Ronda Storms

Ronda Storms
Florida Senate, District 10
In office 2006–present
Preceded by	Tom Lee
Constituency	Eastern Hillsborough County, Southeast Pasco County and Western Polk County
Hillsborough County Commission, District 4
In office 1998–2006
Succeeded by	Al Higginbotham
Constituency	Bloomingdale, Brandon, Plant City, Riverview, Sun City Center, Valrico
Personal details
Born	September 5, 1965 Des Moines, Iowa
Political party	Republican
Spouse	David Storms
Children	Roxanna Storms
Residence	Valrico, Florida
Occupation	Schoolteacher, Attorney
Website	http://www.rondastorms.com

Ronda Storms (born Ronda Rehnell Newcomb on September 5, 1965) is an American politician from the Republican Party, and is Florida State Senator for District 10.

Storms had an eight-year tenure on the Hillsborough County Commission (1998-2006), for which she is well known, and pushed a number of controversial issues. These issues included a fight against establishing the proposed Florida A&M University School of Law in Tampa, a campaign in favor of the sterilization of men and women convicted of child abuse, eliminating county-appropriated money for Planned Parenthood, and perhaps most publicized, her crusade for the county to officially abstain from recognizing gay and lesbian events held inside county lines, which was passed in June 2005 despite vocal opposition, most notably from openly gay topless dance club proprietor Joe Redner. She is also recognized by her quick tongue and often scathing sarcastic remarks, many of which she does not retract, stating "I am not apologizing for who I am."

Background and personal life

Ronda Newcomb was born in Des Moines, Iowa into a military family, and moved around often, growing up in Germany, Turkey and Alabama. Spending many formative years in Turkey, she used to be fluent in the Turkish language, but has had "little call for the language recently."

The Newcomb family finally settled in Brandon, Florida when Ronda was 15, and she graduated from Brandon High School in 1983. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in English education from the University of South Florida in 1988. For a time, she taught English at Bloomingdale High School in Valrico, Florida, and later went on to pursue her Juris Doctor at the Stetson College of Law in Tampa, receiving her law degree in 1995.

She married David Storms in December 1986. They have one daughter, Roxanna (born 1999). They currently reside in her home district in Valrico. Her husband is a deacon at Brandon First Baptist Church, where she has been a parishioner for over 25 years.

Hillsborough County Commission

In all three of her elections, Storms ran on a "responsibility" platform, believing strong moral principles from voters, politicians and other public officials were key for there to be responsible government. In addition to simply acting in a "morally responsible" fashion, Storms was also a proponent of sunshine laws, believing that people can only trust government officials when they can see for themselves that they are not corrupt. Storms' other platforms included family values, helping make the cost of living affordable for military families, and lower taxes.

Elections and challengers

Storms was first elected to the Hillsborough County Commission in 1998. She was re-elected in 2002 and 2004. Her opponent in 2002 was Arlene Waldron, who claimed that Storms' comments had polarized too many constituents. Since both candidates were Republican, Storms won the election in 2002 at the state primary level. Her opponent in 2004 was Jean Batronie, a transgendered woman who ran as an independent. In a deviation from Storms' often blunt remarks, she refused to make personal comment on the fact that Batronie used to be a man, but did wonder if Batronie's marriage to a woman, which occurred while she was still a man, was valid anymore.

Issues and controversies

Due to Storms' aggressive nature and unpredictable choice of words, she found herself embroiled in a number of controversies while on the Hillsborough County Commission.

Florida A&M School of Law controversy

In the summer of 2000, alumni from Florida A&M University asked the Commission for a $1,000,000 commitment to start a School of Law in Tampa (the main branch of Florida A&M is based in Tallahassee). Storms, attending the meeting that night, made a remark that she said was intended to mean that creating a historically black law school will not increase the number of minority lawyers in the state. Storms said, "We can get them through law school, but we can't get them to seem to pass the Bar." The comment met with much controversy in the black community of Tampa, as well as with the Florida A&M alumni still living in Florida, as it was perceived that Storms made a remark that minority students were not smart enough to be capable of passing the state Bar exam.

Two anonymous people offended with Storms' quote called her office the next day, with no comment made on what their exact message was, or if any threats were made against Storms. Storms was unruffled; she apologized if anyone took offense, but noted, "I believe it is an attempt to intimidate honest public discourse...This is how (they) can tar and feather me...By accusing you of racism, (they) can turn you into someone you are not. I know who in my core I am."

When asked if the comment about minorities being capable to pass the Bar was offensive to her, Mary White Darby, president of the Florida A&M Tampa alumni association, responded, "How could she not offend you?" Carolyn Collins, former vice president of Florida A&M's national alumni association, said, "I don't think (Storms) is important enough. All someone has to do is look at her track record or watch her on TV and see how she responds. She has not been stable in some of her comments." After the backlash, Storms took on a more conciliatory tone and openly apologized, stating that she is not a racist, and personally tried to make amends with Thomas Scott, who at the time was the only black member of the Commission. He said of her, "She wanted me to understand that she isn't a racist, and that is not my perception. She's a very vocal person. It's just her style."

Even though her comment created controversy, Storms was adamant in not allowing Florida A&M to open a law school in Tampa. It was eventually opened in Orlando in 2002.

Child abuser sterilization plan

In 2004 and 2005, Storms tried to introduce a law which would approve sterilization for men and women convicted of child abuse in Hillsborough County. The original motion was approved by all commissioners in attendance in February 2005. When the County Attorney, Renée Lee, made it known to Storms that only the state legislature could pass such statutes, not the County Commission, she made it high priority to lobby for the bill to various legislators. Originally the bill called for sterilization to be voluntary, but between February and April 2005, Storms rewrote the bill, which would make sterilization a mandatory part of sentencing. The Florida legislature turned down Storms' bill in 2005, citing lack of time to discuss it. The bill also did not come up for discussion in 2006, meaning the ruling from the Commission in early 2005 does not have any legal standing.

Ending county funding to Planned Parenthood

In 2005, Storms called for the elimination of funding for a teenager outreach program funded by Planned Parenthood, which teaches adolescents about safe sex, drugs, gangs, and family violence. The refusal for funding was passed by the board by a vote of 5-2. By doing so, the Commission cut off any aid to Planned Parenthood, as the county does not fund any other Planned Parenthood initiatives.

After Barbara Zdravecky, who oversees Planned Parenthood for 15 counties throughout central Florida, asked Storms to reconsider her proposal on July 21, 2005, Storms said she told Zdravecky, "I am pro-life and you're not...There is nothing you can say or do for me to support you. Thank you very much for your comments." After the exchange, Storms recalled smiling at Zdravecky and thanking her again for her request to reconsider. Zdravecky, however, recalls that Storms was much more blunt, saying "I am pro-life, you are pro-death" twice. Recalling her side of the events, Zdravecky said, "I have to say I was pretty shaken. I'm used to taking hits. But I was surprised at her lack of humanity...I believe anyone who professes to be a proponent of Christianity would treat me with more dignity than the way I was treated."

Anti-gay movement

In June 2005, some library patrons complained about a book display at the West Gate Regional Library in Town 'n' Country honoring June, which is Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. Storms heard about the complaints and decided to put to a vote to ban such book displays in county libraries. On June 15, however, she moved for the Commission to "adopt a policy that Hillsborough County government abstain from acknowledging, promoting or participating in gay pride recognition and events, little g, little p." In effect, by adding the footnote "little g, little p," the county would be abstaining from acknowledging, promoting or participating in any recognition or events for gay pride at any time, not just during "Gay and Lesbian Pride Month," with "big G and big P."

The vote was passed 5-1, with Commissioner Ken Hagan out of the room during the vote, and Kathy Castor dissenting, saying "I think it's inappropriate for government to promote discrimination." Storms then asked that an addendum be placed upon the bill, that it cannot be repealed without a super majority vote of at least 5-2, and a public hearing. This time Hagan joined the vote and the addendum was passed 6-1, with Castor again being the only dissent. In the public hearing portion of the meeting, which occurred before the meeting, many people spoke out against the removal of book displays, not knowing of the impending vote.

Vonn New, the central Florida director of Equality Florida, an LGBT rights group, said, "I think that Hillsborough County commissioners sent a very clear message that not everyone is welcome here. I think it's shameful what the commission has done." Reverend Phyllis Hunt, the pastor at the local Metropolitan Community Church, said, "I'm stunned, disappointed and shocked that there was zero conversation about the vote."

In October 2005, Kathy Castor proposed a statute which would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the workplace in Hillsborough County, in both the public and private sectors. The statute, which was once law in Tampa, was repealed in 1995 and rejected in 2000. The commissioners, led by Storms, voted 5-2 to reject Castor's statute. Castor and Thomas Scott were the dissenters. Storms then asked for a motion to raise the number of votes needed from commissioners to place the issue on direct referendum to county voters from four commissioners to five.

In December 2005, Joe Redner, who owns the nationally-known strip club Mons Venus, filed a lawsuit against every Commission member except for Castor, alleging discrimination as a result of the June 15 vote. At the same time, Redner, who people had believed was straight, came out on a WFLA-AM morning show broadcast. Redner and Storms had fought before, most recently in November 2005 over a donation Redner had made to needy children. Storms had been a longtime foe of Redner, as she has tried to curtail Redner's business on many occasions, due to his occupation, in Storms' words, as the "purveyor and seller of female flesh."

Florida Senate

Senate race

In April 2006, Storms announced her intention to run for the state Senate seat that was being vacated by Senate President Tom Lee. From the outset, her Democratic challenger was Iraq War veteran and Hillsborough Community College staff member Stephen Gorham, a newcomer to politics. Shortly after her announcement to run for the Senate seat, Storms spoke out against the virulent backlash she had received in the gay community, and made it known that she would try to bar gays and lesbians from adopting children, saying "I don't support putting at-risk children in homes that I think are at-risk themselves." Of the response she received from Tampa's gay community, Storms said, "I've had all sorts of threats and horrible things said and done to me...things done to my church, things done to my home, and personal threats...never attacked anybody's appearance and in fact worked very closely with people who are out-of-the-closet homosexuals and they will tell you I have never done anything but treat them with dignity and respect in my personal working relationship with them."

During the summer, Shelby McIntyre of Tampa started UNbanned.org, a reference to, among other issues, Jean Batronie being banned from appearing on public access television for a debate, implying that station owners choose to only air programming Storms approves of, lest Storms try to convince the Commission that public access television not receive funding by the county. Filmmaker Amy Nestor also created a video documentary, UNbanned, about the Ronda Storms gay pride vote.

Despite the campaigning against Storms by the gay community of Tampa, and Gorham hitting hard with campaign television advertisements and insisting that Storms was an "empty suit who's all style and no substance," and that "the thing about Ronda is that she only will look out for the interests of folks who look and act like her...she pretty much ignores everyone else," Storms won the Senate seat in a close match in November 2006.