Florida House, District 49
Represents District 49 (Part of Polk) 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.
- 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 Robert Anzalone was listed as expected to attend; Republican Rep. Jennifer Kincart Jonsson was not on the list.
Candidates
Report an error ↗Jennifer Jonsson
Jonsson, of Lakeland, holds bachelor's and master's degrees in public health from the University of Florida and describes herself as a local business leader. She was elected to the House in 2024 to succeed Melony Bell.
Robert Anzalone
Anzalone, 34, grew up in Rochester, New York, graduated from Springstead High School and works as a computer engineer in Lakeland. He says he is running to lower the cost of living, protect children and build safer communities.
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 | Jennifer Jonsson Republican | Robert Anzalone Democratic |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes & spendingCutting taxes should be a top priority, even if it means less government spending on services. | Strongly agrees· stated position Her issues page calls for cutting taxes, reducing fees and making tax holidays permanent. | 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 Voted for HJR 203 to phase out non-school homestead property taxes; she did not vote in the HJR 1F roll call but was recorded as a yes afterward. | Strongly disagrees· stated position Opposes Amendment 3, saying it would gut up to $12 billion in local revenue for first responders and schools. |
| 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 agree· stated position Wants rate transparency, stronger Citizens protections and home-hardening programs that pass savings to policyholders; says 2022 tort reforms failed. |
| Housing affordabilityGovernment should do more to make housing affordable (subsidies, zoning changes, rent measures). | No public position found | Strongly agrees· stated position Would protect the Sadowski fund from sweeps, close Live Local developer loopholes, limit corporate ownership of single-family homes and add tenant protections. |
| 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 in the February 2025 special session, which created a State Board of Immigration Enforcement, required state and local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and added state penalties for people in the country illegally. Her site says state and local police should be allowed to deport people here illegally. | No public position found |
| AbortionAbortion should be legal in most cases (Florida's six-week ban should be repealed or loosened). | No public position found | Strongly agrees· stated position Supports abortion access whenever a woman and her doctor decide and would repeal the ban to restore the freedom voters sought in Amendment 4. |
| 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 for HB 759 (2025) and HB 133 (2026), which would lower the minimum age to buy a rifle or shotgun from 21 to 18; both passed the House and died in the Senate. | 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 should fully expand Medicaid and explore state subsidies to replace lost federal support. |
| Education & school choicePublic money should follow students to private, charter or home schools (universal school vouchers). | No public position found | Leans disagree· stated position Says the public education system is being dismantled and would require funding accountability for every school receiving public dollars. |
| Environment & waterProtecting water quality, conservation land and climate resilience should take priority even if it slows development or raises costs. | Leans agree· stated position Pledges to protect Florida's agriculture, environment and water quality. | Strongly agrees· stated position In the LkldNow November 2026 voter guide, published Oct. 6, 2026, Anzalone said the Legislature must restore environmental oversight, strengthen wetlands and wildlife-habitat protections, repeal preemption laws that block local conservation efforts, and require genuine community input before approving large-scale developments. |
| Growth & developmentGrowth and development should be slowed or more tightly regulated (higher impact fees, density limits, stronger local control). | No public position found | Strongly agrees· stated position Would repeal recent preemption laws and allow state preemption only where a genuine statewide interest requires uniformity. |
| 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 Calls proof-of-citizenship requirements a deliberate barrier he would fight, and is setting up a nonprofit to help voters get documents. |
| 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Jennifer Jonsson | not enough data | 1.00 (3 statements) |
| Robert Anzalone | -1.75 (4 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.
Jennifer Jonsson
- Insurance fraud — Proposes an Insurance Fraud Task Force to root out corruption and lower rates.
- Fundraising — LkldNow reported Jonsson had raised $217,700 for re-election.
Robert Anzalone
- Fundraising — LkldNow reported Anzalone had raised $3,779.24.