Darden Rice, St. Petersburg City Council Chairwoman representing District 4 since 2013, has fought many battles for her city and her constituents. She now faces a very personal battle against breast cancer.

  • Rice's cancer in early stages
  • Rice sharing her story in hope of helping others
  • Rice plans on seeking re-election

Rice’s slogan, “St. Pete Strong” is now taking on a new meaning. Rice told us she is finding her strength as she faces this new challenge.

"'You have cancer' are the words that nobody wants to hear," said Rice.

Rice found a lump and has been diagnosed in the early stages of breast cancer. She’s sharing her story in hopes of helping others.

"I thought that if it could make a difference to, if even just one woman picked up the phone and scheduled an annual exam and a screening exam that it would be worth it, because early detection saves lives," said Rice.

The councilwoman insists she’s a fighter, and that she’ll continue to fight for her health and her career.

"I thought it was important for people to know that in the next couple of months my health is my first priority," said Rice. "So there’s going to be a time when treatment and doctor's appointments and just taking some time off will make it necessary for me to miss some meetings, and then I plan to be back 100 percent."

"One hundred percent" includes keeping her job. Rice recently announced she’s seeking re-election.

"St. Pete’s going through a lot of exciting changes and we’ve picked up some issues that have been a pretty heavy lift and they’re not the kind of things that you solve overnight or even solve in one term," said Rice. "I’m doing what I love doing and I wanted to communicate that I feel very positive about my treatment plan," said Rice.