“I’m going to be loud”

Young told attendees, who packed the GLG Hub at the West Oaks Mall in Ocoee, that it was important that he “begin at home and to launch in the heart of the district.”

During his 11-minute speech, Young made clear that he recognized the “torch being passed” and said, “I carry that torch with gratitude and great responsibility.” He noted that he's not running to “decorate his resume,” but “because I carry a passion for people too deep to ignore."

Young said he was unafraid to take on the "radical right wing" and that he was not going to Tallahassee “to be polite about injustice.”

“ I'm going to be loud. Lemme just give you that warning," he said as the crowd clapped in response. "I'm going to be loud. I’m going to be clear. And I'm going to be unapologetic in defending our communities because that's what they deserve.”

But he emphasized that he also knows how to work across the aisle. “I’ve been in the rooms where deals are made. I’ve negotiated, strategized and delivered real wins even in a super-majority Republican legislature alongside our representative. So while House District 40 knows me, Tallahassee knows me too. They know my work ethic, they know my voice and they know I don’t back down.”

The first bill

Young said the first bill he would file would be the Harry T. and Harriett V. Moore Florida Voting Rights Act. Named for the civil rights activists who registered more than 100,000 Black voters in Florida and were the first casualties of the civil rights era, assassinated in 1951 by the Ku Klux Klan, that bill has been filed this year and last year — by Bracy Davis and Thompson and by Bracy Davis and Sen. Tracie Davis after Thompson's death.

“This is a bold, comprehensive bill to protect and expand access to the ballot box,” Young said. “If our voice wasn’t powerful, they wouldn’t be trying so hard to take it away. We owe it to the Moores, we owe it to those who gave their lives fighting for civil rights in Florida to continue their legacy by tearing down barriers to voting by restoring access to returning citizens, by expanding early voting and instituting same-day voter registration. Because democracy should be accessible, not exclusive.”

Young also spoke about prioritizing public education, expanding health services for the poor and tackling food insecurity and housing affordability.

“Floridians cannot afford to be Floridians anymore,” he said.

Building the bench

Young has garnered support from elected officials, community leaders and current candidates.

Bracy Davis who was still in Tallahassee on the final day of the legislative session, had teased her endorsement of Young in March, when she announced her own candidacy. She said then that if he ran, he would have her full endorsement. Friday’s press conference included her video statement in which she said Young knows the district, its challenges and its residents. She said Young had been her “partner in service and the co-architect of so much of what we have been able to accomplish in House District 40.”

“ I believe service is the rent we pay for the space we occupy,” Bracy Davis said. “Rashon is paying his rent. He's ready to serve and he's ready to lead.”

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Civil rights activist Dr. LaVon Wright Bracy (mom to both Bracy candidates in the senate race) was on hand to talk about the importance of “building the bench” of the next generation of leaders.

“In politics, we haven’t done well building a bench,” she told the crowd. “Look at next year — governor. Who’s on the bench? Then we have a senator’s race — who is on the bench? I don’t know who’s on the bench. But what I do know is Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis made sure that there was a bench for her seat. She made sure that there was someone that she was mentoring … and she would know that if she went somewhere else, she wouldn’t have to worry about what happens to House District 40 ... Rashon has been with her for three years. He is smart. He has worked fearlessly. He is knowledgeable. I am so very proud to endorse him.”

Ocoee District 4 Commissioner George Oliver III told VoxPopuli he endorsed Young. “He is going to be an excellent leader for this district, and I’m looking forward to working with him on some of his House bills that he wants to pass,” he said.

Matthew Grocholske, a supervisor for the Orange County Soil and Water Conservation District, told VoxPopuli that Young was the leader that Gen Z needed. “ He has showcased compassion, diligence and also just general kindness and ambition in his tenure as a legislative aide," he said. "Firsthand, I have worked with Rashon on bills regarding the environment, so I know that Rashon will take our values to Tallahassee and also be a great representative as the first Gen Z Democrat seat represented in Florida.”

District 11 Congressional candidate Barbie Harden Hall said Young had her endorsement. “I think Rashon has done amazing work with Rep. Bracy Davis, and I think he will continue to do great work as the next representative of House District 40.

Lifting people up

McCurdy released a two-minute video on social media, recorded at Barnett Park in which he spoke of being an Orange County “native son,” who attended Robinswood Middle School in Pine Hills and West Orange High School in Winter Garden. (His bio notes he was in the first graduating class at Olympia High School in Dr. Phillips.)

McCurdy focused on how the American Dream of homeownership is “slipping out of reach for many in District 40.”

He addressed “Florida’s unhoused population,” which he said is growing because “Tallahassee politicians continue to play games,” and he pointed to his work as a legislator to fully fund the Sadowski Housing Fund.

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“ No family in District 40 should have to decide between setting up a payment plan or buying diapers or signing your child up for afterschool activities,” McCurdy said.

Improving Citizens Property Insurance so that it’s more than an insurer of last resort is another key goal as are curbing insurance premium hikes and expanding programs for seniors to fix their homes. McCurdy also said he wants to fund re-entry programs for residents coming out of jails and prisons “that work to give our young people opportunities and not prison records.”

 I will fight to put the American dream back in reach for all of us,” he said. “I’ll fight for a system that lifts people up and not lock people out.”