U.S. House, District 26
Represents Florida's 26th 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
Roster from CBS Miami primary coverage and local (Coral Springs/Miramar/Pembroke Pines News) reporting: Mario Diaz-Balart (R) and Nicole Locklin (D) were each unopposed in their primaries; Deborah Meidinger Hosey (NPA) is also on the November ballot. County makeup under the new map was not confirmed beyond Miami-Dade.
Candidates
Mario Diaz-Balart
Mario Diaz-Balart has served in the U.S. House since 2003 and previously served in the Florida Legislature. He chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee on National Security, Department of State and Related Programs. He was unopposed in the Aug. 18, 2026 Republican primary for the 26th District. Local coverage desc…
Nicole Locklin
Nicole Locklin is a Miami-based attorney with more than a decade of experience in law, compliance and business operations, including work at Nextdoor beginning in 2020 and most recently as lead commercial legal counsel for health care and life sciences at Databricks. Local coverage says she is originally from Oklahoma…
Deborah Meidinger Hosey
Deborah Ann Meidinger Hosey qualified without party affiliation for the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot in District 26 and faces Republican Mario Diaz-Balart and Democrat Nicole Locklin. No campaign website, biography or issue statements were found in searches as of Sept. 2026.
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 | Mario Diaz-Balart Republican | Nicole Locklin Democratic | Deborah Meidinger Hosey 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 Diaz-Balart voted for H.R. 1 (2025) and said it 'responsibly reduces excess spending' while making the 2017 tax cuts permanent, which he said averted a 24% tax hike for the average FL-26 taxpayer. Sources: Diaz-Balart applauds passage of President Trump's One Big B… (2025-07) · Diaz-Balart: President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Will … (2025) · House Roll Call 190 on H.R. 1 (final passage, 218-214), Jul… (2025-07-03) · H.R.1 - One Big Beautiful Bill Act (119th Congress) - Congr… (2025-07-04) | Strongly disagrees· stated position Locklin advocates higher taxes on billionaires and large corporations to fund investments in health care, housing, education and jobs. | No public position found |
| Housing affordabilityGovernment should do more to make housing affordable (subsidies, zoning changes, rent measures). | No public position found | Leans agree· stated position Locklin lists affordable housing among the investments she would fund with higher taxes on billionaires and corporations, and cites rising housing costs in the district. | No public position found |
| ImmigrationImmigration enforcement should be stricter, including large-scale deportation of people in the country illegally. | Mixed / neutral· based on record Diaz-Balart voted for the Laken Riley Act (mandatory detention for certain arrested unauthorized immigrants) and for border-security funding in H.R. 1, but opposed the administration's termination of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans and co-sponsored earlier TPS protection legislation, calling for case-by-case relief. Sources: Diaz-Balart Statement on TPS for Venezuelans (mariodiazbala… (2025) · Venezuelans in Florida angry at Trump TPS immigration move … (2025-02-04) · House Roll Call 23 on S. 5, Laken Riley Act (263-156), Jan.… (2025-01-22) · S.5 - Laken Riley Act (119th Congress) - Congress.gov (2025-01-29) · Immigration issue page (mariodiazbalart.house.gov) | Strongly disagrees· stated position Locklin campaigns on ending immigration raids and supports abolishing ICE, emphasizing constitutional due-process protections before anyone is detained or removed. | No public position found |
| AbortionAbortion should be legal in most cases (Florida's six-week ban should be repealed or loosened). | Strongly disagrees· based on record SBA Pro-Life America's scorecard says Diaz-Balart has voted consistently to protect the unborn and to stop taxpayer funding of abortion; his office says he protected long-standing pro-life provisions in FY26 appropriations. NARAL has rated his voting record 0%. | 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 Diaz-Balart voted for H.R. 1 (2025), which added Medicaid work requirements and other changes the CBO projected would reduce coverage; he says the bill protects Medicaid and Medicare benefits 'for eligible Americans in need.' | Strongly agrees· stated position Locklin says health care is a human right and supports the fastest path to guaranteed universal coverage, whether Medicare for All, a strong public option or a Medicare buy-in. | 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 | 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 Her campaign lists 'reversing climate change' among the priorities she would fight for. | 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 Diaz-Balart voted for the SAVE Act (H.R. 22, April 2025), which would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote (it passed 220-208 with every voting Republican in favor); in 2026 he weighed in on adding SAVE America Act provisions to a reconciliation package. | 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 | 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. | Leans disagree· based on record Diaz-Balart voted for H.R. 1 (2025) and highlighted that it would 'unleash American energy' by reversing Biden-era energy policies; no statement supporting renewable mandates or utility-rate oversight was found. | No public position found | No public position found |
| 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. | Strongly agrees· based on record Diaz-Balart voted for the $60.8 billion Ukraine Security Supplemental (H.R. 8035, April 2024), saying lawmakers could 'turn our heads away and hope to appease this great evil, or we can stand with our allies.' | No public position found | No public position found |
| Trump administrationI approve of the direction of the Trump administration. | Leans agree· stated position Diaz-Balart repeatedly praised 'President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill' and voted for it, but publicly opposed the administration's move to end TPS for Venezuelans. | No public position found | No public position found |
| VeteransExpanding VA services and veterans' benefits should be a top priority. | No public position found | Leans agree· stated position Her campaign lists 'expanded benefits for veterans' among her priorities. | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mario Diaz-Balart | 1.33 (3 statements) | 1.00 (4 statements) |
| Nicole Locklin | -1.67 (3 statements) | not enough data |
| Deborah Meidinger Hosey | 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.
Mario Diaz-Balart
- Venezuelan TPS and case-by-case relief — He opposed ending TPS for Venezuelans and, with Reps. Gimenez and Salazar, issued a joint statement in solidarity with Venezuelans.
- Appropriations / national security funding — As subcommittee chair he touts FY26 appropriations bills for 'stronger national security, less waste.'
- Tax relief — He emphasizes making the 2017 tax cuts permanent.
- Border security funding — He cites H.R. 1's border-security investments.
Nicole Locklin
- Anti-corruption and affordability platform — Locklin's launch announcement centers her campaign on affordability, anti-corruption, economic justice and ending 'endless wars,' citing rising housing costs and insurance premiums in the district.
- Anti-corruption / no corporate PAC money — She pledges to reject corporate PAC money and to fight government corruption.
- Ending 'endless wars' and Palestine — She calls for an end to 'endless and unauthorized wars' and shifting spending to domestic priorities; her site has a Palestine issue page.
- Cuban relief effort — Local coverage lists the Cuban relief effort among her campaign themes.
- Labor unions and jobs — She lists strengthening labor unions and good-paying jobs among her priorities.
- Animal rights — Her campaign lists animal rights among the issues she would fight for.
Deborah Meidinger Hosey
No additional issues found in public statements as of the last data review.