Indivisible North Pinellas met on Tuesday, June 2, 2026 at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Dunedin. More than 130 residents packed the hall for a night built around one question: how do we turn all of this energy into votes? We heard from a slate of candidates for local, judicial, and statewide office, sounded the alarm on two new attacks coming out of Tallahassee, and got the real story on June 14. Here is what we covered and what is coming next.
Watch the Meeting
Look Around. What Do You See?
Our chair opened the night by thanking Pastor Katy and St. Mark for welcoming us into a venue that is warm, all-inclusive, and large enough to hold this growing movement. Then she asked everyone to look to their left and to their right. What do you see? Hope. Like a lot of us, she admitted she now wakes up and reaches for the news first thing, and most mornings it stings. But when we gather, we trade frustration for information, and we leave ready to talk to our neighbors.
Her ask was direct: protesting and showing up are great, but we are at the point where we have to do more. She put her money where her mouth is and went canvassing, knocking on the doors of super voters with a simple opener, and she came back having actually enjoyed it. She passed a sign-up sheet to connect volunteers with the North Pinellas Democratic Club for future canvasses, where you always go out with a partner, never alone. Can’t knock doors? You can drive canvassers, write postcards, or phone bank. She also pointed everyone to the Reach app through Voter Action Pinellas (find Mary Fahy and the team in the back), which lets you see the Democrats and unaffiliated voters in your own neighborhood and remind them to renew their vote-by-mail ballot for the 2026 cycle. And do not forget to take a look at our brand new website, which the web team will walk us through at an upcoming meeting.
Operation Overpass and a Film Festival
Cindy and the Operation Overpass team marked their one-year anniversary on May 30 and invited everyone to join them on Saturday, June 6 for a D-Day pop-up, roughly 9:00 to 11:30 AM. If you have never done the overpass, it is more fun than you would think, and you can hold a letter or bring your own sign.
The team also flagged the Defense of Democracy Film Festival, which comes to our area at the end of June. The screening of Reading the World, a tender and hopeful documentary about civic education, is set for Tuesday, June 24 at 6:30 PM at First United Methodist Church in Pinellas Park, just over the Bayside Bridge. Watch the website and Facebook for details.
Dunedin Pride Sounds the Alarm
Jason Gernat, vice president of Dunedin Pride, joined us with president Kimberly Platt and board member Matthew Smith. Dunedin Pride is a newly formed 501(c)(3) dedicated to making sure everyone in the community, regardless of who they love, how they identify, or the color of their skin, feels safe, valued, and celebrated. This year they are raising money for three nonprofits: PFLAG Safety Harbor, The Spark Initiative (LGBTQ elder care), and The ICG Foundation (LGBTQ healthcare). Pride in Dunedin runs all month, with around two dozen events, from a golf cart parade and a family night at the ballpark to the West End block party at Broadway and Main.
But Jason was not only there to invite us to a party. He came to sound an alarm about Florida Senate Bill 1134 and its House companion, HB 1001. Signed into law in April and set to take effect January 1, 2027, the law bars Florida counties and municipalities from funding, staffing, or adopting any diversity, equity, and inclusion program at the local level. In real terms for Dunedin Pride: the city granted them $15,000 this year to do their work, and starting in 2027 the city could be legally barred from that support, from waiving park fees for family events, and from funding the officers who keep families safe while they celebrate. Jason closed with Margaret Mead: never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Then he asked the room to email and call their officials about the overreach.
“Where we are standing right here, this is District 57, and you do not have a candidate for State House. And that is a huge problem.”
Bryan Beckman
Meet the Candidates
Bryan Beckman, Florida House District 58. A 30-year logistics executive (his career ran through Kraft), chair of the Florida Suncoast Sierra Club, and husband of former Clearwater City Council member Kathleen Beckman. He is challenging 10-year Republican incumbent Kim Berfield in a district he calls the most flippable in the county, one that has swung from solidly Republican toward even. His campaign has 110 volunteers, knocked more than 600 doors last weekend, has engaged some 25,000 voters, and qualified by petition. His most urgent point was a warning: District 57, where we meet, has no Democratic candidate for state House, and the qualifying window is closing. He also tied two Tallahassee fights together, the property tax amendment and a net-zero preemption law, as part of a broader attack on home rule. Learn more at bryanbeckmanfl.com.
Kevin R.T. Laughlin, Clearwater City Council Seat 5. A retired safety trainer who chairs the Clearwater Marine Advisory Board, running for the open Seat 5 against Sam Wilson (district director for U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna) and former council member Mark Bunker. His priorities: reining in beach development that he says is out of hand, including the Beach by Design plan to add 600 luxury rooms without solving parking, and questioning the county’s plan to abandon a cluster of downtown Clearwater buildings for a new complex on Walsingham.
Oxalis B. Garcia, 6th Judicial Circuit Court Judge, Group 44 (Pinellas and Pasco). She is licensed to practice in three jurisdictions, Florida, Maryland, and Puerto Rico, and is fully bilingual, with Spanish as her first language. In two counties with a large bilingual community, she wants every person to leave her courtroom feeling heard and understood, win or lose. She told the room she is challenging a sitting judge. Learn more at oxalisforjudge.com.
Zachariah Wade, Pinellas County Judge, Group 10. Judicial canon rules limit how candidates can appear at events like ours, so Wade sent his campaign manager, Donayle Whitmore, in his place. A former Pinellas prosecutor, defense attorney, and law professor, Wade was represented with one clear message from Whitmore: judicial races are nonpartisan and easy to skip, so do not vote blind. Look under the hood. Research each judge’s record, their cases, and their endorsements before you fill in that part of the ballot.
Alexander Vindman, U.S. Senate (by video). The retired Army officer sent a short video thanking the group. He is running as a Democrat in the 2026 special election for Florida’s U.S. Senate seat, and he centered the same thing we are hearing at the doors: people are feeling the pressure of rising costs and want a government that puts them first.
State Representative Angie Nixon had hoped to join us but was called to the special tax session in Tallahassee to fight the property tax bill. We hope to host her another time.
Want to dig deeper on any of these candidates and the others on your 2026 ballot? Our Meet the Candidates page has profiles, campaign links, and ways to plug in.
Setting the Record Straight on June 14
Jen, of the two-N variety, set the record straight on a rumor: there is no official No Kings protest on June 14. The big No Kings events are organized by a coalition of dozens of national organizations, including the ACLU, MoveOn, the League of Women Voters, the NEA, National Nurses United, the Sierra Club, and 50501, and that coalition decided together that June 14 was not the time and place. You can still stand on any corner with a sign, but the safety team will not be there to support it.
Instead, the coalition is putting on Rise Up, Sing Out, a free livestreamed concert for the First Amendment on June 14. The ask is to gather a small group, host or join a watch party, and rest, regroup, and build community. Looking ahead, the Good Trouble Lives On weekend of action honoring John Lewis runs July 17 to 19. And Jen reminded everyone that you can act every single day from your couch: call your representatives, work through Lisa’s weekly to-do list, and register every voter you can find.
Action List and Key Takeaways
- There is no official “No Kings” event on June 14. Instead, watch or host a watch party for the free livestreamed concert Rise Up, Sing Out. Details at riseupsingout.com.
- Call or email your state senator and representative about Florida SB 1134 and its House companion HB 1001, the law banning local and county DEI programs, which takes effect January 1, 2027.
- Florida House District 57 has no Democratic candidate. Consider running yourself, or recruit someone you trust. The qualifying deadline is close.
- Get informed on the property tax amendment (HJR 1F) headed to the November 2026 ballot. It raises the homestead exemption, but critics warn it will squeeze city and county services like parks, libraries, and emergency response. Start your research here: what the proposal actually does.
- Confirm your registration and renew your vote-by-mail ballot for the 2026 cycle through the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections. Mail ballot requests do not carry over.
- Get the Reach app and connect with Voter Action Pinellas to talk to the voters in your own neighborhood. Pick a campaign and volunteer: every candidate needs canvassers, callers, drivers, and postcard writers.
One More Piece of Good News
Kimberly Platt of Dunedin Pride closed the night on a high note. Largo was poised to pull its funding and skip a Pride proclamation this year. Then residents and PFLAG, led by Wendy Vernon, flooded city officials with letters, and the city reversed course and adopted the Pride Month proclamation after all. Proof, on a night full of hard news, that a small group of committed people writing letters can still move a city.
Next Meeting
Our next meeting is Tuesday, July 7, 2026 at 6:00 PM at St. Mark Lutheran Church, 1120 Curlew Road, Dunedin. In-person and Zoom available.
Thank you to every speaker and candidate who showed up, to the volunteers who worked the registration and donation tables, and to St. Mark Lutheran Church for hosting us. Go register to vote. Tell your friends to register too. Go call your legislators. See you in July.
