Three prominent St. Petersburg activists are among a group of Floridians announcing their support for Elizabeth Warren for president.
The Warren for Florida campaign unveiled a list of 24 officials backing her candidacy on Thursday, and they include Amy Weintraub of the South St. Petersburg Democratic Club; Andrea Hildebran Smith, an activist and the host of the podcast Resistance Mom; and the Reverend Andy Oliver of the Allendale United Methodist Church.
“Sen. Warren rejects corporate interests that rig the system to benefit a few people at the top and marginalize black and brown communities and folks living in poverty,” Oliver told Spectrum Bay News 9 in a text message. “Her policies, like the wealth tax that will only tax those making over $50 million, will get at solving systemic inequalities and give the working class person a fair chance at life. Relieving suffering is the heart of all scripture, no matter your faith.”
Weintraub praised Warren for her efforts in dealing with big business.
“I've admired Senator Elizabeth Warren for many years,” Weintraub told Bay News 9. “ I love her willingness to champion workers by holding corporations accountable for capitalism run amok. She's calling for a return to more a more reasonable balance -- such as in the early 1980s when less than half of profits were sent to shareholders, compared to a whopping 93% today.”
Weintraub also praised Warren’s support for reproductive rights.
“This is an issue I've worked on and studied my entire adult life,” she says. “We need a national leader who will stand firm on abortion access and has deep understanding on how the decision to or not to parent should always remain in the hands of the individual, not politicians.”
Other activists with Tampa Bay area ties endorsing Warren include Christopher Zoeller, the policy director for March For Our Lives Florida and the co-director of March For Our Lives, Tampa, and Rowan O’Flanagan, the co-director of March For Our Lives Tampa.
In November, she received the endorsement of New Florida Majority, a progressive advocacy group based out of South Florida.
Warren, who has served as a U.S. Senator representing Massachusetts since 2012, has been in the top tier of Democratic presidential candidates since this summer, though her polling in national surveys has fallen over the past couple of months.
In Florida, she trails President Trump in a presumptive one-on-one matchup by 2.5 percent, 47.5% to 45%, according to a summary of polls by RealClearPolitics.