U.S. House, District 18
Represents Florida's 18th 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
Incumbent Scott Franklin (R), Democrat Curtis Gibson and NPA candidate Deva Simmons are on the Nov. 3 ballot. Ballotpedia's district page lists Gibson as the Democratic nominee who advanced from the Aug. 18 primary (an NBC News results page had shown him well ahead of Tiffanie Luong, and the Polk County Democratic Party is promoting his general-election candidacy), so the Democratic nominee is now treated as confirmed.
Candidates
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Scott Franklin
Scott Franklin has represented the district since January 2021 (first elected in the old 15th, then the 18th after 2022 redistricting). He served in the U.S. Navy from 1986 to 2000 and the Navy Reserve from 2000 to 2012, worked in business, and was a Lakeland city commissioner. He is the Republican nominee on the Nov.…
Curtis Gibson
Curtis Gibson is a lifelong Lake Wales resident, former Lake Wales city commissioner, former mall manager and small-business owner; he ran for Lake Wales mayor in 2022 and 2025. He entered the CD 18 race against Rep. Scott Franklin and is listed by Ballotpedia as the Democratic nominee advancing from the Aug. 18, 2026…
Deva Simmons
Deva Simmons moved to Florida in 1995 and settled in Polk County in 2002; she has worked in education for more than two decades as a teacher and mentor and lists community service with the Boys & Girls Club of Lakeland and other local organizations. She is a no-party-affiliation candidate on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot fo…
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 | Scott Franklin Republican | Curtis Gibson Democratic | Deva Simmons No Party Affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxes & spendingCutting taxes should be a top priority, even if it means less government spending on services. | Strongly agrees· based on record Franklin voted for H.R. 1 (the One Big Beautiful Bill Act) on final passage in July 2025. The law made the 2017 individual tax-rate cuts permanent and added new deductions while reducing projected federal spending on Medicaid and SNAP. | 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 | No public position found |
| ImmigrationImmigration enforcement should be stricter, including large-scale deportation of people in the country illegally. | Strongly agrees· based on record Franklin voted for the Laken Riley Act (mandatory federal detention of unauthorized immigrants arrested for theft and certain other offenses) in January 2025 and for H.R. 1, which appropriated funds for border-wall construction, Border Patrol hiring and expanded immigration detention and removal operations. Sources: S.5 - Laken Riley Act (119th Congress) - Congress.gov (2025-01-29) · House Roll Call 23 (S. 5, Laken Riley Act, Jan. 22, 2025) -… (2025-01-22) · H.R.1 - One Big Beautiful Bill Act (119th Congress) - Congr… (2025-07-04) · House Roll Call 190 (final passage of H.R. 1, July 3, 2025)… (2025-07-03) | 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). | Strongly disagrees· stated position Franklin has described himself as 'a defender of the unborn' who would welcome any decision overturning Roe v. Wade; SBA Pro-Life America records him as voting consistently to restrict abortion and bar taxpayer funding of it. | 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 | No public position found |
| Health careGovernment should expand its role in health coverage (expand Medicaid in Florida, extend Affordable Care Act subsidies). | Leans disagree· based on record Franklin voted for H.R. 1, which added work-reporting requirements and more frequent eligibility checks for Medicaid expansion enrollees and reduced projected federal Medicaid spending. No statement on expanding Medicaid in Florida or extending ACA subsidies was found. | No public position found | Strongly agrees· stated position Platform calls for protecting and expanding the Affordable Care Act and lowering drug costs for seniors. |
| Social Security & MedicareSocial Security and Medicare benefits must be protected from any cuts, even if that requires more revenue. | Leans agree· based on record Voted for the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), the 2024 law repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset, raising benefits for some public-sector retirees. | 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 | Leans disagree· stated position Platform calls for protecting public schools from defunding and raising teacher pay. |
| 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 | No public position found |
| Elections & votingVoting should be made easier (mail voting, drop boxes, restoring voting rights) rather than adding new restrictions. | Leans disagree· based on record Franklin voted for the SAVE Act (H.R. 22), which would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. No statement on mail voting or drop boxes was found. | No public position found | Strongly agrees· stated position Platform calls for protecting voting rights for all citizens and fighting gerrymandering. |
| Crime & policingCriminal penalties should be tougher and police funding increased, rather than emphasizing reform and rehabilitation. | Leans agree· based on record Voted for the Protecting Our Nation's Capital Emergency Act (H.R. 2096), the 2025 bill repealing parts of the District of Columbia police-accountability law; a vote for it is coded as leaning toward tougher policing. | 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. | Leans agree· based on record Voted for the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act (H.R. 28), the 2025 bill barring transgender girls and women from female school sports under Title IX; a vote for it is coded as leaning toward keeping restrictions 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. | Leans disagree· based on record Voted for the Protecting American Energy Production Act (H.R. 26), the 2025 bill barring a presidential moratorium on hydraulic fracturing without an act of Congress; a vote for it is coded as leaning toward fossil-fuel production. | No public position found | Leans agree· stated position Wants to create good-paying jobs in clean energy. |
| Tariffs & tradeTariffs on imported goods are good for the American economy. | No public position found | No public position found | 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. | 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 | Strongly agrees· stated position Would cut red tape so Heartland veterans can get timely local care. | 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.
Curtis GibsonDeva SimmonsHow 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Scott Franklin | 0.75 (4 statements) | 1.40 (5 statements) |
| Curtis Gibson | not enough data | not enough data |
| Deva Simmons | 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.
Scott Franklin
- SCHEDULES Act of 2026 (H.R. 8199) — Introduced a 2026 bill referred to the House Veterans' Affairs Committee; the bill's contents were not captured in this research.
- Health and agriculture legislation — Ballotpedia and Congress.gov describe him as a sponsor of health- and agriculture-related bills for the Polk County-centered district.
- Military background — Served in the U.S. Navy (1986-2000) and Navy Reserve (2000-2012) before entering business and local politics in Lakeland.Sources: Scott Franklin - Ballotpedia
- State stock-trading disclosure form — The Florida Phoenix reported that Franklin checked the box on Florida's new federal-candidate form saying he intends to trade stocks if re-elected; the paper said he did not respond to a request for comment.
Curtis Gibson
- Property insurance stability — One of three headline campaign priorities; specifics not captured.
- Property tax relief — One of three headline campaign priorities; specifics not captured.
- Veterans' health-care access — Pledges to cut red tape facing returning veterans.
- Middle-class cost of living — Campaign says he 'knows the weight of making payroll, the cost of groceries' as a former small-business owner and mall manager.
Deva Simmons
- Affordable health care, economic stability and quality education — Campaign lists these three as her focus areas.
- Community service in Polk County — Cites involvement with the Boys & Girls Club of Lakeland, the Polk County Supervisor of Elections, the AGB Museum of Art and kidsPACK.