Florida House, District 18
Represents District 18 (Part of St. Johns) 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 debate or candidate forum has been scheduled in this race (checked Oct. 17, 2026). Checked Vote411's Florida debates-and-forums calendar, the League of Women Voters of Florida newsroom, the county Leagues, chambers of commerce, Tiger Bay clubs and local NAACP branches; every legislative forum they list was held during the primary.
Candidates
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Kim Kendall
Kim Kendall of St. Augustine was elected in 2024 after two decades of community advocacy on education and infrastructure. A Navy dependent raised on bases abroad, she worked as an FAA air traffic controller and owned two dry cleaners, and she sponsored legislation to block a proposed land swap at the Guana River prese…
Art Stresing
Art Stresing, 43, is a division chief in the Jacksonville-area Public Defender's Office, where he has worked for more than 11 years. The son of a disabled Navy veteran and a Filipino immigrant, he played Division I football at the University at Buffalo, earned his law degree at Florida Coastal and lives in St. Johns w…
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 | Kim Kendall Republican | Art Stresing Democratic |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes & spendingCutting taxes should be a top priority, even if it means less government spending on services. | 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. | Strongly agrees· based on record Kendall voted for HJR 203 and HJR 1-F in 2026. | Strongly disagrees· stated position Stresing said he will vote no on the property-tax amendment because local governments would lose revenue for police, fire, EMTs and schools or have to raise sales taxes. |
| 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 He argues that state caps on Citizens rate increases force homeowners in safer areas to subsidize luxury properties in vulnerable coastal areas. |
| Housing affordabilityGovernment should do more to make housing affordable (subsidies, zoning changes, rent measures). | No public position found | Leans agree· stated position He would require developments above a certain size to include reasonably affordable units and make developers share the cost of growth. |
| ImmigrationImmigration enforcement should be stricter, including large-scale deportation of people in the country illegally. | Strongly agrees· based on record Kendall voted for SB 2-C in 2025 and in a 2024 survey strongly agreed the U.S. should physically secure the southern border. | Strongly disagrees· stated position Asked whether he agrees with current immigration enforcement, Stresing said no, citing his immigrant mother and late wife and fear of people being detained because of skin color. |
| AbortionAbortion should be legal in most cases (Florida's six-week ban should be repealed or loosened). | Strongly disagrees· stated position Kendall said Florida's abortion restrictions should be more strict and that she believes life begins at conception. | Strongly agrees· stated position He says the choice of abortion is best left to the patient and her health-care providers. |
| 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· based on record She voted in 2025 and 2026 to lower the long-gun purchase age and in a 2024 survey answered 'None' when asked what gun restrictions are needed. | 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 | Strongly agrees· stated position Stresing wants to expand Medicaid so childless adults and struggling families are covered and says Medicaid's low administrative costs show the focus should be on people, not profits. |
| Education & school choicePublic money should follow students to private, charter or home schools (universal school vouchers). | No public position found | Leans disagree· stated position He wants to raise public-school funding and teacher pay while limiting voucher programs to those who truly need them. |
| Environment & waterProtecting water quality, conservation land and climate resilience should take priority even if it slows development or raises costs. | Leans agree· stated position She sponsored a successful bill to curb land swaps in environmentally sensitive areas after fighting the Guana River WMA proposal. | No public position found |
| Growth & developmentGrowth and development should be slowed or more tightly regulated (higher impact fees, density limits, stronger local control). | Mixed / neutral· stated position Kendall says she voted against the Live Local Act and the Blue Ribbon bill, but she voted for SB 686, the agricultural-enclave law now drawing criticism in St. Johns County; she says it preserved local approval. | Leans agree· stated position He says home rule should bring power back to local leaders rather than Tallahassee lobbyists. |
| MarijuanaRecreational marijuana should be legal for adults. | 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 | Strongly agrees· stated position He opposes the SAVE Act's proof-of-citizenship approach and supports grandfathering registered voters and automatic voter registration. |
| Crime & policingCriminal penalties should be tougher and police funding increased, rather than emphasizing reform and rehabilitation. | No public position found | 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 |
| Energy & utilitiesGovernment should promote renewable energy and tighten oversight of utility rate increases, even at the expense of fossil-fuel production. | Leans disagree· stated position On utility costs, Kendall said regulators must protect grid stability without shifting costs to consumers and that Florida should look to nuclear power and liquefied natural gas; she did not mention renewables. | Leans agree· stated position He would introduce bills to strengthen the independence of utility commissions and regulatory watchdogs. |
| Trump administrationI approve of the direction of the Trump administration. | No public position found | No public position found |
| VeteransExpanding VA services and veterans' benefits should be a top priority. | No public position found | Strongly agrees· stated position He calls for more funding for programs that help veterans and pledges to advocate for their benefits. |
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.
Kim KendallHow 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kim Kendall | not enough data | 1.25 (4 statements) |
| Art Stresing | -1.00 (5 statements) | -1.75 (4 statements) |
Other issues the candidates have raised
Priorities each candidate has brought up on their own, beyond the major-issue list above.
Kim Kendall
No additional issues found in public statements as of the last data review.
Art Stresing
No additional issues found in public statements as of the last data review.