Florida Senate, District 36
Represents District 36 in the Florida Senate; votes on state laws and the state budget. Term: 4 years.
Candidate list only. We have verified who is on the ballot for this race but have not yet researched their positions, so most issues will show "No public position found" and the match tool cannot score them. Campaign websites are linked where known.
How we verified who is on the ballot
Florida Politics reports West Miami Democrat George Lavin filed the day before the June 2026 qualifying deadline, so incumbent Ileana Garcia (R) is no longer unopposed ; Ballotpedia lists Garcia in the Aug. 18 Republican primary. Whether Lavin completed qualifying was not separately verified. 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.
Candidates
Ileana Garcia
Garcia, a Miami Republican first elected to the Senate in 2020 and re-elected in SD 36 in 2022, is seeking another term; AIF listed her among its 2026 legislative endorsements.
George Lavin
Lavin, a West Miami Democrat, filed to run against Garcia in SD 36 one day before the June 2026 qualifying deadline (Florida Politics). No further background found.
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 | Ileana Garcia Republican | George Lavin 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. | No public position found | 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. | No public position found | No public position found |
| Housing affordabilityGovernment should do more to make housing affordable (subsidies, zoning changes, rent measures). | No public position found | No public position found |
| ImmigrationImmigration enforcement should be stricter, including large-scale deportation of people in the country illegally. | No public position found | 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 | No public position found |
| 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). | No public position found | No public position found |
| 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 | No public position found |
| 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 | No public position found |
| 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. | No public position found | 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. | No public position found | 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).
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).
| Candidate | Economic issues | Social & legal issues |
|---|---|---|
| Ileana Garcia | not enough data | not enough data |
| George Lavin | 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.
Ileana Garcia
No additional issues found in public statements as of the last data review.
George Lavin
No additional issues found in public statements as of the last data review.