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Darden Rice launches first TV ad for City Council re-election campaign

in The Bay and the 'Burg by

St. Petersburg City Council Chair Darden Rice released her first TV ad of the general election Tuesday, highlighting her work as well as the city’s resiliency during and after Hurricane Irma.

“In the eye of the storm, we stood strong and came together, neighbors helping neighbors. As the storm hit, our first responders put themselves in harm’s way to help those in need,” Rice said in the ad.

“As a city councilwoman, I’m working every day to improve St. Pete by fixing our aging sewer system, fighting to keep oil drilling off our shores and making sure our first responders are fully funded.”

The councilwoman closed out by saying she was “so proud to stand strong with our community.”

In a news release announcing the ad, Rice thanked her supporters for helping make the campaign ad a reality and said St. Pete “is stronger when we stand together, and I look forward to sharing that message with the voters.”

Rice, who holds the District 4 seat on the council, is up for re-election against Jerick Johnston, a 21-year-old business student at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. The councilwoman will likely cruise past Johnston in November, just as she did in 2013, though she hasn’t taken any chances.

Shortly after Johnston filed, Rice’s campaign rolled out a host of endorsements from the leaders of 11 major neighborhoods within District 4, as well as from environmental groups Sierra Club and Florida Conservation Voters.

District 4 voters will pick between Rice and Johnston when they head to the polls Nov. 7. District 2 and District 6 voters will also vote on their council members, while all St. Pete voters will choose whether Mayor Rick Kriseman gets a second term or former mayor Rick Baker gets a third.

Watch Rice’s ad on her campaign Facebook page

Drew Wilson covers legislative campaigns and fundraising for SaintPetersBlog and FloridaPolitics.com. While at the University of Florida, Wilson was an editor at The Independent Florida Alligator and after graduation, he moved to Los Angeles to cover business deals for The Hollywood Reporter. Before joining Extensive Enterprises, Wilson covered the state economy and Legislature for LobbyTools.

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