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Shevrin Jones was all smiles at Miami Pride as his political star keeps rising
The 40-year-old out lawmaker made an exciting announcement this week.
Miami Beach kicked off the 2024 Pride season last weekend and state Sen. Shevrin Jones was there soaking up every minute of it.
The 40-year-old lawmaker, who became the first out gay person and first out LGBTQ+ Black person elected to the Florida Senate in 2020, marched in the parade on Sunday, waving a rainbow flag and posing for pictures with constituents.
Afterwards, he posted a carousel of videos and images from the celebratory day, along with the caption: “LIVE your BEST life with PRIDE! Honored to represent the City of Miami Beach and join in the Pride celebrations.”
Once the parade was over, Jones met up with friends for some Sunday Funday shenanigans and kept the party going well into the afternoon with a little assistance from Señor Don Julio.
“#sundayfunday with my brothers. 
,” he wrote.
Then on Monday, he was back to work. And the man is busy!
This week, Jones announced his candidacy for Miami-Dade County Democratic chairman after the former chairman Robert Dempster was ousted last month over performance issues.
“We’ve seen what happens when we don’t invest in robust, focused outreach and take communities for granted,” Jones said in a prepared statement. “This moment calls for a reset for our Miami-Dade County party so that we can re-elect Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and re-elect President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to finish the job.”
“That starts with a willingness to step up, show up and listen to voters’ concerns,” he continued. “I’m committed to learning from past mistakes and working with organizers across the county as we rebuild and register voters, bring disengaged people back into the fold, engage with candidates in every corner of Miami-Dade and increase Democratic turnout this fall.”
Jones is running unopposed. If elected, he says he only plans to serve through the end of the year. And he’ll certainly have his work cut out for him.
Miami-Dade has long been considered a Democratic stronghold, but that’s changed in recent years. Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis won the county in 2022, becoming the first Republican gubernatorial candidate to win there in 20 years.
That said, Democrats are currently leading in new voter registrations at 35%, with independents and other third parties coming in second at 33%, and Republicans at 32%, according to the Miami-Dade County Supervision of Elections.
Speaking of DeSantis, Jones has been one of the gay-hating governor’s most vocal critics over the years.
Last month, he criticized his failed “anti-woke” approach to governing, telling the Washington Post, “When his presidential race ended, I think that a lot of his influence and power died at the same time … And I think that people in Florida and across the country, including Republicans, are starting to see that the culture wars are getting us nowhere.”
He also helped push for the recent settlement between civil rights attorneys and the Florida Board of Education to loosen restrictions ordered by DeSantis on how teachers and school officials talk (or rather don’t talk) about LGBTQ+ issues with students.
On top of all that, Jones has played an active role in the Biden’s reelection effort, serving as a Biden/Harris campaign surrogate and raising his own national platform in the process.
Last month, he attended an event hosted by the Democratic Party of Milwaukee, during which he gave a powerful speech about “fighting like hell” to keep Donald Trump out of the White House as well as encouraging more diverse and pro-LGBTQ+ candidates to run for office.
With DeSantis’ reign of anti-LGBTQ+ terror ending in 2026, Jones is well-positioned for that job next and has expressed interest in a possible bid for governorship down the line.
But first, he’s got the Miami-Dade DEC Chair’s election to win. That election is scheduled for April 26.
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