Florida House, District 55
Represents District 55 (Part of Pasco) 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
Report an error ↗Walter Price
Captain with Pasco County Fire Rescue, where he has served as a captain for about a decade. He ran for Pasco County property appraiser in 2012. Won the Aug. 18, 2026 Republican primary.
Zach Funkhouser
K-8 adapted physical education teacher in Pasco County. In a Tampa Bay 28 questionnaire he said he is running because his generation is being left behind and describes himself as a young candidate who supports the working class.
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 | Walter Price Republican | Zach Funkhouser Democratic |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes & spendingCutting taxes should be a top priority, even if it means less government spending on services. | Leans agree· stated position Price's campaign website lists as one of his conservative principles 'Responsible spending, balanced budgets, and lower taxes for hardworking families.' He does not spell out which taxes he would cut or what spending he would reduce. | Strongly disagrees· stated position He proposed raising taxes on the top 1 percent of earners to pay for expanded health coverage, rather than treating tax cuts as a priority. |
| Property taxesFlorida should eliminate or sharply reduce homestead property taxes, even if local governments must cut services or find other revenue. | No public position found | Strongly disagrees· stated position Asked whether property insurance or property taxes was the bigger concern, he defended property taxes as a necessary source of school funding and put the focus on insurance and building standards instead. |
| 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 Funkhouser said he would crack down on insurance companies and their junk fees. |
| Housing affordabilityGovernment should do more to make housing affordable (subsidies, zoning changes, rent measures). | No public position found | Strongly agrees· stated position He told VOTE411 that Florida should build more permanent affordable housing and restrict investors from buying up homes, calling it his answer to the cost-of-living crisis. |
| ImmigrationImmigration enforcement should be stricter, including large-scale deportation of people in the country illegally. | Leans agree· stated position Under 'Securing Our Border,' his website says he gives 'Strong support for border security and enforcement to protect our communities.' He does not say specifically what state-level enforcement steps he would take. | Strongly disagrees· stated position Funkhouser said he does not agree with current enforcement, calling its tactics cruel, and wants better legal pathways. |
| 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 Asked by the League of Women Voters under what circumstances he would support access to abortion, Funkhouser answered that he would support it in all circumstances. |
| 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 In the VOTE411 questionnaire he said states should respond to falling health-coverage access by raising taxes on the highest earners and widening eligibility for Medicaid and Medicare. |
| Education & school choicePublic money should follow students to private, charter or home schools (universal school vouchers). | No public position found | Leans disagree· stated position His campaign site lists 'Rework the Voucher program' among his education priorities and says Florida ranks last in a national public-education ranking partly because of increased privatization. He does not call for ending vouchers outright. |
| Environment & waterProtecting water quality, conservation land and climate resilience should take priority even if it slows development or raises costs. | No public position found | Strongly agrees· stated position His issues page calls for investing in clean energy, stopping overdevelopment and increasing wetland protections, and says climate change must be addressed urgently. |
| 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 His environment plank lists 'Stop Overdevelopment' as a priority, and he opposes large AI data centers on environmental and infrastructure grounds. |
| 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 said that if documentary proof of citizenship were required to register, he would make acceptable identification available for free, and he said he would oppose the SAVE Act. |
| Crime & policingCriminal penalties should be tougher and police funding increased, rather than emphasizing reform and rehabilitation. | Leans agree· stated position His website's priorities say he 'has a proven record of keeping our communities safe and will always back our police and first responders.' He does not address criminal penalties or sentencing. | 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 | Strongly disagrees· stated position Among his education priorities in the VOTE411 questionnaire he said he would work to repeal Florida's law limiting classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity. |
| 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 | Strongly agrees· stated position He lists investing in clean energy and caps on utility bills among his priorities, and argues data centers raise consumers' energy costs. |
| 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 His website lists 'Supporting Our Seniors & Veterans: Protecting Social Security, Medicare, and the benefits our veterans have earned' among his priorities. | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Walter Price | not enough data | not enough data |
| Zach Funkhouser | -1.83 (6 statements) | -1.83 (6 statements) |
Other issues the candidates have raised
Priorities each candidate has brought up on their own, beyond the major-issue list above.
Walter Price
- Campaign themes — On filing he said he is running to protect families, strengthen public safety and help small businesses thrive; his website has no issue detail.
- Growth and cost of living — Under 'Managing Our Growth,' Price's website says his two decades as a licensed real estate appraiser give him the background to 'tackle traffic and lower costs,' and that he has helped families navigate property values and insurance costs. It does not state a position on impact fees, density or growth limits.
- Did not answer the League of Women Voters questionnaire — The VOTE411 guide for State Representative 55 lists Price's website and Facebook page and records 'Candidate has not yet responded' for all seven questions.
Zach Funkhouser
- Affordability — He says he is positioned to address the affordability crisis because he works in the trenches and sees big corporations and multi-millionaires ruining things for the rest of us.
- Banning AI data centers and Flock surveillance cameras — Funkhouser's site calls for banning large AI data centers, arguing they strain water and electricity supplies and raise consumers' bills, and for banning automated license-plate cameras, which he describes as creating a surveillance state.
- Teacher pay and testing — He calls for raising starting and experienced teacher pay and reforming testing and accountability rules, noting Florida's average teacher pay ranks near the bottom nationally.
- State preemption of local government — Asked about preemption and home rule, he said the balance of power has shifted toward the state and that this leads to workers and individuals being taken advantage of by corporations.