Florida Republicans have developed a bad habit of renaming things.

The Gulf of Mexico became the Gulf of America. Sections of roads were renamed to honor President Donald Trump and late conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh. And now there’s a push in the Florida Legislature to force the renaming of roadways across 40 Florida college campuses — including Miami-Dade College and Florida International University — after late conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

We understand this is an opportunity for Republicans to please a president who likes to put his name — or the names he chooses — on institutions or roadways. But Florida has plenty of problems that need legislators’ attention. They should be spending their time in Tallahassee on governing, not forcing partisan re-branding on our higher education institutions.

Renaming roads in Florida isn’t uncommon. Historically, these tributes have gone to local leaders, military heroes or public figures who shaped the community — and the effort usually involves only one road, not multiple street designations across various parts of Florida. More importantly, it usually happens with the input of local communities, not through a blanket mandate from the capital.

State Sen. Ileana Garcia, a Republican from Miami, filed Senate Bill 1428 this month to require all Florida state universities and colleges to rename one campus roadway after Kirk, who was murdered last year while speaking on a Utah college campus. The legislation would require Florida International University to rename Southwest 17th Street as “Charlie James Kirk Street.” Critically, it would also withhold state funding from the institutions that don’t comply, although the Tallahassee Democrat reported Garcia intends to amend the bill deleting that provision.

There’s also a similar bill in the House, HB 113, filed late last year by Rep. Kevin Steele, a Republican from Dade City. And a bill by Rep. Juan Carlos Porras, R-Miami, would rename a portion of Southwest 107th Avenue near FIU the “Charlie Kirk Memorial Avenue.”

This trend is familiar. In 2024, the Miami-Dade Commission voted to rename a portion of a road in Hialeah “President Donald J. Trump Avenue.” The renaming approval was first proposed by the Hialeah City Council.

The urge to rename streets certainly isn’t restricted to one party. But renaming 40 roads is an over-the-top proposal. And even though this may seem like innocuous exercises of political power, renaming roads isn’t free. It requires new signs, labor and map updates as well as address changes for businesses or residences on the roads affected. The renaming of any road is a headache, but if 40 college campuses have to change street names to honor Kirk, it’ll be a logistical mess.

And this is the same party, remember, that has been DOGE-ing county budgets to stamp out waste, fraud and abuse.

No one deserves to be killed for exercising their right to free speech, and Kirk’s death was a terrible display of political violence that both parties should strongly denounce. However, that doesn’t erase some of the most objectionable things Kirk said over the years.

Kirk was repeatedly accused of antisemitism, including by fellow conservatives, and his comments on race and gender were disturbing, to say the least. For example, he called the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 a “mistake” that was turned into “an anti-white weapon,” and that “anti-whiteness has been largely financed by Jewish donors in the country,” The New York Times reported. He was also a proponent of the “replacement theory,” a conspiracy theory that accuses Jews and others of trying to replace white Americans with non-white migrants.

What Floridians need right now is relief from mounting economic pressures, and they’re looking to their elected officials to provide tangible solutions — not take a performative detour. The legislative session is only 60 days long.

Politicians may see renaming these roads as a tribute to Kirk’s free speech advocacy. But forcing universities to do it also risks sanctioning some of his most inflammatory views, especially in a top-down manner that ignores what local communities want.

If Florida politicians truly want to take a stand for free speech rights, they should strengthen civic dialogue and stop undermining academic freedom at Florida universities. The Sunshine State has had enough of the culture wars in recent years. Let’s stick to the boring and unglamorous job of legislating to solve real issues.

______

©2026 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.