Law will designate Florida road to be named after Rush Limbaugh

By Michelle Vecerina

Published May. 31, 2023, 3:54 p.m. ET | Updated May. 31, 2023

Rush Limbaugh speaking with attendees at the 2019 Student Action Summit hosted by Turning Point USA at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., Dec. 21, 2019. (Photo/Gage Skidmore, Flickr)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation Tuesday that designates over 20 honorary roadways and bridge memorials, including one in honor of conservative Rush Limbaugh.

Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, brought forward the late Rush Limbaugh as an honoree.

His name will be honored in Hernando County and will be on a portion of Cortez Boulevard between U.S. 41 and 42 S.R. 50/50A. The road will be labeled “Rush Limbaugh Way.”

Limbaugh was a conservative radio host and author who died of lung cancer on Feb. 17, 2021.

Sen. Nick DiCeglie, R-St. Petersburg, who carried the legislation in the Senate, said Limbaugh is a “controversial figure,” but said he was one of the first people to “articulate” conservative values on the radio.

“But he was someone, you know, for over 30 years, was able to articulate our conservative values, our conservative principles on the radio,” DiCeglie said.

Among the new honored names in the bill, Limbaugh stands out to Democrat lawmakers as they describe him as “racist.”

During the 2023 Legislative Session, Rep. Bruce Antone, D-Orlando, said he had a “problem” with naming a road after Limbaugh because of his “racist remarks” over the years.

“I started listening to Rush Limbaugh in 1991, during [the] Desert Storm war,” Antone said. “The machine guns, the ‘feminazis,’ the racist remarks he made over the years. I just got a real problem with designating a road after a racist.”

Another highway name listed in the bill is “Deputy Michael Hartwick Highway” after the late Michael Hartwick who was struck by a front-end loader truck and was tragically killed in Pinellas County on 275 in 2022.

His name will be designated in Pinellas County on the portion of I-275 between mile markers 30 and 31.

DiCeglie said the dozens of honorees after Deputy Hartwick are people that were important to his colleagues.

Other names that will be honored on roadways and bridges include people like Sally Ride, who was the first American woman and the third woman to fly in space. Other names include police officers, deputies, veterans and more.