Florida House, District 86
Represents District 86 (Parts of Martin, Palm Beach) 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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John Snyder
John Snyder was born in Hobe Sound, served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2007 to 2012 and earned a marketing degree from Indiana Wesleyan University. He owns a staffing and payroll services business in Stuart and has served in the Florida House since 2020, where he is a deputy majority leader. He sponsored the 2025 St…
Elizabeth Pandich
Elizabeth Pandich grew up in New York, earned a communications degree from Cornell University and founded Limelight Farm in 2012, a hunter-jumper training and sales operation in New York and Florida. She coaches riders, breeds horses and judges competitions. She initially filed for Congress in Florida's 21st District …
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 | John Snyder Republican | Elizabeth Pandich 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. | Strongly agrees· based on record Voted yes on HJR 1-F (June 2, 2026 special session), which put a $250,000 non-school homestead exemption on the November 2026 ballot, and yes on HJR 203 (Feb. 19, 2026), which would have phased out non-school homestead property taxes. | Strongly disagrees· stated position Urges voters not to support the 2026 ballot measure to lower or remove homestead property taxes, saying the revenue is needed. |
| 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· based on record Voted for CS/SB 102 (2023), the 2023 Live Local Act that put $711 million into state housing programs, required local governments to allow multifamily housing in commercial areas when at least 40 percent of units are affordable, and created property-tax exemptions for affordable developments; a vote for it is coded as leaning toward more government action on housing. | Leans agree· stated position Supports limiting private-equity ownership of homes; she says Florida's problem is not a housing shortage. |
| 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 (2023), which limited most abortions to six weeks of pregnancy, on April 13, 2023. | Strongly agrees· stated position Supports a woman's right to choose. |
| 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 allowed carrying a concealed firearm without a state permit, on March 24, 2023. | 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 | No public position found |
| 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 He sponsored the State Park Preservation Act after plans surfaced for golf courses and resorts in state parks, and says he is focused on Lake Okeechobee restoration and has steered state money to environmental restoration. | Leans agree· stated position Her issues page lists preserving Florida's land and water for future generations as one of three priorities, and her survey names the link between the environment and the economy as a policy passion. |
| 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 Calls SB 180 "a dirty trap" and the Infill Redevelopment Act an overreach, says the balance is tipped too far toward the state, and pledges to roll back preemption. |
| 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 the state should cover the gap with a free online notary service, county funding for outreach and in-person re-registration help. |
| 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. | 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 | Leans agree· stated position Her 2025 survey listed protecting veterans and Social Security as a key campaign message. |
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.
Elizabeth PandichHow 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 |
|---|---|---|
| John Snyder | 0.75 (4 statements) | 1.43 (7 statements) |
| Elizabeth Pandich | not enough data | -1.33 (3 statements) |
Other issues the candidates have raised
Priorities each candidate has brought up on their own, beyond the major-issue list above.
John Snyder
- Campaign focus — In TCPalm's questionnaire (as summarized by Dissenter) he said he is seeking a final term focused on property taxes, property insurance and Lake Okeechobee restoration and describes himself as a strong conservative with an open-door policy.
Elizabeth Pandich
- Affordability and government reform — Her issues page lists helping Floridians get ahead and restoring trust through transparency, accountability and public engagement; her survey lists safeguarding insurance among her priorities.
- Financial transparency and congressional stock trading — In a 2025 Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey, filed when she was running for Florida's 21st Congressional District, Pandich said financial transparency is a fundamental part of her campaign and that she would support any legislation barring members of Congress from trading stocks while in office.