Val Demings announces U.S. Senate campaign, Bracy to run for congressional seat

Congresswoman Val Demings has announced her campaign to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate.

Demings currently serves Florida’s 10th congressional district — a seat to which she was elected in 2016 — and also was Orlando’s first female chief of police. Most recently, she served as an impeachment manager during the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.

“When you grow up in the South poor, black and female, you have to have faith in progress and opportunity,” Demings said. “My father was a janitor and my mother was a maid — she said: ‘Never tire of doing good, never tire.’ I’ve never tired of representing Florida, not for one single moment. I’ve never tired of standing up for what I believe is right. Now I’m running for the United States Senate because of two simple words: Never tire.”

With Demings’ seat opening up, State Sen. Randolph Bracy, of Ocoee, is in the running to fill it. Bracy was elected to the Florida Senate in 2016 and re-elected in 2020. He also previously served two terms in the Florida House of Representatives.

“I salute the incredible work of Congresswoman Demings on behalf of the constituents of Florida’s 10th congressional district,” Bracy said. “I stand ready to represent the 10th district in Congress and continue building on the work of Congresswoman Demings.”

Bracy also said he will run “the most aggressive grassroots campaign in the district’s history,” adding that he will take his message of justice and equality for all to every voter in the district.

“I intend to assemble a grassroots movement and engage with every community,” he said. “I will run the kind of modern, well-funded, people-driven campaign that this district expects from their representative in Congress.”