Ashley Hermann, a "proud Democratic Socialist," according to her campaign website, is running to fill the Florida House District 69 seat, which represents much of Hillsborough County near Tampa.
The seat is currently held by state Representative Danny Alvarez (R-69), who is running for reelection and will face off against Hermann in the general election this November.
Both won their respective primaries uncontested.
Hermann previously ran as the Democratic candidate for Florida House District 49 against Representative Jennifer Kincart Jonsson (R-49) in the 2024 general election, but she lost.
Although the District 69 seat is currently held by a Republican, the seat has been flipped before, and more than once.
Former state Representative Jennifer Webb, a Democrat, won the seat in the 2018 election, winning the election by just over five percentage points against a Republican.
Former state Representative Linda Chaney flipped the seat back to Republican in the 2020 general election, beating Webb by about five percentage points.
However, Republicans have increased their margins in the district in the last two elections, with Rep. Alvarez winning the 2022 and 2024 elections by 13 and 16 percentage points, respectively.
So, while it is not out of the realm of possibility for a Democrat to flip the seat in the midterms, for a repeat of the 2018 election, the district is leaning more and more Republican every year. The fact that the Democratic nominee is a Democratic Socialist might make the margins a little wider as well, with some independents or moderates expressing political conflict by the further-left policies of the Democratic Socialist party.
The same situation is unfolding in the race for U.S. Senate, with incumbent Republican Senator Ashley Moody facing off against Democratic Socialist and state Representative Angie Nixon in the November election.
President Donald Trump won Hillsborough County by about three percentage points in the 2024 presidential election, making it a closer call than other nearby counties.
