Who's running in Florida's 15th congressional district
2 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.
2 candidates · ballot order · Laurel Lee 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.
Border security: she voted for legislation putting more than $46 billion into completing the border wall and expanding Border Patrol.
Combating human trafficking and online child exploitation, through her National Human Trafficking Hotline Enhancement Act and REPORT Act.
Permanent tax relief including middle-class provisions and a doubled child tax credit; cutting spending and eliminating fraud.
Expanding access to technical education through the PELL Act.
Support for law enforcement; she championed the Debbie Smith Act on DNA testing in sexual assault cases.
Absentee ballot access for deployed servicemembers, expanded veterans' mental health care, and balanced artificial intelligence regulation.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
U.S. Representative since January 2023; re-elected in 2024 with 56.2%.
Member of the House Judiciary, Energy and Commerce, and House Administration committees; serves on the House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and the bipartisan task force on the attempted assassination of President Trump.
Florida secretary of state for three years; circuit court judge in Hillsborough County for six years; federal prosecutor before that.
Daughter of an Air Force general.
Advanced from the August 18, 2026 Republican primary.
Arguments in favor
She legislates on child protection and has got it into law: her REPORT Act, now enacted, requires technology companies to report child abuse material, and she introduced the National Human Trafficking Hotline Enhancement Act.
— Laurel Lee's campaign
On the economy she points to the 2025 tax law she championed, "projected to create more than 7 million new jobs and increase take-home pay by thousands of dollars a year", and to border legislation investing over $46 billion in the border wall and expanding the Border Patrol.
— Laurel Lee's campaign
Arguments against
She is "an out of touch politician who cares more about prioritizing the wealthy and well connected over helping Florida's working families."
— Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
She does not meet her constituents in an open room: The Ledger could find no record of her holding an in-person town hall in recent years, only telephone events. Her spokesperson Allie Richardson answers that "it is a top priority for the Congresswoman to hear directly from the people she represents."
— The Ledger
What we couldn’t verify
As Florida's Secretary of State she administered SB 90, the 2021 voting law. A federal district court found it "was enacted with the intent to discriminate against Black voters" and blocked three provisions; the Eleventh Circuit reversed that finding in April 2023 and the provisions were upheld. Because the finding against her department was overturned on appeal, it is recorded here rather than presented as an argument.
Her committee assignments were not established from the sources found.
She missed 44 of 1,825 roll call votes between January 2023 and June 2026, 2.4%, close to the median for sitting members.
Affordability: utility costs, housing, food assistance and disaster preparedness, with corporate accountability and tax reform.
Medicare for All, rural health care access, lower prescription drug costs, and dental and hearing coverage.
Clean energy and environmental protection.
Protecting Social Security, disability and supplemental income programmes.
Opposition to AIPAC involvement in politics and to arms shipments to Israel.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
Twenty-one years in the U.S. Army, retiring in 2018; three combat tours.
Served as an ammunition specialist and an Army journalist.
Won the August 18, 2026 Democratic primary.
Has not held elected office.
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 People by name could be found: not from Laurel Lee or her campaign, not from the National Republican Congressional Committee, not from his Democratic primary opponent, and not from Tampa Bay or Polk County news coverage. Because no case against him exists on the record, none is presented for him either, rather than showing his own campaign's case unanswered.
The DCCC withdrew from this district in July 2026 after the new map made it substantially more Republican, so his campaign is running without national party support.
His fundraising totals 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. Republican incumbent Laurel Lee and Democrat Robert People are the two candidates printed on the November ballot; one certified write-in candidate is not a printed choice and is not profiled here. Florida enacted a new congressional map in May 2026 that reworked most of the state's districts, this one among them: it became substantially more Republican, a seat Donald Trump carried with more than 59% in 2024, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee dropped it from its target list in July 2026 after having added Lee in December 2025. Roster from the Florida qualifying lists as reported by Politics1 and Wikipedia. Arguments are shown for Lee, a sitting member with a record. No published criticism of People by name was found, so neither column is filled for him; his positions and record 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.