Tampa Bay area Democratic state Sen. Darryl Rouson will not run for the Florida House this year

Tampa Bay area Democratic state Sen. Darryl Rouson, the longest-serving member of the Florida Legislature, announced Tuesday he will not run for the House District 62 seat later this year but will be stepping down after 18 years in office in Tallahassee and take a position at New College of Florida.

Rouson, 70, served for eight years as a member of the House of Representatives from 2008 to 2016, and from 2016 to 2026 in the Senate representing parts of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. He is term limited from his Senate District 16 seat this November and had indicated he was considering a run for the open House District 62 seat, also encompassing parts of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.

But he said Tuesday that he will not run for that seat after all.

“I have heard the calls in recent months from many community members who have encouraged me to continue my service and seek election to the Florida House, with my time in the Senate coming to an end due to term limits. I am profoundly honored to have such confidence placed in me,” Rouson said in a statement sent to the Phoenix.

“However, after much prayer, thought, and reflection, I have decided that I will not seek election to the Florida House of Representatives.”

Rouson is staying busy. In addition to continuing to practice law, he’s been appointed presidential scholar and professor of trial litigation at New College in Sarasota. He will teach courses in trial advocacy and leadership in public life, according to a statement sent from the university.

Rouson is a personal injury attorney who became Pinellas County’s first Black assistant state attorney in 1981 before opening his own practice in 1983. He became president of the St. Petersburg branch of the NAACP in 2000. He has been open about his battles with drug and alcohol addiction for two decades before he began his path to recovery in 1998.

In his statement, Rouson noted some of his biggest achievement in the Legislature, including legislation in 2024 that provided $20 million in compensation to the victims of abuse at the Dozier and Okeechobee schools for boys, as well as legislation to provide inmates in Florida with a path to become peer specialists.

“I even had the profound honor of the University of South Florida recognizing my work by naming its new mental health and substance use research center in my honor,” he added, referring to legislation passed by his colleagues and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2025.

His announcement is good news for the Democrats who have filed for House District 62, none more so than Kyandra Darling, a former staffer for Charlie Crist. Darling has already been endorsed by a host of Tampa Bay Democrats for the open seat that leans heavily Democratic, including U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor. She’s the only Florida-based candidate endorsed by former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who did so last month.

Pass the torch

“I’m excited,” Darling told the Phoenix upon learning the news that Rouson would not enter the race for HD 62. “I think that Sen. Rouson for a long time has been somebody pretty well respected in the community, especially given the length of time that he has been served in the Legislature, but I think it’s the right move. I think that this is the time to really be passing on the torch and to be preparing future leaders.”

Darling, 33, said she’s been contending with the rumor that Rouson might enter the race since late last summer and has been hearing from officials in Tallahassee who were holding off supporting her until they learned what the senator’s plans were. “I expect that to only open up more doors and for us to be able to pull in even more energy and support for the campaign.”

Upton Fisher, a former legislative aide for state Rep. Michele Rayner, and former state Rep. Wengay Newton have also filed for the seat. Darling has raised more than $94,000, far more than either Newton or Fisher.

Meanwhile, the Democratic primary race for Rouson’s Senate District 16 seat is expected to be one of the most interesting contests taking place this summer. That race features two Democratic lawmakers now serving in the Florida House: Rayner, the sitting occupant of House District 62, and Fentrice Driskell, outgoing House Democratic leader.