Florida House, District 60
Represents District 60 (Part of Pinellas) 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 ↗Melissa Rutland
Fourth-generation St. Petersburg businesswoman with nearly three decades in real estate development and investment, starting at Raymond James before founding her own firm. She served three terms as chair of St. Petersburg's Development Review Commission, the first woman to hold the post.
Lindsay Polega-Quigley
Pinellas County litigation attorney and Stetson University law graduate who says her practice showed her how insurance companies manipulate the system. A descendant of Irish immigrants, she credits her grandfather, a custodian who became a civics teacher, as her model.
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 | Melissa Rutland Republican | Lindsay Polega-Quigley 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· stated position She pledges to deliver property-tax relief so no family is priced out of a home by a tax bill; she has not said how far cuts should go. | Strongly disagrees· stated position Polega-Quigley said no on the amendment, calling it a tax shift that would cost services, and favors data-driven 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. | Leans agree· stated position She wants to hold insurers accountable for excessive rate increases and crack down on fraud that drives up premiums. | Strongly agrees· stated position Polega-Quigley said she would hold insurers accountable by capping rate hikes and establishing an excess-profits tax on home insurers, as Florida already has for auto insurers. |
| Housing affordabilityGovernment should do more to make housing affordable (subsidies, zoning changes, rent measures). | Leans agree· stated position Rutland said she would cut red tape and streamline permitting so builders can deliver more affordable homes and apartments. | Leans agree· stated position She criticizes lawmakers for raiding trust funds designed to lower housing costs. |
| ImmigrationImmigration enforcement should be stricter, including large-scale deportation of people in the country illegally. | Leans agree· stated position Rutland said she supports Florida's enforcement laws and cooperation with federal authorities to remove violent criminals, with enforcement that is firm but lawful. | Strongly disagrees· stated position Polega-Quigley said no, citing family separations, detention conditions and due-process concerns, and supports comprehensive reform with pathways to citizenship. |
| AbortionAbortion should be legal in most cases (Florida's six-week ban should be repealed or loosened). | Leans disagree· stated position Rutland said she supports Florida's abortion law as it stands, with its existing exceptions, and is not running to reopen the issue. | Strongly agrees· stated position She says reproductive health-care decisions belong to women and their doctors, not politicians. |
| 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 | Strongly agrees· stated position She supports universal background checks and safe-storage requirements. |
| Health careGovernment should expand its role in health coverage (expand Medicaid in Florida, extend Affordable Care Act subsidies). | Mixed / neutral· stated position Asked whether Medicaid should be cut or expanded, Rutland did not take a position either way, saying Florida should protect health care access while being responsible with taxpayer dollars, add transparency, and eliminate waitlists for medically necessary services for children. | Strongly agrees· stated position Polega-Quigley said she fully supports Medicaid expansion and called it outrageous that Florida is one of only 10 states that has not expanded. |
| 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. | Strongly agrees· stated position Rutland said Florida's farmland and water are critical and should not be sold off to any industry, including hyperscale data-center developers, and she links lower grocery costs to preserving farmland. | Leans agree· stated position She named protecting waters and preparing for storms and flooding as District 60's top environmental challenge, including restoring mangroves and modernizing stormwater and wastewater systems. |
| Growth & developmentGrowth and development should be slowed or more tightly regulated (higher impact fees, density limits, stronger local control). | Strongly agrees· stated position Rutland told the Times she supports a moratorium on data centers in Pinellas County and lists controlling responsible growth and redevelopment to preserve neighborhoods among her priorities. | Strongly agrees· stated position Polega-Quigley said data centers should be heavily regulated and that she would support a ban on hyperscale AI data centers in Florida, with local and community input on siting. |
| 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 Polega-Quigley told VOTE411 that a documentary-proof requirement would burden women whose names changed, seniors and storm victims, and that she would keep working for equitable access to the ballot. |
| 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 | Leans agree· stated position She pledges to hold utility corporations accountable for rising power bills; she does not address renewable energy. |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Melissa Rutland | -0.25 (4 statements) | 0.00 (3 statements) |
| Lindsay Polega-Quigley | -1.60 (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.
Melissa Rutland
- Public schools — She calls for fully funding public schools with top teacher pay and training.
Lindsay Polega-Quigley
- Public schools — She says she will vote to fund schools and raise teacher salaries.
- Health care — She calls for a transparent, patient-centered system with affordable care for workers and seniors.