MilesDavis

By Jesse Scheckner

Politics

is a bit like jazz.

It alternates between exciting and dull, rote and unpredictable. There are any number of players, each responsible for honoring but adding to the creations of their forebears.

And like the jazz great whose name he shares, Florida’s Miles Davis is damn good at his job.

Davis, a 26-year-old Fort Myers native, is in his sixth year in Democratic politics. For more than a third of that time, he’s been the Chief of Staff to Miami Gardens Sen. Shevrin Jones.

Those who know Davis share a glossary when discussing him: Organized. Composed. Pleasant. Outgoing. Deliberate. Careful. Knowledgeable. Driven. Kind.

“People know that he comes in peace,” Jones said, “but he’s very good at what he does.”

Davis entered politics in May 2016 as a field organizer for the Florida Democratic Party, the first of three roles of increasing import he held with the organization over fourplus years.

Through late 2018, he ran the election campaigns of Gainesville Rep. Yvonne Hinson, Iowa state Sen. Nate Boulton, former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman and former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine.

He then joined the office of Tampa state Rep. Dianne Hart, who sought him out to work as her first legislative aide after an impressive meeting with him years earlier.

Veteran political operative Janae Murphy, who introduced them, said