Florida House, District 37
Represents District 37 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
Oviedo Community News (June 17, 2026): 'Republican Robert Prater and Democrat Jane Aman have qualified for the November ballot in the House District 37 race' . Seminole County's notice of general election could not be read. Research limitation: every WebFetch (Ballotpedia, Wikipedia, Division of Elections, county SOEs, news sites) was blocked and the search budget was capped, so this roster comes only from search-result snippets and should be re-verified against the county Supervisor of Elections sample ballot.
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.
- on or before 2026-10-07 (exact date not stated; reported Oct. 7) · Student-questions candidate forum for Seminole County Florida House races, held by the Seminole County Council PTA with the League of Women Voters, moderated by Oviedo Community News; video posted. HELD. Questions from students covered arts funding, school libraries and media specialists, recess, school resource officers and Amendment 3, and investor purchases of single-family homes.
Democrat Jane Aman took part. Republican Robert Prater was invited but did not attend; the report says no Republican candidates attended. Prater later sent written answers to the questions, which the article includes.
Candidates
Report an error ↗Robert Prater
Republican candidate for the open HD 37 seat in Seminole County; qualified for the November ballot.
Jane Aman
Democratic candidate for the open HD 37 seat in Seminole County; qualified for the November ballot.
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 | Robert Prater Republican | Jane Aman Democratic |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes & spendingCutting taxes should be a top priority, even if it means less government spending on services. | Leans agree· stated position Lists tax relief and toll relief among affordability priorities. | 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. | Mixed / neutral· stated position Asked whether he would vote yes or no on Amendment 3, Prater did not state a position, saying the question is for taxpayers to decide. He said he appreciates that the proposal keeps school property taxes intact and bars underfunding police and fire, and that lost revenue should be addressed by scrutinizing local budgets for waste. | Strongly disagrees· stated position In the Oviedo Community News general-election questionnaire (Sept. 30, 2026) Aman said she will vote No on Amendment 3, saying property taxes should be approached 'with a scalpel, not a baseball bat' and that the amendment as written would harm public safety and other critical services. |
| 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 Calls for property insurance reform that cracks down on carrier abuse. | Strongly agrees· stated position Would cap insurance rate hikes and expand policies, including catastrophic wind coverage, through Citizens. |
| Housing affordabilityGovernment should do more to make housing affordable (subsidies, zoning changes, rent measures). | Leans agree· stated position On housing affordability Prater pointed to the One Stop Housing model of converting underused hotels and malls into workforce rentals, public-private partnerships, continued first-time-homebuyer and down-payment assistance, and streamlining permitting across agencies, which he said acts as a tax on housing. | Strongly agrees· stated position Supports more Sadowski trust fund money and mixed-use upward development for affordable housing. |
| ImmigrationImmigration enforcement should be stricter, including large-scale deportation of people in the country illegally. | Leans agree· stated position Prater said the federal and state governments must enforce immigration laws and that circumventing the legal immigration process is a practice he does not support, while adding that enforcement agencies must operate within their legal limits and be held accountable if they abuse those powers, and that Congress needs to reform the system. | Strongly disagrees· stated position Aman said the state should not be involved in immigration enforcement, which she said should be handled by the federal government, and that deputizing local law-enforcement officers leaves fewer officers available to patrol and respond. |
| AbortionAbortion should be legal in most cases (Florida's six-week ban should be repealed or loosened). | Strongly disagrees· stated position Asked whether Florida's abortion restrictions should be more strict, less strict or stay the same, Prater answered that they should stay the same. | Strongly agrees· stated position Says abortion is a private decision and would vote against further restrictions. |
| 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 | 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 Says Florida needs to expand Medicaid and accept federal dollars. |
| Education & school choicePublic money should follow students to private, charter or home schools (universal school vouchers). | Leans agree· stated position Supports educational choice that empowers parents alongside teacher pay and vocational pathways. | Leans disagree· stated position Wants stronger accountability for charter and private schools receiving state funds and full funding of public schools. |
| Environment & waterProtecting water quality, conservation land and climate resilience should take priority even if it slows development or raises costs. | Leans agree· stated position Lists environmental and water conservation among priorities. | Strongly agrees· stated position Asked to name the biggest environmental issue for state government, Aman said protecting Seminole County's Rural Boundary, which she said maintains sensitive agricultural and conservation land and limits flood risk from overdevelopment. She also said she would vote to protect locally adopted rural boundaries. |
| Growth & developmentGrowth and development should be slowed or more tightly regulated (higher impact fees, density limits, stronger local control). | Strongly agrees· stated position Pledges to defend Orange County's Rural Boundary and pursue smart growth. | Strongly agrees· stated position Would protect the voter-approved Seminole-Orange Rural Boundary and close SB 180 loopholes that let developers sue over it. |
| 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 | Leans agree· stated position Would push back against HB 991 and fund voter-registration and document-assistance efforts. |
| Crime & policingCriminal penalties should be tougher and police funding increased, rather than emphasizing reform and rehabilitation. | Strongly agrees· stated position Backs law enforcement and tougher penalties for fentanyl trafficking. | 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 agree· stated position Prater said he has real concern about the demand data centers place on the water supply and the electrical grid and that the Legislature needs to protect residents from shouldering those costs and quality-of-life effects. | Leans agree· stated position Aman proposed a statewide moratorium on data centers until their full impact on communities and the environment is known, and said she would work to keep the costs of any AI projects from being passed to individual utility customers through rate increases. |
| 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. | Leans agree· stated position Pledges to protect and honor seniors and veterans. | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Robert Prater | -0.40 (5 statements) | 1.00 (5 statements) |
| Jane Aman | -1.80 (5 statements) | -1.60 (5 statements) |
Other issues the candidates have raised
Priorities each candidate has brought up on their own, beyond the major-issue list above.
Robert Prater
No additional issues found in public statements as of the last data review.
Jane Aman
- Republican committee TV ad — The Florida House Republican Campaign Committee began a TV ad campaign against Aman in the open HD 37 race, about Oct. 19. The ad focuses on her past creative writing and her policy positions.