Florida House, District 73
Represents District 73 (Part of Sarasota) 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
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Fiona McFarland
Sarasota-area Republican first elected in 2020. A 2008 U.S. Naval Academy graduate, she served eight years on active duty as a surface warfare officer and remains in the Navy Reserve; she holds an MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler and consulted at McKinsey and Company. She lives in Venice with her husband and child.
Lisa Klein
Longtime Florida resident and Sarasota-based licensed mental health counselor who owns a private practice, formerly worked as an educator and is a mother. She describes advocacy for disability rights and school accountability after her family faced discrimination in the school system.
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 | Fiona McFarland Republican | Lisa Klein Democratic |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes & spendingCutting taxes should be a top priority, even if it means less government spending on services. | Leans agree· stated position Her issues page cites reducing regulations and taxes on businesses and workers, including a $1 billion sales-tax rebate. | 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. | No public position found |
| 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· based on record Voted for SB 2-A (Dec. 2022), the December 2022 property-insurance law that ended one-way attorney fees and assignment of benefits and created a state reinsurance program, a market-based approach; a vote for it is coded as leaning against more direct state intervention. | Strongly agrees· stated position She said that in her first six months she would push for strict caps on property-insurance rate hikes, clearer justification requirements for rate increases, stronger policyholder protections, and more home-hardening grants. |
| Housing affordabilityGovernment should do more to make housing affordable (subsidies, zoning changes, rent measures). | Leans agree· stated position She cites delivering a record $362.7 million for affordable housing programs and homeownership pathways for first responders and teachers. | Strongly agrees· stated position She backs state incentives tied to long-term affordable units, a statewide Tenant Bill of Rights, eviction-diversion programs, limits on rental application fees and state support for community land trusts. |
| 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. | 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 She supports access to IVF, contraception and abortion and said she would work to end Florida's abortion ban. |
| 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 543 (2023), which allows carrying a concealed firearm without a state license. | 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 She supports Medicaid expansion and state premium help for Marketplace enrollees who lose federal subsidies, along with more support for community health centers. |
| Education & school choicePublic money should follow students to private, charter or home schools (universal school vouchers). | Strongly agrees· based on record Voted yes on HB 1 (2023), which removed income limits and enrollment caps so state scholarship funds can follow any K-12 student to private or home education. | Leans disagree· stated position She would restore an income limit for school vouchers and add fiscal-transparency oversight of voucher schools, while pushing for fully funded public schools. |
| 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). | No public position found | Leans agree· stated position She said laws such as the Live Local Act and SB 180 limit local decisions on growth and zoning, and she supports restoring home rule over local planning 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. | No public position found | Leans agree· stated position If proof of citizenship were required to register, she would have the state check records it already holds, waive document fees, and create an appeal process for name mismatches. |
| Crime & policingCriminal penalties should be tougher and police funding increased, rather than emphasizing reform and rehabilitation. | Leans agree· stated position She says she championed increased pay and bonuses for law enforcement and school-safety investment. | Leans disagree· stated position Among her first-term priorities she listed funding for local crisis-response and diversion programs. She did not address criminal penalties or police budgets directly. |
| Gender identity lawsFlorida's laws restricting gender-affirming care for minors and classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity should remain in place. | Strongly agrees· based on record Voted for SB 254 (2023), the 2023 law barring gender-affirming medical treatment for minors and restricting it for adults. | 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. | Leans disagree· based on record Voted for CS/CS/HB 1645 (2024), the 2024 energy law that removed climate change as a priority of state energy policy, repealed several renewable-energy goals and grant programs, banned offshore wind turbines in state waters and eased regulation of natural-gas pipelines; a vote for it is coded as leaning against promoting renewable energy. | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Fiona McFarland | 0.80 (5 statements) | 1.80 (5 statements) |
| Lisa Klein | -2.00 (3 statements) | -1.25 (4 statements) |
Other issues the candidates have raised
Priorities each candidate has brought up on their own, beyond the major-issue list above.
Fiona McFarland
- Property insurance — She cites passing bipartisan property insurance reform to combat rising costs; no direction on further regulation stated.
- Coastal resilience — She cites the 'Always Ready' coastal resiliency program and $1.4 million for Historic Spanish Point shoreline restoration.
- Maternal health — She cites extending postpartum Medicaid coverage to twelve months.
Lisa Klein
- Campaign themes — Her website says she is running to build a healthier, more affordable Florida and bring accountability and transparency for small businesses; no specific issue positions are posted.
- Affordability, education oversight and mental health — Klein says she is running to fight for working individuals and families and to build what she calls a healthier, more affordable Florida, with an emphasis on rising household costs, disability rights, school accountability and access to mental health care. Her campaign site describes her approach as evidence-based but does not set out positions on specific bills.