U.S. House, District 16
Represents Florida's 16th 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
Open seat (Rep. Vern Buchanan retiring). Roster from post-primary reporting by Florida Politics, Florida's Voice, Spectrum News 13 and a Yahoo/Herald-Tribune story that names Republican Sydney Gruters, Democrat Kelly Kirschner and independent (NPA) Mark Davis as the November candidates.
Debates and forums
- Further forum invitations outstanding; a Gruters spokesperson cited limited time because the redrawn district spans six counties
No further forum scheduled as of 2026-09-29 · Sydney Gruters, Kelly Kirschner, Mark Davis - 2026-09-23 — Held · League of Women Voters of Manatee County and League of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg Area (virtual Zoom forum, noon-1 p.m.; moderator Trevor Pettiford)
Sydney Gruters (R), Kelly Kirschner (D), Mark Davis (NPA) - 2026-10-16 · St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce 'Friday Forum: Happy Hour with the Candidates' (Chamber members only; informal). Still UNCONFIRMED as of Oct. 27: no news coverage or Chamber recap found, so whether it happened and who attended can't be confirmed.
All candidates on St. Petersburg-area ballots invited; attendance unknown - The League of Women Voters of Manatee County's 2026 forum schedule ends with a July 9 CD 16 Republican-primary forum, which Gruters declined; the Sept. 23 Manatee/St. Petersburg virtual general-election forum has already been held and no further League forum is listed. (No further League of Women Voters forum scheduled (checked 2026-10-07))
Sydney Gruters (R), Kelly Kirschner (D), Mark Davis (NPA)
Candidates
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Sydney Gruters
Sydney Gruters is the wife of Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters and previously worked as district director for U.S. Rep. Greg Steube (2019-2023); she has also cited work at foundations and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She announced for the open 16th District seat after Rep. Vern Buchanan said he w…
Kelly Kirschner
Kelly Kirschner served on the Sarasota City Commission and as mayor of Sarasota, worked in higher-education leadership at Eckerd College, and co-founded the nonprofit UnidosNow, which he says has helped more than 1,000 first-generation students earn scholarships. He entered the open CD 16 race in May 2026 and won the …
Mark Davis
Mark Davis served in the U.S. Air Force from 2005 to 2013 and works as a business owner; Ballotpedia lists a high-school diploma from Western High School. He qualified as a no-party-affiliation candidate for the open 16th District and says he is running to offer a moderate, fiscally responsible alternative. Local outl…
Side-by-side on the major issues
AgreeDiffer a littleDiffer stronglyNot enough data· hover for details, click to jump to the row
Taxes & spendingHousing affordabilityImmigrationAbortionGunsHealth careSocial Security & MedicareEducation & school choiceEnvironment & waterElections & votingCrime & policingGender identity lawsEnergy & utilitiesTariffs & tradeUkraineTrump administrationVeterans
Where the candidates in this race split, issue by issue.
Strongly agreesLeans agreeMixed / neutralLeans disagreeStrongly disagreesNo public position found
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.
Show:
| Issue | Sydney Gruters Republican | Kelly Kirschner Democratic | Mark Davis No Party Affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxes & spendingCutting taxes should be a top priority, even if it means less government spending on services. | Strongly agrees· stated position Pledges to cut taxes and regulations so families keep more of what they earn. | Leans disagree· stated position Kirschner says billionaires, lobbyists and corporations 'have treated Congress like a vending machine' with the result that ordinary people 'pay more for groceries, prescriptions and rent while they pay less in taxes'; he has not made tax cuts a priority. | Strongly disagrees· stated position At the Sept. 23 forum Davis said he would pay for universal health care by raising taxes on billionaires rather than by cutting government spending. |
| Housing affordabilityGovernment should do more to make housing affordable (subsidies, zoning changes, rent measures). | Leans agree· stated position Wants to prevent large investors from buying up starter homes and to curb overdevelopment. | No public position found | No public position found |
| ImmigrationImmigration enforcement should be stricter, including large-scale deportation of people in the country illegally. | Strongly agrees· stated position At the Sept. 23 forum Gruters backed the Trump administration's deportation efforts, said more than 15 million people entered the country illegally under the previous administration, and said all six sheriffs in the district support her campaign. | Leans disagree· stated position At the Sept. 23 forum Kirschner criticized the scale of immigration-enforcement spending, called for a national conversation on immigration reform and pointed to the role of immigrant labor in agriculture and construction. He has described ICE raids as political theater. | Strongly disagrees· stated position At the Sept. 23 forum Davis said Immigration and Customs Enforcement should be abolished and framed the country's problems as economic rather than about immigrants. |
| AbortionAbortion should be legal in most cases (Florida's six-week ban should be repealed or loosened). | Leans disagree· stated position Gruters said she would 'defend the unborn' in Congress and was endorsed by the Faith & Freedom Coalition of Florida, which cited her opposition to abortion. Florida Politics reported she did not answer a conservative questionnaire's specific questions on when abortion should be allowed, so her position on Florida's six-week law is not documented. | No public position found | Leans agree· stated position Davis lists defending bodily autonomy among the policies he is passionate about, and a candidate profile describes him as supporting reproductive freedom and opposing government-forced childbirth. |
| 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 | Leans agree· stated position Davis says he supports the Second Amendment together with what he calls common-sense gun laws, arguing children should not be shot in schools. |
| Health careGovernment should expand its role in health coverage (expand Medicaid in Florida, extend Affordable Care Act subsidies). | Strongly disagrees· stated position At the Sept. 23 League of Women Voters virtual forum Gruters said she opposes a larger federal role in health coverage and questioned entrusting the government with it, pointing instead to existing federal support for rural hospitals and community health centers in places such as Wauchula and Arcadia. | Strongly agrees· stated position At the Sept. 23 forum Kirschner said the first thing he would push for in Congress is restoring the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that expired at the end of last year, which he said cost coverage for more than 200,000 families in the district and about 440,000 Floridians. He said he supports 'looking into' a Medicare for All approach. | Strongly agrees· stated position At the Sept. 23 forum Davis said he is an unapologetic supporter of universal health care, which he would fund by taxing billionaires. |
| Social Security & MedicareSocial Security and Medicare benefits must be protected from any cuts, even if that requires more revenue. | Strongly agrees· stated position Would protect Social Security and Medicare. | Strongly agrees· stated position At the Sept. 23 forum Kirschner said the payroll-tax cap should be scrapped so higher earners pay Social Security taxes on all of their income. | 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 | 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 | Leans agree· stated position Campaign materials prioritize water-quality protection and addressing 'unchecked development'; endorsed by the Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida. | No public position found |
| Elections & votingVoting should be made easier (mail voting, drop boxes, restoring voting rights) rather than adding new restrictions. | Strongly disagrees· stated position At the Sept. 23 forum Gruters said she supports the SAVE Act and a voter-identification requirement for voting. | Leans agree· stated position At the Sept. 23 forum Kirschner opposed a mandatory voter-identification requirement and called the SAVE Act a distraction from actual election-integrity questions. | Leans agree· stated position Davis lists protecting voting rights among the policy areas he cares most about, alongside equal rights and anti-corruption measures. He does not name specific voting bills. |
| Crime & policingCriminal penalties should be tougher and police funding increased, rather than emphasizing reform and rehabilitation. | No public position found | 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 | 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 | No public position found |
| Tariffs & tradeTariffs on imported goods are good for the American economy. | No public position found | Strongly disagrees· stated position In a written questionnaire posted by the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, Kirschner listed 'illegal tariff wars' first among federal actions he said are eroding local purchasing power, putting the cost at about $2,000 per household per year, alongside the end of enhanced ACA subsidies and rising insurance and fuel costs. | No public position found |
| UkraineThe U.S. should continue military aid to Ukraine. | No public position found | No public position found | No public position found |
| Trump administrationI approve of the direction of the Trump administration. | Strongly agrees· stated position In a WFLA News Channel 8 interview reported Sept. 25, Gruters said she is proud of President Donald Trump's endorsement and does not intend to distance herself from him. | Leans disagree· stated position Says working families 'were promised relief eighteen months ago but instead got higher rent, higher insurance, higher gasoline, and higher grocery bills,' and criticizes Donald Trump and Rick Scott for targeting immigrants. | No public position found |
| VeteransExpanding VA services and veterans' benefits should be a top priority. | Strongly agrees· stated position Would strengthen veterans' benefits. | 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.
RepublicanDemocraticNo Party Affiliation· photo or initials inside each bubble · hover or tap for details
Not enough documented positions to place: Mark Davis
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney Gruters | 0.25 (4 statements) | 1.75 (4 statements) |
| Kelly Kirschner | -1.50 (4 statements) | -1.00 (4 statements) |
| Mark Davis | not enough data | -1.25 (4 statements) |
Other issues the candidates have raised
Priorities each candidate has brought up on their own, beyond the major-issue list above.
Sydney Gruters
- Balanced federal budget — Says tackling inflation 'came down to balancing the budget' and cites her budget experience at foundations and the USDA.
- Election security — Names election security as one of six legislative priorities.
- Constituent service — Told WSLR every constituent will have access to her and her staff, citing seniors needing help with Social Security.
- Cost of living and inflation — Lists cost of living and inflation as top priorities, pledging 'conservative solutions' to rising prices.
- Data centers and utility costs — At the Sept. 23 forum Gruters said data-center developments should not raise costs for consumers and that technology companies should bear their own infrastructure costs. Data centers and Flock surveillance cameras were among the most-discussed topics at the forum.
- Congressional term limits and a stock-trading ban — Gruters is campaigning on affordability and on ending corruption in Congress, and says she supports congressional term limits and a ban on stock trading by members of Congress.
- Disaster relief rebuilding rule — At the Sept. 23 forum Gruters said she would waive the federal rule that limits reconstruction when repairs exceed 50% of a structure's value.
Kelly Kirschner
- Campaign-finance reform / no corporate PAC money — Says he takes no corporate PAC contributions and wants to end the influence of billionaires and lobbyists on Congress.
- War powers — Calls for an end to the 'blank check' era of foreign wars and pledges to hold Congress to its constitutional duty to declare war.
- FEMA funding and hurricane relief — Platform calls for a fully funded FEMA for hurricane relief.
- National catastrophic reinsurance fund — Proposes a federal catastrophic natural-disaster reinsurance fund to stabilize property-insurance markets.
- Artificial intelligence and company liability — At the Sept. 23 forum Kirschner said technology companies should be held liable for harms arising from artificial intelligence products.
- New College of Florida spending — Kirschner has criticized the cost of the state-directed changes at New College of Florida, saying a degree there now costs taxpayers far more than before; a state report last November put the figure at $494,715 per degree. Gruters was executive director of the New College Foundation for the past two years.
- Republican endorsements and internal poll — Kirschner held a press conference announcing endorsements from several Republicans, including former U.S. Rep. Dan Miller, who represented Sarasota from 1992 to 2002. Kirschner also released an internal poll showing him ahead by one point in a district drawn about 13 points Republican.
- Published paid-media plan drew criticism; performance at the Sept. 23 forum questioned — Florida Politics wrote on Sept. 29 that Kirschner's campaign website publishes a detailed paid-media plan describing the connected-television, YouTube, broadcast, cable and mail advertising he wants outside groups to fund, and called it a plea for a rescue that does not explain why the race merits investment. The column noted federal filings through July 29 showed Gruters with more than $1 million in receipts to about $297,000 for Kirschner, that Cook rates the seat Solid Republican, and that at the Sept. 23 League of Women Voters forum Gruters challenged him over owning stock in technology companies building AI data centers while criticizing them, and no-party candidate Mark Davis said in closing, 'I like Kelly, but he's a liar.'
- Pledged regular town halls across the six-county district — In the Chamber questionnaire Kirschner said the district's current representative has not held a town hall in more than a decade and that he would hold published town halls throughout the six-county district, and noted he served more than a decade on the St. Petersburg Chamber board.
Mark Davis
- Moderate, nonpartisan alternative — Says he is running as an independent to offer a moderate alternative, emphasizing fiscal responsibility and nonpartisan problem-solving.Sources: Mark Davis (Florida) - Ballotpedia
- How he describes his candidacy — Davis, a 42-year-old military veteran and businessman making his first run for office, told the Sept. 23 forum he entered the race out of frustration and at the urging of people in his community.
- July 2026 arrest — Davis was arrested in July 2026 on a misdemeanor charge of obstructing a police officer while Manatee County Sheriff's deputies served a court order at his home during a court-ordered welfare check on his children. Davis has said he believes the episode was connected to his political views and told WTSP that he raised more than $5,000 after the arrest became public.