Meet Therese Wakefield-Gamble
I don’t want to give you nightmares, but I hope you remember Florida Republicans’ favorite Democrap, Kim Daniels. She’s back— and she’s far worse than Kyrsten Sinema or Joe Manchin. Another anti-choice, Trump-loving, homophobic crook, Daniels is a "former" Republican, supported by Republicans in a safe blue district. Where to start? How about the infamous, blacks were lucky to have been slaves remark? Snopes checked this one out and has all the proof crazy-lady said it. “Let me say this to you— I thank God for slavery. I thank God for the crack house. If it wasn’t for the crack house… God [would never have been able] to use me [as] he can use me now. And if it wasn’t for slavery, I might be somewhere in Africa, worshipping a tree.”
A delusion psychopath and fountain of hatred, Daniels bills herself as a pastor! She preaches about demonic possession, claimed that Halloween candy was 'prayed over by witches,' and virulently opposed inclusiveness towards the LGBT community. Needless to say, someone with this kind of a diseased brain is also an anti-Semite. “And you can talk about the Holocaust, but the Jews own everything. We go through some things, but let me tell you something— when you go through, you qualify to get paid back. You don’t need the government to give it back, God will give it back.” And, apparently, no fan of reparations, Social Security or Medicare... let alone UBI.
Aside from Republican money, how does this crazy wing-nut remain in the state legislature representing a district whose electorate is made up almost entirely of Blacks (53.4%) and Hispanics (35.6%)? In 2020 the Florida Democrats were happy enough with her to have made her the ranking member of the Oversight, Transparency & Public Management Subcommittee. A year earlier Florida Times-Union columnist Nate Monroe— in a piece titled Please, deliver us from Kimberly Daniels— remarked on Daniels' staying power. “She rose to public office under the Jacksonville Democratic political machine run by ex-U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, who is now in federal prison. That machine made it a priority to elevate mediocrities like Daniels so Brown would never need to worry a competent rival might one day emerge. That strategy worked well for Brown for years, though it ultimately proved disastrous for the local party— which now has a small bench of talented politicians and multiple former ones disgraced by high-profile scandal. And like Brown, Daniels pads her blighted political career with money from fixtures in Jacksonville’s Republican donor class, who are perfectly happy to look the other way for yet another stooge in Tallahassee who will support a pet cause or two.”
That’s when Duval County Democratic Party vice-chair, Angie Nixon, a full-on progressive (a Bernie supporter) resigned from her party position to run for the seat Daniels was occupying. Angie beat her in a 60-40 landslide.
So why is she still in Florida’s House of Representatives? The Republicans had no intention of leaving their top shill out in the cold. So they gerrymandered Jacksonville enough to create her a new seat, which she won in 2022. The August primary is where the election will be decided— and because there’s a write-in candidate, Briana Hughes, Florida law closes it to Republicans… bad news for Daniels. There are two Democrats in the race— a pastor from Sierra Leone named Lloyd Caulker who says God told him to run against Daniels. The more interesting candidate is Therese Wakefield-Gamble who just entered the race last month. Her platform includes Medicare-for-All. From her campain website:
“Today,” she wrote, “more than 30 million Americans still don’t have health insurance and even more are underinsured. Even for those with insurance, costs are so high that medical bills are the number one cause of bankruptcy in the United States. Incredibly, we spend significantly more of our national GDP on this inadequate health care system—far more per person than any other major country. And despite doing so, Americans have worse health outcomes and a higher infant mortality rate than countries that spend much less on health care. Our people deserve better.”
Create a Medicare for All, single-payer, national health insurance program to provide everyone in America with comprehensive health care coverage, free at the point of service.
No networks, no premiums, no deductibles, no copays, no surprise bills.
Medicare coverage will be expanded and improved to include: include dental, hearing, vision, and home- and community-based long-term care, in-patient and out-patient services, mental health and substance abuse treatment, reproductive and maternity care, prescription drugs, and more.
Stop the pharmaceutical industry from ripping off the American people by making sure that no one in America pays over $200 a year for the medicine they need by capping what Americans pay for prescription drugs under Medicare for All.
Very much unlike Daniels, she’s pro-Choice, in favor of legalizing marijuana and is also an advocate for the Green New Deal. “Climate change,” she wrote, “is a global emergency. The Amazon rainforest is burning, Greenland’s ice shelf is melting, and the Arctic is on fire. People across the country and the world are already experiencing the deadly consequences of our climate crisis, as extreme weather events like heat waves, wildfires, droughts, floods, and hurricanes upend entire communities, ecosystems, economies, and ways of life, as well as endanger millions of lives. Communities of color, working class people, and the global poor have borne and will bear this burden disproportionately.
Transform our energy system to 100 percent renewable energy and create 20 million jobs needed to solve the climate crisis.
Ensure a just transition for communities and workers, including fossil fuel workers.
Ensure justice for frontline communities, especially under-resourced groups, communities of color, Native Americans, people with disabilities, children, and the elderly.
Save American families money with investments in weatherization, public transportation, modern infrastructure, and high-speed broadband.
Commit to reducing emissions throughout the world, including providing $200 billion to the Green Climate Fund, rejoining the Paris Agreement, and reasserting the United States’ leadership in the global fight against climate change.
Invest in conservation and public lands to heal our soils, forests, and prairie lands.
End the greed of the fossil fuel industry and hold them accountable.
Would you like to help replace the crack-lady exorcist Republican with Ms. Wakefield-Gamble? Here’s where you can contribute. Every little bit helps. This isn't going to be that expensive of a race and even a $25 contribution will go a long way.