Florida House, District 10
Represents District 10 (Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Union, Part of Alachua) in the Florida House; votes on state laws and the state budget. Term: 2 years.
Partly verified. Either the November opponent could not be confirmed from available sources, or only a few positions are documented. Confirm the full candidate list on your county sample ballot; unknown positions are shown as such.
How we verified who is on the ballot
Candidate list taken from the Florida Division of Elections, 2026 general election candidate list on 2026-09-18 ; statuses Qualified/Unopposed only. Counties from the Legislature's district listings.
Debates and forums
- No further debate or candidate forum is scheduled in this race (checked Oct. 17, 2026).
- 2026-09-27 · Bob Graham Center for Public Service, with questions led by the League of Women Voters of Alachua County, Pugh Hall, University of Florida, Gainesville; candidate Q&A. Held (not in the guide's Oct. 7 events list).
Democrat Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson took part; Republican Marshall Rawson did not attend (scheduling conflict or illness, per the local League president).
Candidates
Report an error ↗One candidate in this race is a write-in. Florida does not print a qualified write-in candidate's name on the ballot. To vote for one you must write the name on the write-in line for this race; a blank or misspelled line may not be counted.
Marshall Rawson
Marshall Rawson, 34, operates an agricultural business in North Florida, holds a law degree from the University of Florida (2023) and serves part-time as an officer in the Florida State Guard, including a deployment to the Texas border. He previously worked as an aide to a Georgia congressman and as a legal assistant …
Merrillee Malwitz Jipson
Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, 61, co-owns Rum 138, a recreation outfitter and art gallery on the Santa Fe River, and has spent about two decades advocating for North Florida's springs and rivers as a founding member of groups such as Our Santa Fe River and as a former Sierra Club lobbyist. She holds a BFA from Ringling Co…
James Batley
Write-in candidate qualified for the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot according to the Florida Division of Elections, 2026 general election candidate list (Qualified). Not yet researched.
Side-by-side on the major issues
Each row is a statement. The chips show how each candidate's stated positions or record relate to that statement. Expand a row to read the evidence and sources. "No public position found" means we could not find a statement or record on the topic, not that the candidate has none.
| Issue | Marshall Rawson Republican | Merrillee Malwitz Jipson Democratic | James Batley Write-in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxes & spendingCutting taxes should be a top priority, even if it means less government spending on services. | Leans agree· stated position His site says he has pushed back against wasteful government expansion and excessive local tax increases. | No public position found | No public position found |
| Property taxesFlorida should eliminate or sharply reduce homestead property taxes, even if local governments must cut services or find other revenue. | Leans agree· stated position Rawson calls for immediate property-tax relief as assessed values climb and says government can directly change or end taxes because it levies them. | Leans disagree· stated position She notes homestead taxes are already capped and fund vital services, and proposes capping taxes on heirs' property instead of broad cuts. | No public position found |
| Property insuranceThe state should intervene more directly in the property-insurance market (rate caps, expanding Citizens, stricter insurer regulation) rather than relying mainly on market-based reforms. | No public position found | Leans disagree· stated position She says insurance costs for coastal, flood-prone or forested properties should reflect owners' choices rather than be spread to others. | No public position found |
| Housing affordabilityGovernment should do more to make housing affordable (subsidies, zoning changes, rent measures). | Leans disagree· stated position On housing he favors deregulating permitting for tiny homes and alternative housing rather than new programs, and says the real problem is land prices and population growth. | Leans agree· stated position On housing she proposes limits on corporate ownership of rental property and restrictions on foreign investors, rather than the Live Local Act. | No public position found |
| ImmigrationImmigration enforcement should be stricter, including large-scale deportation of people in the country illegally. | Strongly agrees· stated position Rawson says he would use the 287(g) program to deputize local police and the State Guard to arrest people in the country illegally, and calls for using state police powers to limit how many people move to Florida. | Leans disagree· stated position She says federal immigration policy interferes with the state's need for workers in agriculture, construction and tourism. | No public position found |
| AbortionAbortion should be legal in most cases (Florida's six-week ban should be repealed or loosened). | Strongly disagrees· stated position Asked on Vote411 under what circumstances he would support abortion access, Rawson answered that he would not under any circumstances. | Strongly agrees· stated position She says government has removed personal choice on abortion and that the decision must rest with a doctor and patient. | No public position found |
| GunsGun laws should be stricter (keep the red-flag law and the age-21 purchase rule; expand background checks) rather than looser (permitless or open carry, lower purchase age). | Strongly disagrees· stated position His campaign site says he has championed Second Amendment rights and fought gun restrictions at the state and university level. | No public position found | No public position found |
| Health careGovernment should expand its role in health coverage (expand Medicaid in Florida, extend Affordable Care Act subsidies). | Leans disagree· stated position He says more competition in the health-care market, not government programs, would lower prices. | Strongly agrees· stated position She supports single-payer, Medicare-for-all style reform and says Florida should accept federal health-care money. | No public position found |
| Education & school choicePublic money should follow students to private, charter or home schools (universal school vouchers). | No public position found | No public position found | No public position found |
| Environment & waterProtecting water quality, conservation land and climate resilience should take priority even if it slows development or raises costs. | Leans agree· stated position Rawson says Florida must preserve greenspace and farmland and set environmental standards based on the aquifer's capacity rather than pave over the state for growth. | Strongly agrees· stated position Protecting the Floridan Aquifer and clean water is the core of her platform; she opposes industrial data centers and intensive development in the region. | No public position found |
| Growth & developmentGrowth and development should be slowed or more tightly regulated (higher impact fees, density limits, stronger local control). | Strongly agrees· stated position He names overdevelopment as a top challenge, wants an environmental carrying-capacity standard tied to the aquifer, and opposes state preemption of local planning and zoning. | Strongly agrees· stated position She says the Live Local Act should be rescinded, opposes state preemption of local land-use decisions and says the district cannot sustain more intensive development over the aquifer. | No public position found |
| MarijuanaRecreational marijuana should be legal for adults. | No public position found | No public position found | No public position found |
| Elections & votingVoting should be made easier (mail voting, drop boxes, restoring voting rights) rather than adding new restrictions. | No public position found | No public position found | No public position found |
| Crime & policingCriminal penalties should be tougher and police funding increased, rather than emphasizing reform and rehabilitation. | No public position found | Leans disagree· stated position Her site calls for equal justice and accountability for law enforcement regardless of wealth or fame. | No public position found |
| Gender identity lawsFlorida's laws restricting gender-affirming care for minors and classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity should remain in place. | No public position found | No public position found | No public position found |
| Energy & utilitiesGovernment should promote renewable energy and tighten oversight of utility rate increases, even at the expense of fossil-fuel production. | No public position found | No public position found | No public position found |
| Trump administrationI approve of the direction of the Trump administration. | No public position found | No public position found | No public position found |
| VeteransExpanding VA services and veterans' benefits should be a top priority. | No public position found | No public position found | No public position found |
Where they sit on the map
Each candidate is placed by the average of their documented stances. It is a summary of the table above, not an extra judgment.
How the axes are computed
Each axis is the average of a candidate's coded stances (+2 to −2) on a fixed set of statements, so it comes straight from the documented positions and nothing else. A candidate needs at least three documented statements on an axis to be placed.
Economic issues (toward "Smaller government (lower taxes, less spending)"): Taxes & spending (agree), Property taxes (agree), Health care (disagree), Housing affordability (disagree), Property insurance (disagree), Energy & utilities (disagree), Social Security & Medicare (disagree), Teacher and staff pay (disagree).
Social & legal issues (toward "Conservative side of the statements"): Immigration (agree), Abortion (disagree), Guns (disagree), Education & school choice (agree), Elections & voting (disagree), Crime & policing (agree), Gender identity laws (agree), Marijuana (disagree), Environment & water (disagree), Trump administration (agree), Library and classroom materials (agree), School safety approach (agree).
| Candidate | Economic issues | Social & legal issues |
|---|---|---|
| Marshall Rawson | 1.00 (4 statements) | 1.25 (4 statements) |
| Merrillee Malwitz Jipson | -0.75 (4 statements) | -1.50 (4 statements) |
| James Batley | not enough data | not enough data |
Other issues the candidates have raised
Priorities each candidate has brought up on their own, beyond the major-issue list above.
Marshall Rawson
- Charlottesville rally and League of the South — The Independent Florida Alligator reported that Rawson attended the 2017 Unite the Right rally and had past ties to the League of the South; Rawson said he was upfront about his brief attendance and had little involvement with the group.
- Questioned over past ties to League of the South and 2017 Charlottesville rally — The Independent Florida Alligator reported on Sept. 21, 2026 that Rawson, the Republican nominee in House District 10, attended the 2017 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville and had ties to the League of the South. Rawson has said on social media that he was 'upfront and outspoken' about briefly attending and that he went to defend a statue of Robert E. Lee; his campaign site refers to defending cultural heritage. He did not respond to the newspaper's requests for comment.
Merrillee Malwitz Jipson
- Response to reporting on her opponent's past associations — Asked about reporting on Marshall Rawson's attendance at the 2017 Charlottesville rally and ties to the League of the South, Malwitz-Jipson said racism has no place in the Legislature and asked voters to weigh what kind of leadership they want in Tallahassee.
James Batley
No additional issues found in public statements as of the last data review.