From left: Hillsborough County School Board member Nadia Combs, Pinellas County School Board member Caprice Edmond, Hillsborough County Public Defender Lisa McLean and State Rep. Lindsay Cross at Ruth’s List’s ‘She’s Ready to Run: Campaign Boot Camp’ in Tampa on Nov. 15, 2025. Credit: Valerie Smith / Creative Loafing

Florida women have watched their abortion rights erode at the hands of men in government. Ruth’s List Florida wants to put those women in office.

The organization held one of its first in-person candidate trainings since before 2020 in Tampa last month. Ruth’s List alumnae, political consultants and candidates spent the day flipping through PowerPoint presentations and swapping business cards as they geared up for the 2026 election cycle.

The organization’s CEO, Christina Diamond, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that Ruth’s List-endorsed candidate Naya Young’s recent election to Tampa City Council is a sign of a change in U.S. politics. People like Young and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, Diamond said, represent a changing out of the “old guard” and the introduction of a lot of young faces to politics.

Ruth’s List Florida—named after the first woman elected to the Florida House, Ruth Bryan Owen—was started in 2008 by then-Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink. Sink’s goal was to get more women elected to office at every level of Florida government. Since then, the organization has helped over 300 women win their races.

Florida House Rep. Lindsay Cross, who represents parts of St. Petersburg and Pinellas Park, is a former Ruth’s List trainee.

“Ruth’s List was there, if not on day one then on day two,” Cross told CL at the November training event. Cross said the organization took care of a lot of overhead when she initially decided to run in the 2022 election. They helped Cross connect with consultants and fundraisers.

Cross noted that while Ruth’s List helped her refine her message, they didn’t try to control it. They also supported Cross in her reelection campaign. She said that Ruth’s List offered more support than any other organization in both of her campaigns.

A woman stands at the front of a room speaking into a handheld microphone, gesturing with her hand. She wears a light blue blazer over a dark t-shirt and stands next to a wooden podium. Behind her is a tall banner with the text "Recruiting, Training and Electing Democratic Pro-Choice Women in Florida," and the phrase "She's The Change" repeated along the top. The backs of seated audience members are visible in the foreground. — Ruth’s List Florida CEO Christina Diamond at the organization’s ‘She’s Ready to Run: Campaign Boot Camp’ in Tampa on Nov. 15, 2025. Credit: Valerie Smith / Creative Loafing

Diamond told CL that Florida politics are not easy. Putting up great candidates is important, Diamond said, but women don’t run for office as often as they should. Anyone can reach out to Ruth’s List to be considered as a candidate, but the group will also reach out to candidates who fit the profile they’re seeking using on-the-ground connections.

The organization prioritizes training first-time candidates, Diamond said.

“Running for office is daunting and expensive,” she told CL. Women often don’t run for office because they have careers and families, and when they do, they’re often pressed for time and money.

Diamond said that a “government of the people” is only possible if ordinary people are able to run for office.

Ruth’s List seeks to enable campaigns for ordinary people. November’s “Campaign Bootcamp” had talks on grassroots campaigns, an alumnae panel discussion with Hillsborough Public Defender Lisa McLean, and a workshop on maximizing paid media budgets. The room had a few dozen candidates and also saw many political consultants who came to schmooze with the newcomers.

“I actually love electoral politics,” Diamond said in response to a question about the widespread exhaustion many Americans feel over elections. While the work is exhausting and can feel futile in a state where Republicans control the legislature, Diamond said she thinks this work is important and it comes with a lot of fulfilling individual connections.

“If there weren’t organizations like us organizing for women elected officials, we wouldn’t be seeing women in office at this rate,” Diamond told CL. Ruth’s List boasted a 62% win rate in the 2024 election cycle, which Diamond said shows that women can win. Diamond said that Florida House Rep. Anna Eskamani started out as a Ruth’s List intern.

Ruth’s List doesn’t have age-specific criteria, but the people CL saw at the candidate training appeared to be a younger crowd than you might expect of local political candidates.

Ruth’s List is funded primarily by donations under $1,000. Diamond said that grassroots support is key to the success of the organization and of their campaigns, especially in local races like Young’s election to Tampa City Council, where she received more small donations than her opponent.

Cross and Diamond both stress the importance of more women running for office and encourage people outside of typical political backgrounds to get involved.

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