Florida House, District 48
Represents District 48 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
Brownstein/Rubin Turnbull's post-primary report and Ballotpedia record that Jon Albert (incumbent) defeated Jerry Carter in the HD 48 Republican primary ; . The November opponent's name was not found. 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.
- 2026-10-15 · Free candidate meet-and-greet (not a debate), 5:30-7:30 p.m. at The Well, 114 E. Parker St., Lakeland, organized by a nonpartisan coalition led by the League of Women Voters of Polk County with the NAACP Lakeland Branch and others. Announced Oct. 14; no report found confirming it was held (checked Oct. 27).
Democrat Alethea Pugh was listed as expected to attend; Republican Rep. Jon Albert was not on the list.
Candidates
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Jon Albert
Jon Albert of Frostproof, born in Winter Haven in 1979, served nearly 10 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and holds a history and political studies degree from Chaminade University of Honolulu. He served on the Frostproof City Council from 2016 to 2024 and as mayor from 2020 to 2024 before winning the District 48 House …
Alethea Pugh
Qualified for the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot according to the Florida Division of Elections, 2026 general election candidate list (Qualified).
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 | Jon Albert Republican | Alethea Pugh 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. | Strongly disagrees· stated position Pugh said no to eliminating property taxes, warning of risks to local services, while supporting meaningful relief. |
| 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 | 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 Supports expanding workforce-housing programs, incentives for affordable and mixed-income construction, tenant protections, rental assistance and down-payment help for first-time buyers. |
| 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. | Strongly disagrees· stated position Pugh said she does not agree with enforcement that separates families or treats every immigrant as a threat, while supporting secure borders and enforcement focused on public-safety threats. |
| AbortionAbortion should be legal in most cases (Florida's six-week ban should be repealed or loosened). | No public position found | Leans agree· stated position Supports abortion access in cases of rape, incest, threats to the life or health of the mother, severe fetal abnormalities, and other circumstances a woman and her physician decide are medically best. |
| 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 | Leans agree· stated position Would protect Medicaid coverage, expand preventive care and strengthen community health centers; does not call for Medicaid expansion. |
| 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 | Leans agree· stated position Pugh named protecting water resources while managing growth as the district's top environmental issue and pledged support for water conservation and protection of sensitive lands. |
| Growth & developmentGrowth and development should be slowed or more tightly regulated (higher impact fees, density limits, stronger local control). | No public position found | Leans agree· stated position Says state and local governments should be partners and wants local decision-making restored on housing, transportation and development. |
| 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. 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) | 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. | 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 |
| 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.
Jon AlbertHow 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Jon Albert | not enough data | 2.00 (3 statements) |
| Alethea Pugh | -1.67 (3 statements) | -1.33 (3 statements) |
Other issues the candidates have raised
Priorities each candidate has brought up on their own, beyond the major-issue list above.
Jon Albert
No additional issues found in public statements as of the last data review.
Alethea Pugh
No additional issues found in public statements as of the last data review.