Karla Kemp

Hello community. I wanted to touch base with you and talk to you about some big challenges and changes, as a result.

For the past few months, I have been running as a Congressional Candidate for FL District 13. After Ron DeSantis and the GOP led State Legislature gerrymandered our area for the 2^nd time, I was suddenly in District 16. Mind you, on the Federal level, you do NOT have to live in your district to represent it. But, after having tested the waters in District 16, where the responses ultimately came to people didn’t want to bother to vote if they didn’t have a candidate from Saint Petersburg. So, I announced my change and had great responses. But, at the same time I also discovered the true extent of the Tech challenges I had been facing for 5 months. Apparently, someone cut 8 links that connected my website and information to GOOGLE. I could be found on Duck Duck GO, but not via a google search. Unfortunately, by the time we figured out the issue, it was too late to raise the funds needed to get on the Congressional Ballot.

So, after a lot of thought and many requests, I have accepted the challenge to slide over to the Senate District 18 seat in the drive to flip District 18 blue and get our state under control and back to working for the PEOPLE, not the corporations.

Florida communities are strong, resilient, and ready for leadership that actually serves the people. Too often, our country has been pulled toward division, fear, and policies that ignore basic rights. Leadership should protect our Constitution, defend democracy, and ensure government works for people—not corporations or political insiders.

I am running for the Florida Senate District 18 to restore accountability, fight for civil rights, and eliminate harmful Tallahassee overreach, including unchecked ICE enforcement that tears families apart.

As a licensed insurance agent, and a homeowner, I have seen firsthand the homeowner’s insurance issues and how the existing Senator who was the Vice President of the Insurance Committee when they made their most recent changes that did nothing for us, but empowered the insurance companies. I want to change this. I know what the companies are doing and how to fix it!

I am also a believer that communities should be able to create their own laws and decide what happens where they live, not executive overreach and control by the Governor and the state. The Federal Gov’t is to support the state gov’t, and the state gov’t is to support the communities. Tallahassee is a place for the people’s representatives to go to assist their communities, not police it. At not point should our individual rights to protest or deny major construction be taken away from us. Particularly when it will dramatically impact our lives and livelihoods!

Once upon a time, I had an attorney tell me that laws are not made for the people, they are made to help corporations. Well, that is not what the founders wanted, nor is that what it says in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Our Rights are NOT to be trampled for those who have the money, we are NOT to be slaves or servants, and we have the right to stand up for ourselves and say no. But, the GOP wants to strip us of these rights. The most recent issue the current District 18 Senator, Nick Deciglia, is piloting a bill that will strip localities and the people of the right to deny AI Data Centers. They want to control that in the Governor’s office. They do not want us to have a say in the impact it will have on our drinking water, despite the 10” we are currently short on rain and the extreme drought. They do not care about what it will do to our electric bills and our water bills, not to mention the incredible strain it will put on the existing infrastructure that already needs millions of dollars of repair work. Most importantly, they don’t care that these data centers are intended to take your jobs! Nick DeCiglia and the GOP want to take away your right to say no. I want to restore your rights and strengthen them! I want to fight for what will ENHANCE our communities, reduce our cost of living, break up the monopolies who are driving the costs up, move the money from our taxpayer dollars to areas that actually help people!

There is so much more I want to do to restore our state and make Florida Strong again, but I will encourage you to go to my website and see my thought on policies. I have more to add as there is always more work. And, so much to chaos and crises to clean up, but I am up for the challenge. I have done a LOT in my life and I am ready to take my experience to the Senate to clean up this mess, restore our freedoms, fight for our environment, and make Florida affordable, again!