Florida Senate, District 14
Represents District 14 in the Florida Senate; votes on state laws and the state budget. Term: 4 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
Ballotpedia and Florida Politics report Democrat Brian Nathan won the March 24, 2026 special general election for SD 14 (vacated when Jay Collins became Lt. Governor) over Republican Josie Tomkow, who pledged a rematch in the Nov. 3, 2026 general election ; . Whether either faced a primary or any NPA candidate qualified was not verified. County (Hillsborough) from general knowledge; not verified by snippet. Research limitation (Sept 2026): Ballotpedia, Wikipedia, dos.fl.gov, floridaelectionwatch.gov, Florida Politics and all news sites were blocked for fetching in this sandbox and the WebSearch budget was capped, so the roster is built only from search-result snippets; write-in/NPA qualifiers could not be checked. Positions are null because no snippet contained an explicit issue statement.
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 ↗Brian Nathan
Nathan won the March 24, 2026 special general election for SD 14 after the seat was vacated by Jay Collins (R), who resigned Aug. 12, 2025 on becoming Lieutenant Governor; he is seeking a full term in November.
Josie Tomkow
Tomkow, a Republican state representative from Polk City, lost the March 2026 SD 14 special election to Nathan and is running again for the seat in November.
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 | Brian Nathan Democratic | Josie Tomkow Republican |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes & spendingCutting taxes should be a top priority, even if it means less government spending on services. | No public position found | Leans agree· stated position Tomkow said her affordability agenda includes returning as much as possible to taxpayers and expanding sales-tax holidays, and cited working-family tax cuts in her record. |
| Property taxesFlorida should eliminate or sharply reduce homestead property taxes, even if local governments must cut services or find other revenue. | Leans disagree· based on record Voted against CS/HJR 1-F (2026), the June 2026 joint resolution that placed Amendment 3 on the ballot to raise the non-school homestead exemption to $250,000 by 2028 and let counties and cities exempt homesteads entirely; because the vote sent the question to voters rather than cutting taxes itself, a vote for it is coded as leaning toward sharply reducing homestead property taxes rather than as full agreement. | 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 agree· stated position In a Tampa Bay Times profile of the November rematch, Nathan said his priorities include regulating the insurance industry and raising teacher pay. | Mixed / neutral· based on record Mixed. Tomkow voted for SB 2-A in December 2022, the market-based property-insurance law that ended one-way attorney fees and assignment of benefits and created a state reinsurance program. In 2026 she told the Tampa Bay Times that insurers must be held accountable for passing savings on to consumers and that Florida should stop insurers using shell companies to hide profits in order to justify rate increases — a step toward stricter regulation. The vote and the statement point in opposite directions. |
| Housing affordabilityGovernment should do more to make housing affordable (subsidies, zoning changes, rent measures). | Strongly agrees· stated position Nathan said Florida should fully protect the Sadowski Trust Fund so its money goes to down-payment assistance and rent relief, and should cap rental application fees and security deposits. | 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. |
| ImmigrationImmigration enforcement should be stricter, including large-scale deportation of people in the country illegally. | No public position found | Strongly agrees· based on record Voted for SB 2-C (2025), the February 2025 special-session immigration law that created a State Board of Immigration Enforcement, made entering Florida as an unauthorized immigrant a state crime and required local cooperation with federal detention. |
| AbortionAbortion should be legal in most cases (Florida's six-week ban should be repealed or loosened). | No public position found | Strongly disagrees· based on record Voted for SB 300 (2023), the 2023 law limiting most abortions to six weeks of pregnancy. |
| 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 disagrees· based on record Voted for HB 543 (2023), the 2023 law allowing adults to carry a concealed firearm without a permit. |
| Health careGovernment should expand its role in health coverage (expand Medicaid in Florida, extend Affordable Care Act subsidies). | Strongly agrees· stated position Asked how Florida should handle Medicaid, Nathan answered that it should be expanded. | Mixed / neutral· stated position Asked whether Medicaid should be cut or expanded, Tomkow did not back expansion but pointed to her support for extending Medicaid benefits for new mothers from six weeks to a year, saying Florida can do more 'while also not leaving a huge budget hole.' |
| Education & school choicePublic money should follow students to private, charter or home schools (universal school vouchers). | No public position found | Strongly agrees· based on record Voted for HB 1 (2023), the 2023 law that made every Florida student eligible for a state-funded scholarship usable at private schools or for home education. |
| Environment & waterProtecting water quality, conservation land and climate resilience should take priority even if it slows development or raises costs. | Leans agree· stated position Nathan named building resilient infrastructure one of three priorities and said he would direct a $1 million appropriation to stormwater management, citing worsening flooding in the district. | Leans agree· stated position Tomkow named combating flooding one of her three priorities, said she would work with local officials to pull down state grant money for flooding and resiliency projects, and would direct a $1 million appropriation to flooding infrastructure. |
| Growth & developmentGrowth and development should be slowed or more tightly regulated (higher impact fees, density limits, stronger local control). | Leans agree· stated position Nathan said Florida needs a building code for hyperscale data centers with clear standards for energy and water use, noise management and infrastructure improvements, and that mitigating community impact is the owners' responsibility. | Leans agree· stated position Tomkow said data centers should be left up to local governments to approve, said she supported a bill studying their effects on the state's resources and power grid, and said Floridians should be able to enjoy Florida's beauty, 'not watch it be paved over.' |
| 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 | 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. |
| Crime & policingCriminal penalties should be tougher and police funding increased, rather than emphasizing reform and rehabilitation. | No public position found | Strongly agrees· based on record Voted for HB 1 (2021), the 2021 Combating Public Disorder law that created new riot-related offenses and penalties and let the state override local cuts to police budgets. |
| 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 | 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. |
| 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 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. |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Brian Nathan | -1.50 (4 statements) | not enough data |
| Josie Tomkow | 0.20 (5 statements) | 1.63 (8 statements) |
Other issues the candidates have raised
Priorities each candidate has brought up on their own, beyond the major-issue list above.
Brian Nathan
- School-entry vaccinations — Asked whether Florida should change its school-entry vaccination requirement, Nathan said Florida needs to follow the medically recognized standard vaccine schedule.
- Campaign mailers and outside spending — Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee mailers approved by Tomkow tie Nathan to socialist groups; Nathan called the claims lies and denied any affiliation with socialist or communist groups. Politico reported Senate Republicans have spent millions trying to win back the seat.
Josie Tomkow
- Campaign mailers — The Tampa Bay Times reported that Tomkow approved Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee mailers describing Nathan as a socialist; an FRSCC spokesperson defended them by citing Nathan's endorsement by Florida Rising.