2026 Endorsements
Recommendations Indivisible North Pinellas is making for the Tuesday, November 3 general election, in ballot order, with the reason behind each one for its members in North Pinellas (Largo to Tarpon Springs). The races at the bottom of your ballot shape your daily life more than the ones at the top. Make your decision, then share it with your family and friends.
Key dates
- Sept. 29: Mail ballots go out
- Oct. 5: Register to vote by
- Oct. 19 to Nov. 1: Vote early in person
- Oct. 22, 5 pm: Request a mail ballot by
- Nov. 3: Election Day, 7 am to 7 pm
Mail ballots must be received by 7 pm on Election Day, not postmarked. Mail it early or drop it at a Supervisor of Elections office.
Request a mail ballot | Check your status | Early voting sites
Your ballot only shows your own districts, so some races below will not be on it. Enter your address to see your exact ballot (Voter Action Pinellas).
Candidates
Federal
U.S. Senate: Angie Nixon (D)
Jacksonville state representative since 2020 and former SEIU field director. Staged sit-ins in 2022 and 2026 against the DeSantis redistricting maps, the second ending in her arrest. Runs on Medicare for All and child care. Endorsed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Maxwell Frost. Campaign site →
U.S. House, District 13: Leela Gray (D)
Retired Army brigadier general with 30 years in uniform and a Stetson law degree earned to help veterans get their benefits. Running on cost of living and the insurance monopolies driving up premiums. Endorsed by the Florida AFL-CIO, VoteVets, Emily’s List and Rep. Kathy Castor. Campaign site →
Candidates
Governor and Cabinet
Governor / Lt. Governor: David Jolly / Gwen Graham (D)
Jolly is a former Pinellas congressman; Graham a former congresswoman and a product of Florida public schools. Leads with the insurance crisis and a plan to cut premiums 60 to 70 percent, plus rebuilding neighborhood public schools instead of diverting billions to vouchers. Endorsed by the FEA, Florida AFL-CIO, Sierra Club Florida and Equality Florida. Campaign site →
Attorney General: Jose Javier Rodriguez (D)
Former legal aid lawyer, state representative and state senator from Miami, then Assistant Secretary of Labor under Biden. Lost his 2020 Senate seat by 32 votes to an FPL-funded ghost candidate scheme. Platform is crime, costs and corruption, with an independent AG rather than a political one. Endorsed by the FEA, Florida AFL-CIO and Equality Florida. Campaign site →
Chief Financial Officer: Annette Taddeo (D)
Former state senator from Miami-Dade who flipped a Trump district, and founder of a top-500 small business. Running on property insurance relief and auditing state spending, calling the CFO the watchdog for our money, not the governor’s lapdog. Endorsed by SEIU, AFSCME, the Teamsters and former CFO Alex Sink.
Commissioner of Agriculture: Joey Mendoza Atkins (D)
Miami trial attorney with a master’s in environmental management who did legal aid work for migrant farmworkers. Platform: stop consumer price gouging, a statewide moratorium on data centers, make polluters pay for cleanup, protect water and farmland. Campaign site →
Candidates
State Legislature
Only your own Senate and House districts appear on your ballot.
State Senate, District 18: Karla Kemp (D)
Former paramedic and firefighter, insurance agent and sustainability consultant, Indivisible member since 2015. Argues communities should control their own governance and reject unwanted development, and wants immigration detention money redirected to insurance relief, schools and housing. Won the August primary with 60 percent. Campaign site →
State Senate, District 21 (special): Jordan Hensley (D)
Dunedin restaurant manager with 13 years in Tampa Bay service work and no political experience, who filed so the seat would not go to Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco unchallenged. Platform: expand Medicaid, raise teacher pay, take on property insurers and corporate landlords, zero owed to Tallahassee insiders. Special election; the winner runs again in 2028.
State House, District 57: Wendy Hoy (D)
Teacher, healthcare consultant, and East Lake Community Library Friends of the Library board member. Platform: defend voting rights and local election control, support public schools and libraries, restore community decision-making, put a moratorium on data centers. Endorsed by the Sierra Club, NOW and former County Commissioner Pat Gerard. Campaign site →
State House, District 58: Bryan Beckman (D)
Chairs the Florida Suncoast Sierra Club and has spent a decade helping families, seniors and churches lower energy bills. Centerpiece is an Energy Freedom Plan to cut utility costs and expand solar. A rematch of 2024 against Berfield. 40-plus endorsements, including Commissioner Renee Flowers and School Board member Eileen Long. Campaign site →
State House, District 59: Susan Rochelle Leff (D)
Not a career politician, currently fighting Citizens over her own hurricane roof claim, which anchors her push for insurance reform. Platform: raise teacher pay and fund K-12 equitably, keep personal medical decisions with individuals, hold polluters accountable.
State House, District 60: Lindsay Polega-Quigley (D)
Stetson-educated attorney who came up through insurance litigation watching carriers deny legitimate claims. Runs against insurers and utility monopolies, funds public schools, and takes no lobbyist money. Endorsed by retiring Rep. Lindsay Cross as her successor, plus Rick Kriseman and Rep. Michele Rayner. Campaign site →
Candidates
County Commission
District 2 is countywide, everyone votes. District 6 is on your ballot only if you live in it.
County Commission, District 2 (countywide): Tim Hughes (D)
Clearwater resident with twenty years in public works watershed management and Conservation Chair of the Suncoast Sierra Club. Running on flood risk reduction for a county where more than half of residents live in floodplains, and on converting aging mobile home parks into affordable condos. Campaign site →
County Commission, District 6: David Glenn Jr. (D)
Licensed Florida architect, Pinellas resident since 2000, first-time candidate. Platform: affordable housing for teachers, first responders and veterans; steer growth away from flood and evacuation zones; expand transit, parks and libraries. Kathleen Peters has held the seat since 2018, often unopposed.
Judicial retention
Judges: All five not recommended
- Florida Supreme Court: Carlos G. Muñiz
- 2nd District Court of Appeal: Andrea Teves Smith, Daniel H. Sleet, Drew Atkinson, Morris Silberman
A judge who is not retained leaves on January 5, 2027, the same day the new governor is sworn in. In 2018 the Florida Supreme Court ruled that a vacancy opening on inauguration day belongs to the incoming governor, so DeSantis gets no lame-duck pick. Four of these judges were appointed by Rick Scott or Jeb Bush. Justice Muñiz is a 2019 DeSantis appointee who voted to uphold the DeSantis congressional map.
Straight talk: no Florida appellate judge has lost a retention vote since 1976, and the next governor still picks from a short list drawn up by nominating commissions DeSantis staffed.
Candidates
School Board
School Board, District 3 (countywide): Curtis Campogni
Clearwater native, son of a teacher, father of two public school students adopted through Florida foster care, 15 years working with at-risk youth in Pinellas. Says the district’s two biggest problems are enrollment and teacher retention, and wants to pay teachers rather than perform listening. Endorsed by the Pinellas teachers and support staff unions. Peters is a Republican who led the August primary 36 to 35. Campaign site →
Candidates
City races
Only on your ballot if you live inside that city.
Clearwater City Council, Seat 5: Mark Bunker
Emmy-winning journalist and Clearwater council member 2020 to 2024, including a term as vice mayor. Record includes the Coachman Park revival, police body cameras, and opposing the Garden Avenue land transfer to Scientology. Refuses PAC money. Opponent Sam Wilson is Anna Paulina Luna’s district director, backed by the local GOP. Campaign site →
Dunedin City Commission, Seat 4: Nan Bennett
Licensed professional engineer specializing in water systems, 25-plus years serving Pinellas local governments, Dunedin resident since 1998. Priorities: implement the city’s 2026 vulnerability assessment on flooding and sea level rise, and incentivize workforce housing and ADUs. Backed by the Suncoast Sierra Club and former commissioner Deborah Kynes. Campaign site →
Largo City Commission, Seat 2: Matthew Faustini
Lifelong Largo resident and chair of the Largo Planning Board, its youngest member. Platform: more housing at every income level, early childhood education, term limits, protect parks. Sierra Club endorsed. Says the working-class core of Largo is being destroyed. Holmes has held the seat since 2009.
Constitutional amendments
Amendments: Not for us
Every amendment needs 60 percent to pass. Each vote carries extra weight.
Amendment 1: not recommended
Raises the rainy-day fund cap from 10% to 25% of prior-year general revenue; requires the Legislature to deposit $750M/yr (or enough to reach 25%) except in hurricane recovery or a projected shortfall.
Why: Constitutionalizes a very large reserve; the mandatory $750M rides above schools, healthcare and teacher pay each year (AFL-CIO, FEA, LWV oppose). DeSantis also opposes, calling it ‘foolish’ and wanting surpluses for tax cuts.
Amendment 2: not recommended
Exempts equipment, machinery and tools used exclusively in agricultural production or agritourism from tangible personal property tax, from tax year 2027.
Why: No guardrails; benefits concentrate in a few large agribusinesses with multiple TPP accounts (Rep. Eskamani); LWV opposes.
Amendment 3: not recommended
Raises the non-school homestead exemption to $150K in 2027 and $250K in 2028 (inflation-adjusted after); cuts the assessment-growth cap on non-homestead property from 10% to 5%; new residents wait 5 years for the full exemption; restricts what local governments may spend property tax on.
Why: Excludes ~3M renter households (landlords pass costs through); two-tier system for anyone moving to Florida after 12/31/26; shifts burden to businesses, second homes and rentals; TaxWatch (conservative watchdog) says it worsens an inequity that already exists. Opposed by Florida Policy Institute, LWV, Democratic legislators.
Local questions
Belleair and Largo: recommended
Housekeeping measures, on your ballot only if you live in Belleair or Largo.
- Belleair Charter Amendment 1: recommended. Deletes the charter requirement that the commission appoint a P&Z board, because state law already requires a local planning agency.
- Belleair Charter Amendment 2: recommended. Moves the next charter review committee start from June 2036 to May 2036 so proposed amendments can reach the ballot in time.
- Largo Referendum: recommended. Makes candidate petitions available March 15 of an election year instead of 45 days before qualifying, roughly doubling the time to gather signatures.
No endorsement
Where we are sitting it out
In these races no candidate aligns with our values.
- Belleair Beach City Council (Annette Hopper, Jody Shirley, Kent A. Goff, Lloyd A. Roberts)
- East Lake Tarpon Fire, Seat 2 (Bob Fornwalt, Jim Downes)
- Palm Harbor Fire, Seat 2 (Benjamin Nichols, Julie Peluso)
- Pinellas Suncoast Fire, Seat 2 (Daniel Mynsberge, Elizabeth “Betsey” McKenna)
- Eastlake Oaks CDD, Seat 2 (J.R. “Nick” Yagnik, Joshua Main)
Endorsements approved by the Indivisible North Pinellas Steering Committee, September 2026 for the use of our members. Election dates from votepinellas.gov.
More guides
Voting in South Pinellas?
Our recommendations cover North Pinellas, Largo to Tarpon Springs. Two allied groups cover the rest of the county.
Indivisible St. Pete (FL-13)
Their 2026 guide for St. Petersburg and South Pinellas, built on the same values. Open the Indivisible St. Pete guide (PDF) →
Voter Action Pinellas
Countywide. Enter your address and see every race and question on your own ballot. Look up your ballot on Voter Action Pinellas →
Paid for by Indivisible North Pinellas, indivisiblenorthpinellas.org, Dunedin, FL. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.