Artiles’ exit just two weeks before the scheduled May 5 end of the legislative session will lead to a special election in District 40, a heavily Hispanic seat that leans Democratic. Gov. Rick Scott will announce details of the special electi
Artiles — who garnered national news coverage for sponsoring a measure in 2015 that would have banned transgender people from using bathrooms that don’t match the gender on their birth certificates — defeated former Democratic Sen. Dwight Bullard in a bitter election fight in November.
“These words aren’t in a bubble. When you use racial epithets, those resonate through entire communities. I think Sen. Artiles understands that better today than he did Tuesday. You can’t just say the n-word and think universally black people aren’t going to be offended. I believe he drew the right conclusion in resigning from office,” Bullard, now political director for New Florida Majority, said in a telephone interview.
