Florida House, District 72
Represents District 72 (Part of Manatee) 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 ↗William Conerly
Fifth-generation Floridian and Lakewood Ranch resident who served nearly six years in the U.S. Navy and holds an engineering degree. He is an owner and vice president at Kimley-Horn and Associates. He was elected to the House in 2024.
Harvey Shifrin
Attorney and certified public accountant with decades of experience in law and finance who has worked with students for 27 years through Odyssey of the Mind and Destination Imagination, served as a substitute teacher and taught as an adjunct professor at John Marshall School of Law.
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 | William Conerly Republican | Harvey Shifrin Democratic |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes & spendingCutting taxes should be a top priority, even if it means less government spending on services. | Leans agree· stated position His website says he cut billions in state taxes and made sales-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 yes on HJR 1-F in the June 2026 special session, which placed Amendment 3 on the November ballot to raise the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028 and to limit how counties and cities may spend property-tax revenue. His website says he voted to eliminate property taxes. | Strongly disagrees· stated position He opposes Amendment 3, the 2026 measure raising the homestead exemption, saying it limits county spending. He favors shifting the tax burden toward higher-end and investor-owned housing. |
| 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 disagree· stated position Favors mitigation incentives, stronger building codes, addressing litigation and reinsurance costs and more competition rather than direct state intervention. | No public position found |
| Housing affordabilityGovernment should do more to make housing affordable (subsidies, zoning changes, rent measures). | Leans agree· stated position Wants SHIP and SAIL housing programs fully funded plus zoning and permitting reform, production incentives and homeownership help. | No public position found |
| ImmigrationImmigration enforcement should be stricter, including large-scale deportation of people in the country illegally. | Strongly agrees· based on record Voted yes on SB 2-C (2025), which created the State Board of Immigration Enforcement, required state help with federal detainers, barred driver licenses for unauthorized immigrants, and funded an Unauthorized Alien Transport Program. His website says he expanded E-Verify to all Florida employers and supported local law enforcement enforcing immigration laws. | Leans disagree· stated position Discussing housing costs, he said a "national draconian approach to immigration" has made construction workers scarce. He did not lay out a broader immigration position. |
| AbortionAbortion should be legal in most cases (Florida's six-week ban should be repealed or loosened). | Leans disagree· stated position Describes himself as pro-life but supports exceptions for the mother's life and health, rape, incest, human trafficking and fatal fetal abnormalities. | Strongly agrees· stated position He said government has limited interest in restricting abortion before viability and called the six-week ban unreasonable. He also said he would work to decriminalize physicians providing medical treatment. |
| 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). | Leans agree· stated position Proposes a state reinsurance or subsidy to offset expiring ACA credits and targeted Medicaid eligibility expansions or waivers for working adults. | Leans agree· stated position He said the state should stop limiting Medicaid availability and invest more in health care, including Medicaid. |
| Education & school choicePublic money should follow students to private, charter or home schools (universal school vouchers). | No public position found | Strongly disagrees· stated position He calls the voucher program disastrous and says he would reform it, improve teacher pay and strengthen public schools. His website calls for "fair funding by reforming the voucher system." |
| Environment & waterProtecting water quality, conservation land and climate resilience should take priority even if it slows development or raises costs. | No public position found | No public position found |
| Growth & developmentGrowth and development should be slowed or more tightly regulated (higher impact fees, density limits, stronger local control). | Leans agree· stated position Says broad state preemption is undermining local governance on growth, infrastructure and environment and should be recalibrated, citing the Live Local Act's loss of local control. | Leans agree· stated position He would work to reverse recent state laws limiting local control over development, naming SB 180 and SB 1520, and to restore home rule. He says he is not against development but wants it planned around infrastructure. |
| 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. | Mixed / neutral· stated position Accepts the HB 991 proof-of-citizenship framework but wants database verification first, fee waivers and local help so eligible voters can comply. | 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. | Strongly agrees· stated position His website says he is running to take quick action, just like President Trump. | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| William Conerly | 0.40 (5 statements) | 1.25 (4 statements) |
| Harvey Shifrin | not enough data | -1.67 (3 statements) |
Other issues the candidates have raised
Priorities each candidate has brought up on their own, beyond the major-issue list above.
William Conerly
- Property insurance — He pledges to lower insurance rates 'come hell or highwater' and says he passed laws to lower rates; no specific mechanism stated.
- Environment — His website lists protecting state parks from development, blocking offshore drilling and eliminating PFAS pollutants among his accomplishments.
Harvey Shifrin
No additional issues found in public statements as of the last data review.