Democratic Congresswoman Val Demings is hoping to take on Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in the 2022 election.
Demings said that she has raised more than $4.6 million for her congressional campaign to date. However, before she can run against Rubio, she must first defeat former Rep. Alan Grayson and Rep. Stephanie Murphy in the Democratic primary.
Previously, Demings was Orlando's first female police chief. She also served as a House impeachment manager during former President Donald Trump’s 2020 trial.
Rep. Val Demings, D-FL10, joined us to discuss her Senate campaign.
Eviction Bans
The federal ban on evictions, which has been in place for more than a year because of the pandemic, is set to expire at the end of July. As a result, tens of thousands of Floridians may face losing their rented home or apartment next month.
Kody Glazer, the legal director for the Florida Housing Coalition, and Caroline Glenn of The Orlando Sentinel joined us.
Rise of Covid Numbers
COVID-19 cases have been on the rise again. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more people are in hospitals fighting the virus, and infections are on the rise, especially among children who are too young to be vaccinated.
The CDC says that the state of the virus in Florida is at “substantial transmission," meaning about 1-in-7 cases is the fast-spreading Delta variant of the virus.
Dr. Michelle Aquino of Baptist Health Jacksonville joined us to discuss the spike in COVID cases.
Mackenzie Guiry can be reached at newsteam@wjct.org.
