Ken Gay’s Campaign For Hillsborough School Board Deserves a Much Closer Look

This entry is in the series 2026 Elections

Ken Gay brings nearly four decades of experience in Hillsborough County public schools to the District 6 School Board race. His long career gives voters plenty to respect. But a detailed candidate questionnaire offers a much fuller picture of the political and social views he would bring to the Board.

Gay identifies himself as a conservative Republican and has taken clear positions on school choice, transgender students, sex education, books, guns in schools, religion and the federal role in education. These are not assumptions about his politics. They come from answers Gay submitted himself.

His campaign finances add another layer. The campaign is largely self-funded, while a recently formed company called Faith in Policy has received a substantial share of Gay’s campaign spending. I took a closer look at Gay’s record, his own words and where his campaign money is coming from.

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A Polite Version of Josh Wostal Is Still Too Much

This entry is in the series 2026 Elections

Stacy Hahn doesn’t sound much like Josh Postal. She’s thoughtful, qualified, and generally pleasant. But votes count the same whether they come with a scowl or a smile, and Hahn’s eight years on the Hillsborough County School Board show a record that’s much more conservative than her polished image suggests.

Hahn opposed letting voters decide on more funding for teacher pay, voted against defending that referendum when Postal and the County Commission tried to block it, rejected a Pride Month proclamation, and publicly aligned herself with Ron DeSantis’s political group. There are some exceptions in her record, but when it comes to taxes, LGBTQ recognition, sexual-health education, and DeSantis-era politics, the pattern is clear.

Now Hahn is running for the County Commission with a campaign mostly funded by construction, development, real estate, and government-relations groups—including businesses that have worked with Hillsborough County. These contributions don’t prove improper influence, but voters have a right to look at who is supporting a candidate and what choices that candidate might make in office. Dr. Hahn may be a more pleasant version of Josh Postal, but the real question is whether Hillsborough County needs another version at all.

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Ambition, Attendance, and the Race for HCSB District 2

This entry is in the series 2026 Elections

When someone wants to lead a multi-billion-dollar school district, authenticity comes first. Brittany Lyssy’s campaign for Hillsborough School Board District 2 asks voters to believe that a family of five lives in a 680-square-foot, one-bedroom condo while also keeping a homesteaded home in Manatee County. From barely attending advisory board meetings to repeating national talking points, District 2 voters deserve real community representation, not a staged political act.

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Stoic Practices: Role Models

This entry is in the series Journey Through Stoicism
This entry is in the series Stoicism Practices

The Stoics believed that we learn virtue through example. Marcus Aurelius wrote to himself as if he were a friend, modeling how to live by holding himself accountable to an imagined mentor. Seneca pointed to Cato as a guide. Epictetus told his students to picture a sage. This practice of role models is simple but powerful: we ask, “What would this person do?” and in answering, we shape our own choices.

For me, role models have been both personal and public. My mother, a nurse for thirty-six years in our local schools, cared for generations of children and called them “my kids.” She held our family together after Dad’s untimely death and lived a life of quiet service that rippled through our community. My band director, Donald Deal, taught discipline and teamwork that lasted far beyond the music hall. Rev. Dr. R. Earle Rabb showed courage in welcoming all God’s children into his church. And figures like John Lewis, Harvey Milk, and Mahatma Gandhi remind me that justice, hope, and service are lived realities, not abstractions. To practice role models is to remember that we are guided by others—and that we, too, may be the model someone else is following.

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Bi-Vocational Martyrdom and the Pronoun Police: Crying Wolf in a Library

This entry is in the series Daily Douche-Bag

Tony Perkins is mad again. This time, it’s because his “bi-vocational” pastor buddy got fired from a public library job for refusing to call a coworker by their chosen pronouns. Perkins calls it persecution. I call it what happens when someone mistakes rudeness for righteousness. This essay cuts through the drama, mocks the martyr complex, and reminds Pastor Luke that if you want respect, you might try giving some. Being a public employee means treating the public like people — all of them.

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The Supreme Court’s Skrmetti Ruling Will Harm Trans Youth

The Supreme Court’s ruling in U.S. v. Skrmetti is a direct attack on transgender youth and their families. It upholds bans on lifesaving medical care and empowers states to erase identities under the false flag of “parental rights.” Let’s be clear: this ruling will cause real harm. But trans youth are still here. They are not political pawns. And they are not alone.
Read the full article on why this ruling is unjust and what we must do next:

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Guardians of Morality-Can You Say “Glass House”

This entry is in the series Hate Groups

Moms for Liberty wants to save your children from books, drag queens, and anything with a rainbow. But maybe they should’ve checked their own guest list before handing out “medals of moral excellence.” South Carolina State Rep. RJ May, recently honored by the group, was arrested and charged with distributing child sex abuse material, including files showing himself engaged in sex acts with underage girls. Yes, you read that right. The man Moms for Liberty hailed as a protector of children was allegedly doing the exact thing he claimed to fight.

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No Kings Day: A Stand Against Power and Injustice

This Saturday, people will rise across 2,000 U.S. cities, including Tampa, united in one unflinching message: “No Kings.” This is not a protest born of idle dissent. It is a fierce rebuke of President Donald Trump and a social order built on abuse of power. Flag Day plus Trump’s 79th birthday equals a military parade costing taxpayers $25–45?million. The implicit message? A cult of personality masquerading as patriotism. For United Methodists grounded in Wesleyan conviction, this is intolerable. John and Charles Wesley stood against social evil, not in quiet tones but with prophetic boldness, calling out power when it crushes the least among us. That same courage calls us now to confront policies that tear at the fabric of our communities.

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How Trump-Era Policies and State Legislation Are Harming LGBTQ+ Americans

A recent Pew Research Center report (Feb. 2025) found that a staggering 81% of LGBTQ adults expect Trump’s policies to harm gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. Among transgender respondents, 88% expect negative effects. These fears are grounded in experience: during his first term, Trump rolled back protections for trans students, banned transgender people from military service, and allowed discrimination under the guise of religious freedom. In his second term, the pace and intensity have only increased.

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The Call to Justice is Urgent

Progressives stand at a critical juncture where the call for justice is louder and more urgent than ever. My faith compels me to see the injustices that surround us and act against them with conviction, guided by Christ’s example of righteous defiance in the face of oppression. While persistence is essential, there are moments when persistence alone is not enough; sometimes, our witness demands a more forceful resistance, a willingness to dismantle the systems that perpetuate inequality and cause harm actively.

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Judge William Jung-Douchebag of the Day

This entry is in the series Daily Douche-Bag

In 2017, Tampa passed an ordinance that prohibited conversion therapy for children under 18. As they always do, Liberty Counsel and their perpetual “client,” Las Vegas-based Robert Vazzo (not even a resident of Florida), and a David Pickup of Dallas (not licensed in Florida) filed a lawsuit to get the ordinance overturned. However, Republican Trump-appointee William Jung had to bend himself into a Gordian Knot of legal reasoning to give them that win.

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