretta Anthony-Smith
Candidates will have to appeal to a diverse electorate spanning Orange County’s urban core to its western suburbs, a region Thompson was known for fiercely advocating on behalf of.
The Democratic primary will take place on Tuesday, June 24, with the special general election set for Tuesday, September 2.
Who was Geraldine Thompson?
Dig deeper:
Thompson, a longtime lawmaker and champion for education, civil rights, and West Orlando communities, died in January, just weeks before the start of the 2025 legislative session.
“Senator Geraldine Thompson was so much more than a dedicated public servant and visionary leader. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother whose love, wisdom, and compassion shaped their lives and the lives of so many in their community and across the state,” her family said in a statement following her passing.
Sen. Geraldine Thompson chairs the Florida Museum of Black History Task Force but dissented Friday. [NSF: Colin Hackley/File]
“Senator Geraldine Thompson was a true trailblazer in Florida politics. A lifelong public servant and a fighter for civil rights, her impact on Florida stretched far beyond the average elected official,” the Florida Democratic Party said in a statement following her passing.
Her passing marked the end of a decades-long career in public service that began in the Florida House and culminated with her return to the Senate in 2020.
When can you vote in the Democratic primary?
What’s next:
Polls in Senate District 15 will be open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the Democratic primary.
The winner will advance to the Sept. 2 general election to face Republican Willie Montague, who secured his party’s nomination unopposed.
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The Source: This story was written based on information shared by the News Service of Florida.
Florida
Florida college Republicans group chat reveals racist texts: ‘Avoid the coloreds like the plague’
It only took three weeks for a group chat for conservative students at Florida International University (FIU) to become a place where participants eagerly used racist slurs, prompting widespread condemnation from community leaders.
Abel Alexander Carvajal, secretary of Miami-Dade county’s Republican party and a student at FIU’s College of Law, reportedly started the chat after the killing of Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, in September 2025.
But on Wednesday, the Miami Herald published leaked WhatsApp conversations in which the college Republicans made racist, sexist, antisemitic and homophobic comments, including variations of the N-word used more than 400 times. Knowledge of the chat’s existence was revealed on the same day that Republican lawmakers in Florida pushed forward a bill to rename a one-mile stretch of road alongside FIU in honor of Kirk.
William Bejerano, who the Herald noted once tried to start an anti-abortion group at Miami Dade College, was the most prolific user of the N-word. Using the slur, Bejerano called for dozens of acts of extreme violence against Black people, including crucifying, beheading and dissecting.
Dariel Gonzalez, then the College Republicans’ recruitment chair, who has recently applied to become a GOP committee member, responded to the calls for violence by saying: “How edgy.” He repeatedly used “colored” to describe Black people, including writing: “Ew you had colored professors?!” and “Avoid the coloreds like the plague,” according to the Herald.
Carvajal, who was appointed to a two-year role on the city of Hialeah’s planning and zoning board earlier this year, confirmed to the paper that the group chat was his doing, but he denied knowledge of the problematic comments until the publication contacted him about its logs last week.
“It’s been five months since this was sent and this is the first time I’ve seen this message,” Carvajal told the Herald.
“I guess to an extent, I bear some responsibility, cause I created a chat. But if I had seen this at the moment, I would have removed [Bejerano] from the chat. I probably would have even blocked his number.”
The Herald found that Carvajal had deleted 14 messages sent by other participants in the chat and 42 of his own messages before the publication obtained the chat’s logs.
He also participated in some of the racist discussions. While referring to a Black student who allegedly left FIU’s College Republicans after a member of the group “called her a [N-word]”, the Floridian reported that Carvajal wrote: “Why didn’t miggress leave?” Elsewhere in the chat, the publication reported that Carvajal used “Miggress”, “Migglet” and “Migger” to refer to Black women, Black children and Black people, in general.
At one point, Gonzalez wrote: “You can fuck all the [K-word, a slur for Jewish people] you want. Just don’t marry them and procreate.”
Ian Valdes, the Turning Point USA FIU chapter president, responded, “I would def not marry a Jew,” before changing the group chat’s name from “Uber [R-word slur for disabled people] Yapping” to “Gooning in Agartha”. “Gooning” is a gen-Z slang term for male masturbation, while “Agartha” is a mythical white civilization promoted by Heinrich Himmler, one of the most powerful leaders in Nazi Germany next to Hitler.
Gonzalez reportedly described Agartha to the group chat as “Nazi heaven sort of”.
Kevin Cooper, the first Jewish chair of the Miami Dade Republican party, condemned the group chat in a statement published to X and called for Carvajal’s resignation.
“The majority of our board voted to request Carvajal’s resignation. We have commenced removal proceedings and look forward to resolution from the Republican Party of Florida,” he wrote.
That call was echoed by Juan Porras, a Republican state representative and Miami-Dade GOP state committee member, who said in a statement: “Leadership carries responsibility. When someone in a leadership role engages in this kind of behavior, it damages the trust placed in our party by voters across Florida. For that reason, I am asking the Miami Dade Republican party secretary to step down from this position.”
In a joint statement, Florida Republican state senators Alexis Calatayud, Ileana Garcia and Ana Maria Rodriguez denounced the chats and called for the expulsion from party leadership of its participants.
“The individuals in the group chat have exposed how profoundly misaligned their beliefs are to the views of the Republican party of Florida,” their statement said. “We call for the immediate expulsion of the individuals disseminating from any level of leadership of the Miami-Dade Republican Party … We will not tolerate bigotry or discrimination.”
Multiple leaked group chats from young Republicans have created controversy in recent years.
Last year, Politico published messages from a group chat of more than 100 conservatives across the country in which users also made racist and antisemitic comments. In 2022, a Young Republican group chat from North Dakota was revealed as a cesspool of homophobic and antisemitic rhetoric.
Florida
Federal judge blocks DeSantis executive order declaring CAIR a 'terrorist organization'
Florida
Gas prices rise in South Florida amid U.S. and Israel’s conflict with Iran, as the stock market also reports a dip
Four days into the Iranian conflict, gas prices are rising at many stations in South Florida.
“I’ve traveled all over the United States,” says Stacey Williams. CBS Miami spoke to him as he was gassing up on the turnpike. He paid $66 for 20 gallons of diesel to fill his pickup truck. Williams has noted the fluctuations in fuel as he drives to locations for his work on turbines. He just spent three weeks at the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant south of Miami.
“The salary we get paid per hour does not add up to what we pay for gas, housing, and food,” he says.
Mitchell Gershon is also dealing with the higher gas prices. He has to fill three vehicles constantly for his business—Thrifty Gypsy, a pop-up store at musical venues. He’s back and forth from Orlando to Miami and says fuel is costing him 20% more. When asked how he handles these fluctuations, he said, “Have a little backup cash so you are ready for it.”
The rise in oil prices contributed to a drop in the stock market on Tuesday, which means some retirement accounts dipped, too. CBS Miami talked to Chad NeSmith, director of investments at Tobias Financial Advisors in Plantation, for perspective on the drop.
“We are seeing most of the pullback today. Yesterday was a shock,” he says. He’s not expecting runaway oil prices but says investors should stay in the loop: “Pay attention to your portfolio. Stick to your goals. Have a plan because these things are completely unpredictable.”
That unpredictability has Williams adjusting his budget. “You just cut back, cut corners, all you can do,” he says.
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