Florida House, District 109
Represents District 109 (Part of Miami-Dade) in the Florida House; votes on state laws and the state budget. Term: 2 years.
Not on the November ballot. James Bush III (Democratic) is listed as unopposed by the Florida Division of Elections and is elected without appearing on the November ballot. Source: https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/candidates/CanList.asp
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.
Candidates
Report an error ↗James Bush III
James Bush III is a Miami-Dade Democrat who represented House District 109 in 2008-2010 and 2018-2022 (local coverage says he first held the seat in the 1990s). He lost the 2022 and 2024 Democratic primaries to Ashley Gantt and won the four-way Democratic primary on Aug. 18, 2026 with about 49% of the vote. His campai…
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 | James Bush III Democratic |
|---|---|
| Taxes & spendingCutting taxes should be a top priority, even if it means less government spending on services. | 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. | 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 |
| Housing affordabilityGovernment should do more to make housing affordable (subsidies, zoning changes, rent measures). | No public position found |
| ImmigrationImmigration enforcement should be stricter, including large-scale deportation of people in the country illegally. | No public position found |
| AbortionAbortion should be legal in most cases (Florida's six-week ban should be repealed or loosened). | Leans disagree· based on record As a state representative in 2022 he voted for CS/HB 5, which limited most abortions to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy; it passed the House 78-39 on Feb. 17, 2022. This is a 2022 vote; no current statement on abortion was 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). | No public position found |
| Health careGovernment should expand its role in health coverage (expand Medicaid in Florida, extend Affordable Care Act subsidies). | No public position found |
| Education & school choicePublic money should follow students to private, charter or home schools (universal school vouchers). | Leans agree· based on record In 2019 he voted for CS/SB 7070, which created the Family Empowerment Scholarship (state-funded private-school scholarships, then income-limited); it passed the House 76-39 on Apr. 30, 2019. No statement on today's universal program was found; his 2026 site lists support for "public schools, teachers, students, scholarships". |
| Environment & waterProtecting water quality, conservation land and climate resilience should take priority even if it slows development or raises costs. | No public position found |
| Growth & developmentGrowth and development should be slowed or more tightly regulated (higher impact fees, density limits, stronger local control). | No public position found |
| MarijuanaRecreational marijuana should be legal for adults. | No public position found |
| Elections & votingVoting should be made easier (mail voting, drop boxes, restoring voting rights) rather than adding new restrictions. | Leans agree· based on record He voted against the House passage of three election bills that added new rules for voting and petitions: CS/SB 7066 (2019, final House vote May 3, 2019), CS/CS/CS/SB 90 (2021, mail-ballot and drop-box limits) and CS/CS/SB 524 (2022, election crimes office). These are 2019-2022 votes. |
| Crime & policingCriminal penalties should be tougher and police funding increased, rather than emphasizing reform and rehabilitation. | Leans disagree· based on record In 2021 he voted against CS/HB 1 (Combating Public Disorder), which created new riot-related offenses and penalties; it passed the House 76-39. His 2026 campaign site describes public safety in terms of "community-centered approaches that strengthen neighborhoods, reduce violence, improve safety." |
| Gender identity lawsFlorida's laws restricting gender-affirming care for minors and classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity should remain in place. | Leans agree· based on record In 2022 he voted for CS/CS/HB 1557 (Parental Rights in Education), which restricted classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, and in 2021 for CS/CS/SB 1028, which included the Fairness in Women's Sports Act. These votes predate the 2023 law on gender-affirming care for minors; no current statement was 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 |
| Trump administrationI approve of the direction of the Trump administration. | No public position found |
| VeteransExpanding VA services and veterans' benefits should be a top priority. | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| James Bush III | not enough data | 0.20 (5 statements) |
Other issues the candidates have raised
Priorities each candidate has brought up on their own, beyond the major-issue list above.
James Bush III
No additional issues found in public statements as of the last data review.