Six months before her death[1], Sen. Geraldine Thompson met her protégé and friend Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis for lunch at the senior statesman’s favorite restaurant Olive Garden. Thompson had something important to say amid this humble setting of unlimited breadsticks.
Thompson revealed that she was going to resign early from her Senate term — although she didn’t say when — and asked if Bracy Davis would take over her work. Thompson, a civil rights leader and giant in Central Florida politics, was in her mid-70s and wanted to spend more time with her family and her museum.
Bracy Davis agreed, unaware how fate would play out and that her mentor would die unexpectedly from complications from knee surgery less than a year later.
The Ocoee Democrat was sworn in this week as the new face of Senate District 15 after winning last month’s Special Election.
Bracy Davis placed her hand on a Bible owned by her late father that contained one of Thompson’s scarves, the accessory she was known for. Thompson’s husband, Judge Emerson Thompson, read the oath of office on the Senate floor while more than 150 of Bracy Davis’ supporters — many who chartered a bus from Orlando — watched the swearing-in ceremony[2].
“It was an amazing, amazing feeling,” Bracy Davis said as she reflected on the emotional symbolism of the moment. “It was a heavy day.”
Bracy Davis told the story of the Olive Garden meal, her promise to Thompson and her Legislative priorities during an interview Friday with Florida Politics.
Bracy Davis acknowledged that she hasn’t spoken in months to her brother, former Rep. Randolph Bracy, whom she beat in the Democratic Primary[3] on her way to winning Thompson’s old seat.
“For me, running for SD 15 only had to do with the work that Sen. Thompson started and carrying her legacy. … It was nothing personal. I didn’t run against anyone. I wasn’t running against my brother,” Bracy Davis said. “I love my brother. I wish him well. … I think about him and pray for him every day.”
When the new Session starts, Bracy Davis said she plans to refile a voting rights bill[4] Thompson championed. Bracy Davis said her own protégé, RaShon Young[5], who won her old House seat, will file the companion legislation in the other chamber.
Bracy Davis also plans to file a bill that would allow victims of domestic violence to break their leases if their lives are at risk.
Both Bracy Davis and Thompson previously worked together to file legislation to change amusement park safety regulations[6] after teenager Tyre Sampson fell to his death[7] at a smaller attraction on Orlando’s International Drive in 2022.
Tragedy struck again this year. Last month, a man who used a wheelchair died[8] after riding a roller coaster at Epic Universe, Universal Orlando’s new theme park.
The Orlando Sentinel editorial board[9] and Ben Crump, representing the man’s family, have called on state lawmakers[10] to make Florida’s biggest theme parks more accountable and transparent when it comes to visitors’ injuries.
Currently, Universal and Disney self-report incidents if people are hurt or sick on a ride and are then hospitalized for 24 hours. The incidents appear on a state report that has historically been riddled with misleading descriptions[11] and limited details, making it hard for the public to know what happened.
Bracy Davis said she is waiting to hear the full investigation into what caused 32-year-old Kevin Rodriguez Zavala’s death before deciding what, if any, changes the state should make.
“It would be presumptuous or perhaps irresponsible of me to say what exactly went wrong when the powers at be are still trying to figure that out,” she said. “But I do know this: When I found that there was an issue with Tyre Sampson and those independent rides, I did what I was supposed to do as a lawmaker and I changed the law.”
Another ongoing issue is whether or not the millions of dollars generated by tourists’ hotel stays should be freed up to be spent on SunRail expansion or other community needs.
A proposal to reform hotel tax — otherwise known as TDT, or the tourist development tax — advanced in a bigger Senate tax bill this year but then got cut out in late budget talks[12].
When asked her stance on the issue, Bracy Davis said she supports spending the hotel tax money on public safety or improving the roads because that still ties into tourism. Visitors might not want to visit Orlando if it’s not safe, she argued, saying the law should broaden the definition of what is considered tourism promotion and free up some of the money.
Heading into the upcoming Legislative Session next year, Bracy Davis said she is optimistic her priorities can still advance as a member of the outnumbered Democratic Party. Bracy Davis said she hopes to channel her victories in the House, like when she passed three bills her freshman year, and sees the upper chamber as a place for reasoned debate.
“While we have to be a little bit more strategic as Democrats, it doesn’t mean we can’t be successful,” Bracy Davis said. “I do a really good job being rooted in my morals and my values and my convictions but at the same time I’m able to negotiate.”
References
- ^ her death (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ watched the swearing-in ceremony (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ she beat in the Democratic Primary (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ refile a voting rights bill (www.flhouse.gov)
- ^ RaShon Young (www.flhouse.gov)
- ^ to change amusement park safety regulations (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ his death (www.cnn.com)
- ^ died (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ The Orlando Sentinel editorial board (www.orlandosentinel.com)
- ^ have called on state lawmakers (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ that has historically been riddled with misleading descriptions (www.orlandosentinel.com)
- ^ in late budget talks (floridapolitics.com)