June 14 was the deadline for candidates to qualify in Florida for state senator and House of Representative races.
Here's a list of the candidates who qualified for both federal and state elections ahead of the party primaries on Aug. 20. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Several local races for Congress should be interesting this year.
District 13, which covers all of Pinellas County except for parts of St. Petersburg, is shaping up to be a hotly contested race. Incumbent Republican Anna Paulina Luna is coming off her first term in office and is unopposed in the August primary.
The Democrats who will vie to run against her in the general election are Whitney Fox; Sabrina Busbar; Liz Dahan; John William Liccione; and Mark Weinkrantz. Tony D'Arrigo is a write-in candidate.
Longtime Tampa Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor is unopposed for District 14, which includes portions of Hillsborough County and eastern St. Petersburg.
She'll face one of these Republicans who survive the August primary: Ehsan Joarder; Neelam Taneja Perry; John Peters; or Robert "Rocky" Rochford. Also running are Libertarian Nathaniel T. Snyder and no-party affiliate Christopher Bradley.
VOTER GUIDE: Key dates, how to vote, and what you need to know ahead of the elections
In District 15, which includes northeast Hillsborough County and portions of Pasco and Polk counties, incumbent Republican Laurel Lee will face Jennifer Barbosa and James Judge in the August primary. This came after Donald Trump issued a call for candidates to run against Lee, who supported Gov. Ron DeSantis’ unsuccessful quest for the presidency and was appointed Florida Secretary of State by DeSantis.
The winner will face former Hillsborough County Commissioner Pat Kemp, who is unopposed on the Democratic ticket.
District 16, which includes southern Hillsborough and Manatee counties, longtime incumbent Vern Buchanan will face Eddie Speir, who founded a Christian high school in Bradenton. Speir has become a lightning rod of sorts for conservatives and was the only nominee for New College’s board of trustees to be rejected by state lawmakers.
The winner will get to face one of two Democrats: repeat candidate Jan Schneider or Trent Miller.
One change this week is first-time Hillsborough County Commissioner Michael Owen chose to run in the Republican primary for State House District 70 against incumbent Mike Beltran. The district includes southern Hillsborough and northwestern Manatee counties.
Another big race is for state attorney in Hillsborough County. Andrew Warren, who was suspended by DeSantis for pledging not to prosecute certain laws regarding abortion and transgender health care, faces off in the Democratic primary against Tampa lawyer Elizabeth Martinez Strauss.
The winner will face Warren's Republican replacement, former Hillsborough County Judge Suzy Lopez.
Also, the Sarasota County Public Hospital Board will hold elections for four seats in the August primary.
At issue are vaccine mandates and possibly privatizing Sarasota Memorial Hospital. Since only one Democrat qualified for each open seat, only Republicans will vote in the primary. Here's a list of the candidates.
Florida Democrats are competing in every state House and Senate race after getting trounced in the 2022 election, where many Republicans walked into office without any opposition.
The party went so far as to put up billboards around the state, seeking candidates to run for office. Florida Republicans now have a lead of more than 900,000 registered voters in the state.
Here's a list of some of the local races coming up this year:
U.S. House of Representatives (In districts serving the greater Tampa Bay and Sarasota area)
District 11:
Webster, Daniel (REP) *Incumbent
Harden Hall, Barbie (DEM)
McCloy, John (REP)
District 12:
Bilirakis, Gus Michael (REP) *Incumbent
Aboujaoude Jr,Rock (DEM)
Dunlap, Hank (REP)
District 13:
Luna, Anna Paulina (REP) *Incumbent
Fox, Whitney (DEM)
Bousbar, Sabrina (DEM)
Dahan, Liz (DEM)
Liccione, John William (DEM)
Weinkrantz, Mark (DEM)
D'Arrigo, Tony (WRI)
District 14:
Castor, Kathy (DEM) *Incumbent
Joarder, Ehsan (REP)
Perry, Neelam Taneja (REP)
Peters, John (REP)
Rochford, Robert "Rocky" (REP)
Snyder, Nathaniel T. (LPF)
Bradley, Christopher (NPA)
District 15:
Lee, Laurel (REP) *Incumbent
Judge, James (REP)
Barbosa, Jennifer (REP)
Kemp, Patricia "Pat" (DEM)
District 16:
Buchanan, Vern (REP) *Incumbent
Speir, Eddie (REP)
Schneider, Jan (DEM)
Miller, Trent (DEM)
District 17:
Steube, Greg (REP) *Incumbent
Lopez, Manny (DEM)
Montavon, Matthew (DEM)
Hartman, Ralph E. (WRI)
District 18:
Franklin, Scott (REP) *Incumbent
Braunston, Peter A. (DEM)
Kale, Andrea Doria (DEM)
State Senate (In districts serving the greater Tampa Bay and Sarasota area)
District 11:
Ingoglia, Blaise (REP) *Incumbent
Holleran, Marilyn (DEM)
District 13:
Truenow, Keith (REP)
Kou, Bowen (REP)
Blancett, Cheryl "CJ" (REP)
Dukes, Stephanie L. (DEM)
District 21:
Hooper, Ed (REP) *Incumbent
Siamas, John (REP)
Carroll, Doris H. (DEM)
District 23:
Burgess, Danny (REP) *Incumbent
Braver, Benjamin Grant (DEM)
Houman, John (IND)
District 27:
Albritton, Ben (REP) *Incumbent
Carter, Phillip Ray (DEM)
State House of Representatives (In districts serving the greater Tampa Bay and Sarasota area)
District 48:
Albert, Jonathan David (REP)
Carter, Jerry (REP)
Davis, Chad (REP)
Hartpence, Kenneth James (REP)
Hill, John (DEM)
Owens, Deborah (Debbie) (REP)
Stuckey, Amilee Marie (REP)
Valentin, Benny (REP)
District 49:
Herrmann, Ashley Elizabeth (DEM)
Jonsson, Jennifer Kincart (REP)
McArthur, Heather (REP)
Mcdonough, Shawn Curtis (REP)
Wilkinson, Randy (REP)
District 50:
Canady, Jennifer (REP) *Incumbent
Patterson-James, Bonnie (DEM)
District 51:
Tomkow, Josie (REP) *Incumbent
Hernandez, Octavio E. (DEM)
District 52:
Temple, John (REP) *Incumbent
Marwah, Ash (DEM)
District 53:
Holcomb, Jeff (REP) *Incumbent
Laufenberg, Keith G (DEM)
District 54:
Maggard, Randy (REP) *Incumbent
Cieslak, Karl (DEM)
District 55:
Steele, Kevin M. (REP) *Incumbent
Freiberg, Judy (DEM)
Hacker, CJ (WRI)
District 56:
Yeager, Brad (REP) *Incumbent
Phillips, Kirk (REP)
Pura, William "Willie" (DEM)
District 57:
Anderson, Adam C (REP) *Incumbent
Johnson, Kelly Lynn (DEM)
Larrivee, Robert "Bob" Arthur (NPA)
District 58:
Berfield, Kimberly "Kim" (REP) *Incumbent
Beckman, Bryan (DEM)
District 59:
Jacques, Berny (REP) *Incumbent
Douglas, Dawn (DEM)
District 60:
Cross, Lindsay (DEM) *Incumbent
Montanari, Ed (REP)
District 61:
Chaney, Linda (REP) *Incumbent
Bruemmer, Nathan (DEM)
Warner, Michael James (DEM)
District 62:
Rayner, Michele K. (DEM) *Incumbent
Amador, Amaro Lionheart (REP)
District 63:
Hart, Dianne "Ms. Dee" (DEM) *Incumbent
Driver, Tim (REP)
District 64:
Valdes, Susan L. (DEM) *Incumbent
Cruz Lanz, Maura (REP)
Saul, Michael William (REP)
District 65:
Pittman, Karen Gonzalez (REP) *Incumbent
Brundage, Ashley (DEM)
Kuipers, Nathan Albert (DEM)
District 66:
Koster, Traci (REP) *Incumbent
Clemente Jr,Dominick Gangi (DEM)
Wallace, Breianna Faye (DEM)
District 67:
Driskell, Fentrice (DEM) *Incumbent
Bonano, Lisette (REP)
Smith, Ronrico "Rico" (REP)
District 68:
McClure, Lawrence (REP) *Incumbent
Carpus, Lisa (DEM)
Hicks, Tyrell (NPA)
District 69:
Alvarez, Daniel "Danny" (REP) *Incumbent
Kachelries, Robert Allen (DEM)
District 70:
Beltran, Mike (REP) *Incumbent
Harris, Jessica (REP)
Owen, Michael (REP)
Wilkins, Luther Keith (DEM)
District 71:
Robinson, Will (REP) *Incumbent
DeVilliers, Adriaan Jacobus (DEM)
District 72:
Conerly, William "Bill" Edwin (REP)
Gay, Alyssa (REP)
Tatem, Rich (REP)
Green, Richard Paul (REP)
Miller, Lesa (DEM)
District 73:
McFarland, Fiona (REP) *Incumbent
Reich, Derek (DEM)
District 74:
Buchanan, James (REP) *Incumbent
Pozzie, Michelle (REP)
Simpson, Nancy M.H. (DEM)
District 75:
Dunbar, Tony (DEM)
Nix Jr.,Danny (REP)
District 76:
Roach, Spencer (REP) *Incumbent
Ceracche, Steven (REP)
Oliver, Vanessa (REP)
Strand, John (REP)
Blue, Jim (DEM)
District 83:
Tuck, Kaylee (REP) *Incumbent
Fornear, Danika (DEM)
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