Florida Senate, District 26
Represents District 26 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
OPEN SEAT: Lori Berman (D) is term-limited (Ballotpedia). Ballotpedia snippets list Rep. David Silvers (D) in the Democratic primary and Rep. Rick Roth (R) in the Republican primary for SD 26; Yvette Drucker withdrew to run for Clerk ; . Primary results (and whether either faced a primary) could NOT be verified from snippets. 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
- 2026-10-05 · Indivisible Boca Raton, Dr. Andre Fladell Civic Center, 16700 Jog Road, Delray Beach, 6:00-7:30 p.m. (held)
State Rep. David Silvers (D), Senate District 26 nominee, as special guest; Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link as keynote speaker
Candidates
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David Silvers
Silvers, a Democratic state representative from Palm Beach County, launched a 2026 campaign to succeed term-limited Sen. Lori Berman in SD 26 and led the field in early fundraising.
Rick Roth
Roth, a Republican state representative and Palm Beach County farmer, is listed by Ballotpedia in the Aug. 18, 2026 Republican primary for SD 26.
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 | David Silvers Democratic | Rick Roth Republican |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes & spendingCutting taxes should be a top priority, even if it means less government spending on services. | No public position found | Strongly agrees· stated position Roth said government spends too much money and that conservative-oriented policy is needed, and campaigns on responsible fiscal management and property tax relief. |
| Property taxesFlorida should eliminate or sharply reduce homestead property taxes, even if local governments must cut services or find other revenue. | Strongly disagrees· stated position Silvers opposes Amendment 3, saying services such as fire and rescue would be harmed and that a city needing another ambulance because of population growth might not be able to afford one, increasing emergency response times. | Strongly agrees· stated position Roth said he favors Amendment 3, the November ballot measure raising the homestead exemption for non-school taxes, and that property tax relief is needed, while acknowledging it would hit poorer counties with lower property values hardest. |
| 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· based on record Voted against 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. | Mixed / neutral· based on record Mixed. Roth 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. His 2026 remedies pull both ways: he backs penalising insurers that fail to pay claims, which is stricter regulation, and separately legislation to encourage more competition in the industry to bring prices down, which is not. |
| Housing affordabilityGovernment should do more to make housing affordable (subsidies, zoning changes, rent measures). | Strongly agrees· stated position Silvers said he will prioritize workforce housing to increase the supply of homes affordable to Floridians, and lists affordable housing among the issues he worked on in the House. | Leans agree· stated position Roth said affordable housing is a major issue and that he supports building more of it, citing his work on 2021 changes that stopped the Legislature sweeping money out of the Sadowski Trust Fund; he said the money should be distributed where it is most needed. |
| ImmigrationImmigration enforcement should be stricter, including large-scale deportation of people in the country illegally. | Strongly disagrees· stated position Silvers described the detention of a friend's relative who was in the United States on temporary status, saying the people being detained are not criminals. | No public position found |
| AbortionAbortion should be legal in most cases (Florida's six-week ban should be repealed or loosened). | Strongly agrees· based on record Voted against SB 300 (2023), the 2023 law limiting most abortions to six weeks of pregnancy. | Strongly agrees· based on record Voted against 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 | 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 disagrees· based on record Voted against 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. | 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. | 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 | Strongly agrees· stated position Roth said overdevelopment is one of the area's most pressing issues, that there should be impact fees on new residents, and that he will push to restore the pre-2012 concurrency formula so roads are built as homes are built. He also said agricultural land should be conserved to avoid urban sprawl. |
| 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 agrees· based on record Voted against 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. | 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. | Strongly disagrees· based on record Voted against 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. | 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. | Strongly disagrees· based on record Voted against SB 254 (2023), the 2023 law barring gender-affirming medical treatment for minors and restricting it for adults. | 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. | Leans agree· based on record Voted against 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. | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| David Silvers | -1.50 (4 statements) | -2.00 (6 statements) |
| Rick Roth | 0.80 (5 statements) | 1.20 (5 statements) |
Other issues the candidates have raised
Priorities each candidate has brought up on their own, beyond the major-issue list above.
David Silvers
- Data centers — Silvers said industry experts told him Florida is not suited to data centers because of its weather, thunderstorms, hurricanes and heat: 'It doesn't make sense to put them in Florida.'
- Property insurance approach — Silvers said property insurance is a large part of the affordability problem and that the answer is more private insurers to give homeowners choices, plus more investigation of complaints by the Office of Insurance Regulation so companies are held accountable when they do not pay claims.
- Fundraising — Raised more than $121,000 and spent about $206,000 between Aug. 1 and Oct. 2; held about $201,500 across his campaign and political committee as of Oct. 3.
Rick Roth
- Says climate change is no longer a live issue in the U.S. — In the same September 2026 on-camera campaign interview, Roth said, 'Climate change is dead in America now,' and described the U.S. conflict with Iran as long-term oil policy. The quotes were published by Indivisible Boca Raton, a group supporting his opponent, alongside a link to the full interview.
- Data centers — Roth said he opposes data centers unless they provide some of their own power and water: 'I am totally against data centers until we figure it all out.'
- Immigration enforcement and farm labor — Roth said increased immigration enforcement has not affected his seasonal farm because it qualifies for H-2A workers, and that the H-2A program should be expanded to the nursery and landscape, dairy and beef cattle industries, which operate year-round and do not qualify. He said solutions can come from Congress once the illegal immigrant population returns to pre-2020 levels, and his advice to workers is 'If you like your job, keep your job. The state E-Verify requirement only applies to new hires.'
- Fundraising — Raised $2,000 and spent about $130,500 between Aug. 1 and Oct. 2; held about $51,500 across his campaign and political committee as of Oct. 3.