U.S. House, District 4
Represents Florida's 4th 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
Florida Politics (Aug 18-19, 2026) reports L.J. Holloway won the Democratic primary and 'will face entrenched incumbent Aaron Bean in the Fall' ; . Bean's Republican primary result against Anthony Valerio was not found in snippets; 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
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Aaron Bean
Aaron Bean has represented the 4th District since 2023 and previously served in the Florida Senate and House. He faced Anthony Valerio in the Aug. 18, 2026 Republican primary; Florida Politics reports he is the Republican candidate in November. He was endorsed by President Trump for 2026, serves on the Ways and Means …
LaShonda "L.J." Holloway
LaShonda 'L.J.' Holloway won the Aug. 18, 2026 Democratic primary with about 57% of the vote over retired lawyer Michael Kirwan and Brit Robinson, a Democratic Socialist candidate, carrying Duval and Clay counties while trailing Kirwan in Nassau. She was the Democratic nominee against Bean in 2022 and 2024 and first r…
Todd Schaefer
Todd Schaefer is a no-party-affiliation candidate in Florida's 4th Congressional District and a retired Navy veteran. He argues that the two-party system has failed working Americans because large donors fund both parties. His signature proposal is what he calls the American Prosperity Card Act, aimed at recapturing m…
Mike Sell
Mike Sell is the Florida Forward Party candidate in Florida's 4th Congressional District. He was raised in a Navy family, started working in high school at minimum wage and built a career in operational excellence, earning a Six Sigma Black Belt and leading projects he says saved more than a quarter of a billion dolla…
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 | Aaron Bean Republican | LaShonda "L.J." Holloway Democratic | Todd Schaefer No Party Affiliation | Mike Sell Florida Forward Party |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taxes & spendingCutting taxes should be a top priority, even if it means less government spending on services. | Strongly agrees· based on record Voted for H.R. 1 (One Big Beautiful Bill Act) in 2025, which extended the 2017 individual tax cuts and created new deductions (tips, overtime) while reducing projected federal spending on Medicaid and SNAP. | No public position found | No public position found | Strongly disagrees· stated position Sell says the wealthiest should pay more, listing "ask the wealthiest to pay their fair share" and "tax the rich" among his core policies, alongside funding public education rather than cutting services. |
| Housing affordabilityGovernment should do more to make housing affordable (subsidies, zoning changes, rent measures). | No public position found | Strongly agrees· stated position Would lower rent, increase housing supply and make homeownership achievable. | Strongly agrees· stated position Schaefer says housing affordability should be addressed by getting private equity out of the housing market, pointing to rents and home prices that have risen sharply since 2020 and proposing to close tax advantages that let investors extract value. | Leans agree· stated position Sell says he would end price gouging on rent, groceries, health care and prescriptions and lower housing costs as part of making life affordable. |
| ImmigrationImmigration enforcement should be stricter, including large-scale deportation of people in the country illegally. | Strongly agrees· based on record Voted for the Laken Riley Act (Jan. 2025) and for H.R. 1's border-enforcement funding; in 2023 voted for H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, which his office described as fixing 'our broken asylum system.' | No public position found | 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). | Leans disagree· based on record Voted for H.R. 26, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (2023); SBA Pro-Life America's scorecard says he has voted consistently against taxpayer funding of abortion. A statement on Florida's six-week ban was not found. | No public position found | No public position found | Leans agree· stated position Sell lists defending bodily autonomy among his affordability and rights agenda, under the heading of making life better for working people. |
| 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 | Leans agree· stated position Sell lists enacting what he calls sensible gun legislation among the policies he is most passionate about. He does not specify which measures. |
| Health careGovernment should expand its role in health coverage (expand Medicaid in Florida, extend Affordable Care Act subsidies). | Leans disagree· based on record Voted for H.R. 1 (2025), which added Medicaid work-reporting requirements and other eligibility changes and did not extend the enhanced ACA premium subsidies; the vote is coded as leaning against expanding the federal role in coverage. Bean's office says he 'successfully fought for the inclusion' of stronger Medicaid work requirements for able-bodied adults. | Strongly agrees· stated position Calls quality care a basic human right and would expand Medicare coverage and lower premiums. | Strongly agrees· stated position Schaefer says the United States pays about twice what other countries pay for worse results and supports a single-payer system, or at minimum a public option, citing insurers' overhead compared with Medicare's. | No public position found |
| Social Security & MedicareSocial Security and Medicare benefits must be protected from any cuts, even if that requires more revenue. | Leans agree· stated position His office says H.R. 1 made 'no cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, or veterans' benefits,' and he co-leads a Ways and Means bill to simplify how seniors understand Social Security retirement ages and benefits. He serves on the Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee. A position on raising revenue for the programs was not found. | Strongly agrees· stated position Says Social Security must be protected and strengthened. | 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 | 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 | 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 Voted for H.R. 22, the SAVE Act (April 2025), which would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections; coded as supporting a new voting requirement rather than easing access. | Strongly agrees· stated position Wants every eligible citizen able to vote freely and without barriers. | Leans agree· stated position Schaefer supports ranked-choice voting so voters can back third-party or independent candidates without the spoiler effect, citing the large share of eligible Americans who do not vote. | No public position found |
| 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 | 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 | 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. | Leans agree· stated position Would invest in American clean energy. | 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 | Leans disagree· stated position Schaefer's campaign site says tariffs should be a last resort, that American consumers rather than foreign producers pay them, and that tariffs used to shield corporations leave consumers paying higher prices; he also criticizes U.S. use of sanctions and tariffs as foreign-policy tools. | No public position found |
| UkraineThe U.S. should continue military aid to Ukraine. | No public position found | No public position found | Leans disagree· stated position Schaefer lists military aid to Ukraine and Israel among foreign commitments he would cut back as part of reducing defense spending and redirecting money to domestic needs. He does not single out Ukraine aid beyond that. | No public position found |
| Trump administrationI approve of the direction of the Trump administration. | Strongly agrees· stated position Endorsed by President Trump for 2026; 'applauded' the President's signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and spoke on the House floor in support. | 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 Calls for fully funding VA health care, expanding mental-health and housing services, and delivering earned benefits on time. | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Aaron Bean | 0.75 (4 statements) | 1.33 (6 statements) |
| LaShonda "L.J." Holloway | -1.75 (4 statements) | not enough data |
| Todd Schaefer | not enough data | not enough data |
| Mike Sell | 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.
Aaron Bean
- Medicaid work requirements — Says he fought to include stronger work requirements for able-bodied adults on Medicaid in H.R. 1.
- Social Security simplification bill — Co-leads legislation with Rep. Lloyd Smucker, passed by the Ways and Means Committee, to help seniors understand retirement ages and monthly benefits.
- H.R. 591 Defending American Jobs and Investment Act — Joined Ways and Means colleagues to introduce a bill aimed at discouraging foreign countries from imposing what he calls unfair taxes on U.S. businesses.
- School choice — Marked National School Choice Week (Jan. 2025) by visiting Clay County schools; a federal voucher position was not found.
- Government funding votes — Voted for continuing resolutions to keep the government open and to end a partial shutdown.
LaShonda "L.J." Holloway
- Prescription drug costs — Platform calls for lower prescription drug costs and expanded Medicare coverage.
- Housing supply and homeownership — Would work to increase housing supply and make homeownership achievable for working families.
- VA mental health and housing — Would expand VA mental-health and housing services.
- State stock-trading disclosure form — The Florida Phoenix reported that Holloway checked the box on Florida's new federal-candidate form saying she intends to trade stocks if elected; the paper said she did not respond to a request for comment.
Todd Schaefer
- Money in politics — Schaefer's first priority is getting money out of politics: he opposes the Citizens United and SpeechNow decisions and wants to close the revolving door between government and industry.
- Defense spending and foreign policy — He opposes further increases in the Pentagon budget and would shift money toward health care, education and domestic manufacturing, favoring diplomacy over military force.
- Minimum wage and ranked-choice voting — Schaefer supports raising the minimum wage and tying it to inflation, and backs ranked-choice voting to loosen the two parties' hold on elections.
Mike Sell
- Universal basic income and wages — Sell says he would champion a universal basic income and fight for higher wages, arguing people work harder than ever and still fall behind.
- Political reform — He supports getting money out of politics, fair district maps, term limits and accountability for officials who he says broke the public's trust.