U.S. House, District 14
Represents Florida's 14th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives; votes on federal laws and spending. 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
WUSF, WTSP and AP (Aug 18, 2026) report Mike Beltran won the eight-candidate Republican primary and faces incumbent Kathy Castor (D), who advanced without appearing on the primary ballot ; ; . Under the 2026 map the district lies entirely within Hillsborough County (eastern and southern Hillsborough: Brandon, Riverview, Plant City, Valrico, Sun City Center, Apollo Beach, Wimauma). NPA/write-in candidates not confirmed. Florida's Legislature passed a new congressional map in the April 2026 special session (Senate vote 21-17 on April 29, 2026) and the Florida Supreme Court on June 10, 2026 declined (6-1) to block it, so the new district lines apply to the Nov. 3, 2026 election; litigation on the merits continues. ; ; County list reflects pre-2026 district boundaries unless a 2026 source is cited; boundaries changed under the April 2026 map and the exact new county composition was not confirmed in searches run for this guide.
Candidates
Kathy Castor
Kathy Castor, an attorney and former Hillsborough County commissioner, has represented the Tampa-based 14th District since 2007. She chaired the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis (2019-2023) and sits on the Energy and Commerce Committee. She advanced to the 2026 general election without appearing on the Dem…
Mike Beltran
Mike Beltran, an attorney from Lithia, served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2018 to 2024, representing a southeastern Hillsborough County district. He entered the CD 14 race in May 2026 after redistricting and won the eight-candidate Aug. 18, 2026 Republican primary with 45.6%, defeating former colleagu…
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 | Kathy Castor Democratic | Mike Beltran Republican |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes & spendingCutting taxes should be a top priority, even if it means less government spending on services. | Leans disagree· based on record Castor voted against H.R. 1 (the 2025 reconciliation law), which paired extended tax cuts with reductions in projected Medicaid and SNAP spending. All House Democrats voted no. | Strongly agrees· stated position His campaign says he 'delivered real relief' in the Legislature through sales-tax holidays and 'the largest tax cut in Florida history,' and blames federal spending, subsidies and regulation for rising costs of food, education, health care, housing and energy. |
| 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. | Strongly disagrees· based on record Castor voted against the Laken Riley Act in January 2025 (and the 2024 version), voted no on a 2026 extension of Department of Homeland Security funding, and issued a March 2026 statement criticizing House Republicans for not reforming ICE 'without any guardrails or protections' after what she called well-documented abuses. | Strongly agrees· stated position Says he stands '100% with President Trump on immigration' and calls for finishing the wall, deporting 'the criminals and fraudsters' and restoring law and order at the southern border; he also proposes cracking down on 'birth tourism.' |
| AbortionAbortion should be legal in most cases (Florida's six-week ban should be repealed or loosened). | Strongly agrees· stated position Castor co-sponsors the Women's Health Protection Act of 2025 (H.R. 12) to codify Roe, has called Florida's six-week law a 'cruel' ban, and voted for House Democrats' bill to protect access to birth control. | Strongly disagrees· based on record As a state representative Beltran voted for Florida's 15-week (2022) and six-week (2023) abortion laws and sponsored legislation to prohibit most abortions with narrow medical-emergency exceptions; he was endorsed by pro-life organizations at his campaign launch. |
| 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 agrees· based on record Voted for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (2022), the federal gun-safety package that expanded background checks for buyers under 21 and funded red-flag law implementation. Sources: Kathy Castor - Ballotpedia | Strongly disagrees· stated position Supported Florida's 2023 permitless-carry law, saying gun owners should not be 'at the mercy of the government to issue you a permit,' and has backed open-carry and looser concealed-carry measures. |
| Health careGovernment should expand its role in health coverage (expand Medicaid in Florida, extend Affordable Care Act subsidies). | Strongly agrees· based on record Voted against H.R. 1 (all House Democrats voted no); sponsors the Keep Kids Covered Act and voted for the Inflation Reduction Act, which extended ACA subsidies and allowed Medicare drug-price negotiation. | No public position found |
| Social Security & MedicareSocial Security and Medicare benefits must be protected from any cuts, even if that requires more revenue. | 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. | Strongly agrees· stated position As chair of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis she released 'Solving the Climate Crisis,' a congressional action plan for a clean-energy economy and a 'healthy, resilient, and just America.' | 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. | Strongly agrees· based on record Voted for the Inflation Reduction Act's roughly $370 billion in clean-energy spending and sponsored the American Energy Efficiency Act and Advancing GETs Act (grid-enhancing technologies) in 2024. | No public position found |
| Tariffs & tradeTariffs on imported goods are good for the American economy. | No public position found | No public position found |
| UkraineThe U.S. should continue military aid to Ukraine. | No public position found | Leans disagree· stated position Beltran says the United States should stay out of the Ukraine conflict but should make weapons available for Ukraine to purchase. |
| Trump administrationI approve of the direction of the Trump administration. | No public position found | Strongly agrees· stated position Calls himself 'MAGA Mike,' says he has supported Donald Trump since 2015 and that he stands '100% with President Trump' on immigration. |
| 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.
Mike BeltranHow 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kathy Castor | -1.67 (3 statements) | -2.00 (4 statements) |
| Mike Beltran | not enough data | 2.00 (4 statements) |
Other issues the candidates have raised
Priorities each candidate has brought up on their own, beyond the major-issue list above.
Kathy Castor
- Keep Kids Covered Act — Sponsors legislation to keep children continuously enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP coverage.Sources: Kathy Castor - Congress.gov
- PREVENT HPV Cancers Act of 2025 — Sponsors a bill to expand HPV vaccination and cancer-prevention efforts.Sources: Kathy Castor - Congress.gov
- ICE reform with guardrails — Called for reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement with protections against abuses.
- Grid modernization — Sponsored the Advancing GETs Act to encourage grid-enhancing technologies.Sources: Kathy Castor - Congress.gov
- Contraception access — Voted for the Right to Contraception Act.
Mike Beltran
- Birth tourism — Proposes a federal crackdown on 'birth tourism.'
- Pharmaceutical 'price discrimination' — Wants to address drug makers charging Americans more than buyers in other countries.
- Federal spending and regulation — Blames federal spending, subsidies and regulation for higher costs of food, education, health care, housing and energy.Sources: Platform - Mike Beltran for Congress
- Telehealth and clinic access — Says he broke up health-care bureaucracies blocking new clinics and expanded telehealth in the Legislature.Sources: Platform - Mike Beltran for Congress