Florida House, District 77
Represents District 77 (Part of Lee) 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 ↗Tiffany Esposito
Tiffany Esposito was born and raised in Lee County and earned a bachelor's degree in communication and an MBA from Florida Gulf Coast University. She is president and CEO of SWFL Inc., a regional chamber of commerce, and has served in the Florida House since November 2022. She chairs the Lee County legislative delegat…
Cornelius Fowler
Cornelius Fowler grew up in the Glades farming region, graduated from Glades Central High School and attended Palm Beach State College. He works as a farmworker and truck driver and is vice president of International Association of Machinists Local Lodge 2152 and of the union's Florida state council. He ran for the sa…
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 | Tiffany Esposito Republican | Cornelius Fowler Democratic |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes & spendingCutting taxes should be a top priority, even if it means less government spending on services. | Strongly agrees· stated position Her campaign site says she will work to cut taxes and remove regulations so businesses can reinvest, and describes fighting for lower taxes and a fiscally responsible budget. | 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 (June 2, 2026), which put a $250,000 non-school homestead exemption on the November ballot, and yes on HJR 203 (Feb. 19, 2026) to phase out non-school homestead taxes; local coverage noted the whole Lee delegation voted for HJR 203. | 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. | No public position found |
| Housing affordabilityGovernment should do more to make housing affordable (subsidies, zoning changes, rent measures). | Leans agree· stated position Her site says housing costs are pricing families out and that she is dedicated to finding solutions so workforce and fixed-income families can buy homes; it does not name specific programs. | Leans agree· stated position Supports raising the share of each housing development that must be workforce housing units. |
| ImmigrationImmigration enforcement should be stricter, including large-scale deportation of people in the country illegally. | Leans agree· based on record Voted yes on SB 2-C (Feb. 13, 2025), which created a State Board of Immigration Enforcement, funded state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and added criminal penalties tied to immigration status. | No public position found |
| AbortionAbortion should be legal in most cases (Florida's six-week ban should be repealed or loosened). | Strongly disagrees· based on record Voted yes on SB 300 (April 13, 2023), the six-week abortion limit. Her campaign site says she is a defender of life at all stages beginning at conception. | Leans agree· stated position In his 2024 Ballotpedia survey he listed the right of every citizen to make decisions about the health of their own bodies as a policy passion; he did not address the six-week law directly. |
| 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 (March 24, 2023), which allowed permitless concealed carry. Her site says the right to keep and bear arms is not conditional. | 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 the state should work toward "expanding Medicare" (his wording) and that he would work with federal officials to increase federal health insurance subsidies. |
| 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 made every K-12 student eligible for a state scholarship usable at private schools or for home education, on March 17, 2023. | No public position found |
| Environment & waterProtecting water quality, conservation land and climate resilience should take priority even if it slows development or raises costs. | Leans agree· stated position Her site calls water quality the cornerstone of Southwest Florida's way of life and commits to completing projects that address Lake Okeechobee discharges, while also backing infrastructure for growth. | 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 Says local governments should have authority to make local decisions because they are best suited to identify local issues. |
| 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. | Strongly disagrees· based on record Voted for SB 7050 (2023), the 2023 elections law that raised penalties and shortened deadlines for third-party voter-registration groups and changed vote-by-mail and voter-roll procedures. | Leans agree· stated position Says that if proof-of-citizenship rules take effect he would work with nonprofits to help people who cannot afford the required documents. |
| Crime & policingCriminal penalties should be tougher and police funding increased, rather than emphasizing reform and rehabilitation. | Leans agree· stated position Her site says she supports law enforcement, paramedics and firefighters and will work to ensure they have the tools and resources to keep the community safe. | 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. | 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.
Cornelius FowlerHow 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Tiffany Esposito | 1.00 (5 statements) | 1.38 (8 statements) |
| Cornelius Fowler | not enough data | not enough data |
Other issues the candidates have raised
Priorities each candidate has brought up on their own, beyond the major-issue list above.
Tiffany Esposito
- Mandates and education content — Her site says she opposes mask and vaccine mandates and opposes teaching Critical Race Theory in public schools, and supports expanding trade schools and apprenticeships.
Cornelius Fowler
- Public schools and labor — In his 2024 Ballotpedia survey he said he wants public schools well funded, supports workers' right to organize, and would first file a bill for paid early education and high-school trade certificates. He named health care, homeowner insurance, affordable housing and education as the state's biggest challenges.