Florida Senate, District 40
Represents District 40 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
On the Nov. 3 ballot. The Florida Division of Elections 2026 general-election candidate list (checked Oct. 7, 2026) shows 3 qualified candidates: Ramiro Orta (No Party Affiliation), Ana Rodriguez (Republican), Jose Stoute (Democrat). An earlier version of this guide marked the seat as decided, based on a report published before candidate qualifying closed on June 12; that was wrong.
Candidates
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Ana Maria Rodriguez
Rodriguez, a Doral Republican, served in the Florida House before winning the Senate in 2020 and re-election in SD 40 in 2022. In 2026 she faces Democrat Jose Stoute and Ramiro Orta (no party affiliation) on the Nov. 3 ballot, per the Florida Division of Elections candidate list.
Ramiro Orta
Qualified for the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot according to the Florida Division of Elections, 2026 general election candidate list (Qualified). A search on Oct. 7, 2026 — campaign materials, the League of Women Voters' Vote411 guide, Ballotpedia's candidate survey and local news coverage — found no public statements on the is…
Jose Stoute
Dr. Jose Stoute is a physician and infectious-disease specialist, a professor and a retired U.S. Army colonel, according to his campaign site. He is running as the Democratic candidate in Senate District 40 (Monroe and part of Miami-Dade) on a platform of affordability, keeping politics out of healthcare and classroom…
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 | Ana Maria Rodriguez Republican | Ramiro Orta No Party Affiliation | Jose Stoute Democratic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxes & spendingCutting taxes should be a top priority, even if it means less government spending on services. | Leans agree· stated position Her campaign site lists cutting taxes and fees as an affordability priority. | 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. | Leans agree· based on record Voted for 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 | Leans disagree· stated position Says insurance needs urgent action while property taxes support schools, public safety and infrastructure and are already limited by homestead protections. |
| 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 | Leans agree· stated position Calls insurance the more urgent cost problem; supports reforms that increase competition, holding insurers accountable and examining a stronger statewide risk pool. |
| 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. | No public position found | Strongly agrees· stated position Supports relaxing zoning for multifamily housing near jobs and transit, office-to-housing conversions, incentives tied to affordable units, and stronger renter protections against corporate landlords. |
| ImmigrationImmigration enforcement should be stricter, including large-scale deportation of people in the country illegally. | 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. | No public position found | Strongly disagrees· stated position Stoute's campaign site calls for leaving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement out of Florida and protecting communities from what it calls fear-based enforcement, and for restoring a fair, functional legal immigration system. |
| AbortionAbortion should be legal in most cases (Florida's six-week ban should be repealed or loosened). | Strongly disagrees· based on record Voted for SB 300 (2023), the 2023 law limiting most abortions to six weeks of pregnancy. | No public position found | Strongly agrees· stated position Supports abortion access through 21 weeks of pregnancy, and later when the patient's life or serious health is at risk or the fetus has a lethal condition. |
| 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 for HB 543 (2023), the 2023 law allowing adults to carry a concealed firearm without a permit. | 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 | Strongly agrees· stated position Says Florida should expand Medicaid and affordable coverage; as a physician he backs universal health care as a national goal and keeping medical decisions between patients and doctors. |
| Education & school choicePublic money should follow students to private, charter or home schools (universal school vouchers). | 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. | 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. | Leans agree· stated position Her site calls water quality a top priority, backs coral-reef restoration, septic-to-sewer conversion and funding for sea-level rise and flooding, while saying environmental rules should also recognize residents' and businesses' needs. | 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). | Leans agree· stated position Her campaign site pledges to protect Miami-Dade's Urban Development Boundary to preserve the Everglades. | No public position found | Mixed / neutral· stated position Wants more local home rule and room for communities to adopt stronger standards, but also backs relaxing zoning to allow more housing; his answers point both ways on regulating development. |
| MarijuanaRecreational marijuana should be legal for adults. | No public position found | 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. | No public position found | Leans agree· stated position Opposes barriers for eligible voters; if proof of citizenship is required, wants the state to verify through existing records and make documents free or very low-cost. |
| Crime & policingCriminal penalties should be tougher and police funding increased, rather than emphasizing reform and rehabilitation. | 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. | 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 | 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 | No public position found |
| Trump administrationI approve of the direction of the Trump administration. | No public position found | 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 | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ana Maria Rodriguez | 0.60 (5 statements) | 1.63 (8 statements) |
| Ramiro Orta | not enough data | not enough data |
| Jose Stoute | -1.50 (4 statements) | -1.67 (3 statements) |
Other issues the candidates have raised
Priorities each candidate has brought up on their own, beyond the major-issue list above.
Ana Maria Rodriguez
No additional issues found in public statements as of the last data review.
Ramiro Orta
No additional issues found in public statements as of the last data review.
Jose Stoute
- School vaccination requirements — Says Florida should keep evidence-based school vaccination requirements and that the state has a legitimate role in setting minimum public-health standards.
- Interview on The Johnny Farias Show — Appeared in an Oct. 6 video interview (CNEWS TV) about his career in the Army, medicine and science and his Senate run; the guide could not review the video itself.