Who's running in Florida's 14th congressional district
3 candidates are on the ballot. Below is what each one says they stand for, what they have actually done in office or in public life, and the arguments published for and against them — each quoted from a named source rather than summarised by us.
3 candidates · ballot order · Kathy Castor currently holds this seat
Medium confidenceMedium confidenceThe candidate's stated positions and basic record are documented, but coverage is thin — often little independent reporting, or criticism from only one side.What would raise it: More independent reporting, a documented voting record, or published criticism from a named opponent would raise this.
What they say they stand for
Their own words. Claims, not verified facts.
Federal investment to drive local economic growth and create jobs.
Lowering costs for families.
Environmental protection, an area she has legislated in throughout her career.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
U.S. Representative for the Tampa area since 2007; re-elected in 2024 with 56.9%.
Senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Her district was substantially redrawn by the congressional map Governor DeSantis signed on May 4, 2026, shifting it south and east into rural Hillsborough County.
Advanced from the August 18, 2026 Democratic primary.
Arguments in favor
Nearly twenty years of seniority has brought federal money into the institutions the region runs on — Tampa International Airport, Port Tampa Bay, the University of South Florida and Moffitt Cancer Center.
— Kathy Castor, reported by WTSP
She is the one naming what voters say is actually raising their costs: suburban residents and local farmers angry about the tariffs, and the end of the subsidies for people enrolled in Affordable Care Act exchange plans.
— Kathy Castor, reported by WTSP
Arguments against
"Lying Democrat Kathy Castor is desperately trying to rewrite her record less than two months before Election Day." She votes with the left of her party more than 90% of the time and has been "a shill for Democrats' woke, tax-hiking agenda for nearly 20 years."
— National Republican Congressional Committee
She voted against exempting tips and overtime pay from tax: "shame on Kathy Castor for voting against no tax on tips and overtime."
— Mike Beltran's campaign, quoted by the Washington Examiner
What we couldn’t verify
The NRCC's 90% figure is its own characterisation and was not independently verified from the sources found.
Her committee assignments were not established from the sources found.
How the redrawn district's rural Hillsborough precincts change her position was not established from the sources found.
Expanding health care access and reducing costs; he cites breaking up health care bureaucracies and expanding telehealth in the state legislature.
Lower taxes and reduced government spending; he cites work on what he calls the largest tax cut in Florida history.
Removing regulatory barriers to job growth and business expansion.
Requiring local community approval for data centres, to limit effects on energy costs and the environment.
Opposition to federal overreach.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
Member of the Florida House of Representatives for six years.
Attorney; Harvard Law School graduate; grew up in Brooklyn and moved to Florida.
Won the August 18, 2026 Republican primary from a crowded field.
Has not held federal office.
Arguments in favor
He locates the cost-of-living problem in government itself: federal spending, subsidies and regulation are what have pushed up the price of food, education, health care, housing and energy.
— Mike Beltran, reported by WTSP
He backs the tax cuts aimed at working hours rather than at incomes — "Mike supports President Trump and the Working Families Tax Cut", including no tax on tips and overtime — and won an eight-candidate Republican primary that included a former state representative.
— Mike Beltran's campaign, quoted by the Washington Examiner
Arguments against
In the Florida House he wrote a bill to ban abortion from conception with no exceptions for rape or incest, which could reach common forms of birth control, and he was the only member of either party to oppose the Live Healthy plan to lower costs and improve care for mothers and babies.
— Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
He has traded stocks into a multi-million-dollar fortune since being elected in 2018, and in Tallahassee helped keep regulation away from a tobacco company he was invested in, voted to let utilities charge higher rates, and backed $1 billion in taxpayer money to bail out private insurers.
— Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
What we couldn’t verify
He removed pro-Trump references from his campaign website after the primary; his campaign called the changes routine post-primary updating rather than distancing, and no named critic of the change was found.
He is suing a political committee, Conservative Solutions for America, over an attack advertisement he says used a fabricated image of him holding a sign he never held, undisclosed as AI-generated in breach of Florida law. That advertisement's claims are not presented here as an argument, because their factual basis is disputed and before a court.
His response to the DCCC's stock-trading and utility-vote claims was not established from the sources found.
Libertarian Party candidate for the 14th District, qualified for the November 3, 2026 general election.
Arguments in favor
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
Arguments against
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
What we couldn’t verify
No published criticism of Lambert by name could be found, and no published case for him beyond his own campaign site. As a minor-party candidate he has drawn very little coverage. Because no case against him exists on the record, none is presented for him either.
His fundraising and any endorsements were not reported in material available.
Positions and criticism are quoted from the named sources, not our assessments. This is built to help you start getting informed — confirm the official candidate list with your election authority before you vote.
Florida held its primary on August 18, 2026. Three candidates are on the November ballot: Democratic incumbent Kathy Castor, Republican Mike Beltran and Libertarian Brian Lambert. Two certified write-in candidates are not printed choices and are not profiled here. Florida's new congressional map, signed on May 4, 2026, moved this district away from most of Tampa and south and east into rural Hillsborough County, which is why a crowded Republican field contested it and why the National Republican Congressional Committee added the seat to its target list. Roster from the Florida qualifying lists as reported by Politics1 and Wikipedia. Arguments are shown for Castor and Beltran, who have attacked each other's records on the record. Brian Lambert has drawn no published criticism by name, so neither column is filled for him; his positions are in his profile.
This is one contest on a longer ballot
A Florida ballot also carries state legislative districts, county offices, judicial seats and often local questions — and which of them you vote on is decided by your street address, not your city or ZIP code.
Your ballot is determined by your election authority, not by us. Verify your registration, precinct, and sample ballot at Florida Division of Elections.