Brian Nathan to kick off SD 14 campaign Thursday

Union leader Brian Nathan is kicking off his campaign for Senate District 14 on Thursday at the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association facility located at 3102 N. Habana Ave. in Tampa.

The Democrat filed in August to run for the seat, previously held by now-Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, a Republican. Nathan filed just two days after Collins’ appointment.

Nathan is for now the only Democrat in the race, alongside one Republican, perennial candidate Amaro Lionheart. The GOP is expected to put up a more prominent candidate soon.

Gov. Ron DeSantis called a Special Election to replace Collins last week, setting a date for the Primary on Jan. 13, with a General Election on March 24.

Nathan’s kickoff will be hosted by a who’s who of prominent local Democrats, including House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell, who is also running for a Senate seat next year.

Also hosting is Rep. Michele Rayner, who is running against Driskell for the neighboring Senate District 16 to replace term-limited Sen. Darryl Rouson.

Other elected officials supporting Nathan’s kickoff include Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen and Tampa City Council members Lynn Hurtak and Charlie Miranda.

Nathan, who serves as Vice President of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers local 915, is not surprisingly also boasting plenty of union support on his kickoff host committee. Among them are leaders from his own union and the local ironworkers union. Others on the committee include Hillsborough County Democratic Party caucus leaders Luis Salazar (LGBTQ+), Kimberly Smith (Labor), Jose Lucerna (Veterans), Karen Clay (Disability) and Jenny Vaughn (Progressive).

Others on the host committee include, among others, University of South Florida Democrats President Tyler Williams; University of Tampa Democrats President Logan Mueller; Mintz PTA President Drew Vaughn; Transmasc of Tampa founder Adrian Lorenzo; Mark Hanisee, Mike Drapak and Stephen Shaiken of The Hillsborough Society; Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association President Rob Kriete; and Polk Teachers Association President Stephanie Yocum.

The event will run from 5:30-8 p.m.

Nathan is a Navy veteran and Orlando native who moved to Tampa in 2008 after his military career concluded. He attended Hillsborough Community College and earned his undergraduate degrees in philosophy and sociology from the University of Tampa.

He’s a Journeyman who, before joining IBEW, worked as an electrical foreman and industrial electrician for Electro Design Engineering in Tampa.

As of Sept. 30, the date for which the most recent campaign finance data is available, Nathan had raised nearly $18,000 for the race.

He had previously announced hitting five figures in fundraising within the first two days of filing for the seat. Campaign kickoffs are typically a big financial boost for candidates, so that number will likely grow after Thursday’s event.

Collins was first elected to the Senate in 2022, flipping the seat red after former Sen. Janet Cruz had flipped it blue just four years before.

For Democrats to win the seat back — even ahead of a Midterm cycle that, if history is any indication, should favor Democrats as the party not in power in Washington — it would still be an uphill climb. Republicans control about 38.66% of the electorate, with Democrats having just under 32%. More than 29% of the district’s voters are registered with no party affiliation, according to the most recent L2 voter data.