Antione Fields announces HD-21 campaign, pledging to fight for working families and take on corporate influence in Tallahassee

Press release from the Antione Fields campaign

OCALA, Fla. — Democracy reform advocate and former Florida legislative aide Antione Fields today announced his candidacy for Florida House District 21, launching a campaign focused on lowering costs for working families, defending fundamental rights, and taking on what he calls a Tallahassee political system that serves corporate interests over everyday people.

A lifelong Floridian, Fields enters the race as families across North Central Florida struggle with rising rent, insurance costs, and healthcare expenses while state leaders focus on distractions, culture wars, and political division.

“Too many people I know are doing everything right and still falling behind,” Fields said. “People working full-time jobs who still can’t afford rent. Families putting off having kids because buying a home feels impossible. The American Dream is slipping out of reach for working people — and that didn’t happen by accident.”

Fields argues that corporate influence and political corruption have driven policy decisions that benefit wealthy insiders while everyday Floridians pay the price.

“Corporations and special interests are making record profits while working families struggle to keep up,” Fields said. “And too many politicians are siding with those interests instead of the people they represent. That’s why I’m refusing corporate PAC money. You can’t fix a broken system if you’re funded by the same people who broke it.”

Running as a progressive Democrat from Ocala, Fields says voters are ready not only to oppose Republican leadership, but to support a bold vision focused on affordability, healthcare, democracy, and public safety.

“What Zohran Mamdani’s historic election in New York showed is that across the country there is real and growing demand for a progressive vision that actually makes people’s lives easier,” Fields said. “Universal healthcare, a living wage, paid family leave, and public transit aren’t radical ideas. They’re attainable — but only if we elect leaders who aren’t bought by special interests and are willing to fight for them.”

Fields says his political worldview was shaped early by witnessing injustice in Florida.

As a teenager, he watched in horror as the murder of Trayvon Martin gripped the nation and George Zimmerman was allowed to walk free — an experience he says fundamentally changed how he saw Florida, justice, and whose lives are protected.

“That moment stayed with me,” Fields said. “It made clear that systems don’t always protect everyone equally — and that change only happens when people organize and fight for it.”

Fields later served as a Legislative Assistant to Rep. Dotie Joseph (D–North Miami), the former House Democratic Minority Pro Tempore. When reflecting on his time in the Legislature, Fields said he’s most proud of his work on Florida’s criminal justice reform package, HB 7051, which passed in the aftermath of the George Floyd protests. Fields directly backed Rep. Joseph in securing three major provisions which were originally filed as standalone bills. Those provisions included: requiring a duty to intervene, a duty to render medical aid, and the creation of a statewide law enforcement use-of-force database.

He later went on to lead digital strategy at MissionWired, a national Democratic digital fundraising firm that supports progressive candidates and causes nationwide, before joining Common Cause, the nonpartisan democracy organization known for defending voting rights, exposing corruption, and reducing the influence of big money in politics.

Fields says those experiences — working both inside and outside government — convinced him that systemic change requires leaders willing to reject corporate influence.

“Our communities and our democracy are under attack, and working families are being left behind,” Fields said. “This moment demands leaders with courage, honesty, and a real vision who are willing to fight.”

More information about Antione Fields and his campaign for Florida House District 21 is available at FieldsForFlorida.com.