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Mayors For Hillary Touring State, Focusing On Black Voters

Several mayors participated in the "Mayors for Hillary" bus tour, which stopped in St. Petersburg, Friday afternoon.
WUSF/Naomi Prioleau
Several mayors participated in the "Mayors for Hillary" bus tour, which stopped in St. Petersburg, Friday afternoon.

The "Mayors for Hillary" bus tour stopped in St. Petersburg, Friday afternoon to urge the Black community to vote for Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton. 

It was the second stop for the state tour which included several Florida and out-of-state mayors.

Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine said the Black vote is crucial to this election.

"We're going around the state to create more enthusiasm among the African American community to make sure that they do come out and vote," he said. "We know that the African American community is solidly behind Hillary Clinton, but you have to go out and vote." 

The tour ends Monday in Miami, the same day early voting begins in many part of the Tampa Bay area.

Mayor Richard Thomas of Mount Vernon, New York urged residents to vote early to avoid dealing with any mishaps on Election Day.

"Right now, it's an opportunity to seize the moment, go on your lunch break, go at a time where you can bring your whole family and make sure you guys are capturing your moment right here in history," he said.

Levine added that their "Souls to Polls" campaign wasn't just about getting Clinton's message to voters.

"It's also listening to the communities themselves and hearing what they have to say so we can transmit that back to hopefully, President Clinton, number two," he said.

Former Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown was also part of the tour. He said the Black vote will have an effect on the general election next month.

"The primary showed that the African American community played a major role in the primary and will play a major role in her winning the general election," he said.

In addition to the St. Petersburg stop, the bus tour visited Tampa, Gainesville and Orlando. 

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Naomi Prioleau is a WUSF News Fellow for the summer of 2016.