Florida House, District 27
Represents District 27 in the Florida House of Representatives; 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
On the Nov. 3 ballot. The Florida Division of Elections 2026 general-election candidate list (checked Oct. 7, 2026) shows 2 qualified candidates: Andy Ferrari (Democrat), Richard Gentry (Republican). An earlier version of this guide marked the seat as decided, based on a report published before candidate qualifying closed on June 12; that was wrong.
Candidates
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Richard Gentry
Richard Gentry, a Volusia County native who lives in Astor, is an attorney with law and undergraduate degrees from the University of Miami. His campaign says he most recently advocated for consumers before the Public Service Commission and earlier worked with builders and communities on the Growth Management Act and t…
Andy Ferrari
Andy Ferrari, 49, lives in DeLeon Springs in Volusia County and holds an associate degree in psychology from Daytona State College. He was the Democratic nominee for House District 27 in 2024, losing to Republican Richard Gentry with about 30% of the vote, and is challenging Gentry again in 2026. In his 2026 VOTE411 a…
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 | Richard Gentry Republican | Andy Ferrari 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. | Leans agree· based on record Voted for CS/HJR 1-F (2026), the June 2026 joint resolution that placed Amendment 3 on the ballot to raise the non-school homestead exemption to $250,000 by 2028 and let counties and cities exempt homesteads entirely; because the vote sent the question to voters rather than cutting taxes itself, a vote for it is coded as leaning toward sharply reducing homestead property taxes rather than as full agreement. | Leans disagree· stated position Asked about property insurance and taxes, he warned that if Amendment 3 (the 2026 homestead-exemption increase) passes, Volusia County special-district taxes could be replaced by fees without limits. |
| 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. | Leans agree· stated position His platform pledges to bring down home insurance premiums and to hold insurance companies accountable for paying legitimate claims; it does not name specific measures such as rate caps. | No public position found |
| Housing affordabilityGovernment should do more to make housing affordable (subsidies, zoning changes, rent measures). | No public position found | Strongly agrees· stated position He said he would support a bill capping how much residential housing costs can rise by law, along with tax incentives for small landlords who own up to five rental houses. |
| ImmigrationImmigration enforcement should be stricter, including large-scale deportation of people in the country illegally. | Strongly agrees· based on record Voted for SB 2-C (2025), the February 2025 special-session immigration law that created a State Board of Immigration Enforcement, made entering Florida as an unauthorized immigrant a state crime and required local cooperation with federal detention. | No public position found |
| AbortionAbortion should be legal in most cases (Florida's six-week ban should be repealed or loosened). | Leans disagree· stated position His platform lists "fostering a culture of life" among his priorities. In the House he voted for bills in 2025 (HB 1517) and 2026 (HB 289) to allow wrongful-death lawsuits over an unborn child. | Strongly agrees· stated position In his 2026 League of Women Voters questionnaire he said he supports full access to abortion. |
| 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 Voted yes on HB 759 (March 26, 2025) and voted yes on HB 133 (Jan. 15, 2026); both bills would have lowered the minimum age to buy a rifle from 21 to 18; each passed the House and died in the Senate. Sources: Florida Senate bill page: HB 759 (2025) Minimum Age for Fir… (2025-06-16) · House roll call, HB 759 (2025) passage, 78-34 (2025-03-26) · Florida Senate bill page: HB 133 (2026) Minimum Age for Fir… (2026-03-13) · House roll call, HB 133 (2026) passage, 74-37 (2026-01-15) · Florida 2026 legislative session ends: what passed, what fa… (2026-03-13) | 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 | 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 |
| Environment & waterProtecting water quality, conservation land and climate resilience should take priority even if it slows development or raises costs. | No public position found | 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 His campaign platform lists giving local governments more power to control growth among his priorities. | No public position found |
| 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. | Strongly disagrees· based on record Voted yes on CS/CS/HB 991 when it passed the House on Feb. 25, 2026 and yes on final House passage March 12, 2026. CS/CS/HB 991 (2026), now law (Ch. 2026-26), requires the state to verify voters' U.S. citizenship using driver-license and other government records and removes student and retirement-home IDs from the IDs accepted at the polls. His platform also lists putting election security and integrity at the forefront of policy. Sources: Florida Senate bill page: CS/CS/HB 991 (2026) Elections, Ch… (2026-04-02) · House roll call, CS/CS/HB 991 (2026) third-reading passage,… (2026-02-25) · House roll call, CS/CS/HB 991 (2026) final passage, 77-28 (2026-03-12) · Florida 2026 legislative session ends: what passed, what fa… (2026-03-13) · Richard Gentry for State Representative campaign website (2… (2026-10) | No public position found |
| 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. | Leans agree· stated position His platform pledges to stop what it calls "woke indoctrination" of children in public schools. | 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 |
| 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 | 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.
Richard GentryAndy FerrariHow 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Richard Gentry | not enough data | 1.60 (5 statements) |
| Andy Ferrari | 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.
Richard Gentry
No additional issues found in public statements as of the last data review.
Andy Ferrari
No additional issues found in public statements as of the last data review.