United States Senator
- Ashley MoodyREP
- Angie NixonDEM
- Neil J. GillespieNPA
No pick marked. Decide at the polls, or leave it blank.
This is an example ballot.
Yours may have different races, depending on where you live in Hillsborough County. Statewide and countywide races are the same for everyone.
The example is ballot style 40300 (precinct 403).
Hillsborough County, Florida · Official sample ballot
General Election — November 3, 2026
- Ballot style 40300
- Precinct 403
- 23 contests
- Early voting Oct 19 – Nov 1
- Election Day Tue Nov 3 · 7:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Tap an option to mark your picks. They're saved only in this browser, so nothing is sent anywhere. Candidate order and ballot wording match the official ballot.
Federal
United States Senator
Creative Loafing’s pick: Angie Nixon why
- Nixon won the Democratic primary decisively despite being outspent 16 to 1 by the party's preferred candidate, and CL calls her easy to get behind.
- She was a single mother for 12 years and runs a Jacksonville bookstore and coffee shop. In six years in the Legislature she filed early-learning bills, fought cuts to public schools and limits on abortion, and was arrested protesting the gerrymandered congressional maps.
- Her agenda, as CL reports it: extend Affordable Care Act subsidies first, lower costs, shore up Social Security and protect families from medical bankruptcy, partly by raising taxes on the very wealthy.
- CL relays Nixon's case against Ashley Moody: Moody's role in the Hope Florida scandal, her stock trading, her vote for the "Big Beautiful Bill" and its Medicaid cuts, and her refusal to debate.
The guide lists Nixon without a write-up; these reasons are from CL's Oct. 19 story on her Ybor City rally, which recommends her.
Ray Roa (with Dave Decker), In Ybor City, Angie Nixon and Bernie Sanders rally against ‘lying, cheating, scheming, thieving Ashley Moody’ (w/photos)
Representative in Congress District 14
Creative Loafing’s pick: Kathy Castor why
- Castor is one of the hardest-working members of Congress and has reliably brought federal money home to Tampa Bay projects over her 20 years.
- CL grants the case against her: a long tenure, and some Democrats cooled on her after she was among a handful who backed a House resolution denouncing socialism.
- The deciding factor is her opponent. Mike Beltran calls himself "MAGA Mike," and CL argues that loyalty to Trump makes him no check on the executive branch, whatever his reputation for breaking with Florida Republicans.
Ray Roa, Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: Hillsborough and Pinellas congressional seats
Representative in Congress District 12
Creative Loafing’s pick: Kimberly Overman why
- Overman, a former Hillsborough County commissioner, is the more qualified candidate, with a focus on affordable housing and access to health care.
- She wants to overturn Citizens United, protect reproductive rights and do more for military families.
- CL rejects the Tampa Bay Times' recommendation of Gus Bilirakis and points to the Times' own reporting: a 2023 letter seeking a lighter sentence for a Jan. 6 rioter who had guns and explosives, campaign money from pharmacy operators later indicted for fraud, and an ad taking credit for an opioid law he didn't write.
- Bilirakis also defended his vote for Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," which CL calls one of the worst laws in modern history.
Colin Wolf, Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: Hillsborough and Pinellas congressional seats
Representative in Congress District 15
Creative Loafing’s pick: Robert People why
- CL says the Tampa Bay Times passed on People for thin reasons (a small campaign budget, no time in office) and suspects his platform was the real objection: Medicare for All, corporate accountability and no arms shipments to Israel. CL's editors back those positions.
- People is an Army veteran who argues Democrats should run candidates unafraid to be impolite, and he won his primary despite a cool reception from the state party.
- Against Laurel Lee: as Secretary of State she oversaw the online voter registration crash the night before the deadline, confusion over whether former felons could vote, and vote-by-mail changes CL calls voter suppression. CL calls her a DeSantis loyalist who shouldn't hold office again.
Colin Wolf, Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: Hillsborough and Pinellas congressional seats
State Executive
Governor and Lieutenant Governor
Creative Loafing’s pick: David Jolly / Gwen Graham why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
Attorney General
Creative Loafing’s pick: José Javier Rodríguez why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
Chief Financial Officer
Creative Loafing’s pick: Annette Taddeo why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
Commissioner of Agriculture
Creative Loafing’s pick: Joey Mendoza Atkins why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
State Legislature
State Senator District 14
Creative Loafing’s pick: Brian Nathan why
- CL calls the Republican ad tying Nathan to the Party for Socialism and Liberation a desperate smear: it is built on a CL photo from a May Day workers' rally that the West Central Florida Labor Council helped organize.
- Nathan, who won the seat in a special election in March, stands with working people; CL sees that as a belief that honest work should pay for a dignified life, not as socialism.
- Against Josie Tomkow: in nearly eight years in the Legislature she voted for the 2023 limits on public-sector unions (SB 256), skipped the final vote on the 2024 bill blocking local heat-protection and wage rules (HB 433), and this year voted for a law making public-sector union recertification harder.
- More broadly, CL says Florida Republicans claim to be the workers' party while resisting minimum-wage increases, banning local living-wage rules for contractors and loosening child-labor protections.
Ray Roa, Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: Tampa Bay's Florida State Senators
State Senator District 20
Creative Loafing’s pick: Gerald Baldi why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
State Representative District 64
Creative Loafing’s pick: Luis Salazar why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
State Representative District 65
Creative Loafing’s pick: Ben Braver why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
State Representative District 66
Creative Loafing’s pick: José A. 'Dante' Sánchez Sánchez why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
State Representative District 67
Creative Loafing’s pick: Luis Viera why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
State Representative District 68
Creative Loafing’s pick: Tony Smith why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
State Representative District 69
Creative Loafing’s pick: Ashley Elizabeth Herrmann why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
State Representative District 70
Creative Loafing’s pick: Luther Keith Wilkins why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
County
Board of County Commissioners District 1
Creative Loafing’s pick: Harry Cohen why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
Board of County Commissioners District 3
Creative Loafing’s pick: Gwen Myers why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
Board of County Commissioners District 5
Creative Loafing’s pick: Neil Manimala why
- Manimala is the only commission candidate with a comprehensive plan to make it possible to live in Hillsborough without a car: better transit and less strain on the roads, which CL sees as the county's core growth, safety, cost and health problem.
- CL expects him to work with both parties and calls him a hard worker with fresh ideas.
- CL credits Stacy Hahn's eight years on the School Board and her primary win over incumbent Donna Cameron Cepeda, but argues Manimala is the one who can fix how the county gets around.
Valerie Smith, Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: Hillsborough County Commission, School Board and referendums
Board of County Commissioners District 7
Creative Loafing’s pick: Aileen Rodriguez why
- Against incumbent Joshua Wostal: he opposed the county's health care program for low-income residents and funding for local arts, refused to sign commendations for Tampa Pride and the Tampa Organization of Black Affairs' MLK breakfast, and builds no coalitions; even his popular vote against Rays stadium money drew only one ally.
- His PAC took a late $50,000 check from developer Homes by West Bay, its largest ever and over $62,000 in all from that developer; its next-largest donor is tied to the lawsuit that killed the All For Transportation tax.
- Rodriguez, a former director for U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, has long been active in the community and brings steady, practical ideas on transit and responsible growth. She also beat former Clerk of Court Cindy Stuart in the primary.
- With the commission possibly growing, CL wants a member who unifies rather than divides.
Ray Roa, Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: Hillsborough County Commission, School Board and referendums
School Board Member District 6
Creative Loafing’s pick: Karen Perez why
- The race is nonpartisan, but Ken Gay's largest donor is the Hillsborough County Republican Party, which gave him $5,000 in September and endorsed him. CL describes that party as anti-union and fixated on DEI, Muslims in classrooms and transgender students.
- CL says voters are tired of culture-war bait in school board races.
- Perez, a social worker and strong public school advocate, is the most qualified, and CL sees no reason not to re-elect her.
Colin Wolf, Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: Hillsborough County Commission, School Board and referendums
School Board Member District 2
Creative Loafing’s pick: Daniela Simic why
- Simic is, in CL's words, qualified beyond comparison: a former teacher with a bachelor's in elementary education and a master's in educational policy and leadership.
- She has been an assistant superintendent in Hillsborough, worked in Florida's Bureau of School Improvement, and was vice president of advocacy for the Hillsborough County Council PTA.
- Against Brittany Lyssy, a former Tampa Bay Young Republicans president: CL doubts she lives in the county, saying her family's homesteaded house is in Longboat Key while she lists a small downtown Tampa condo. Lyssy has denied the residency doubts.
- CL also faults her group's invitation of the Tate brothers to speak in Tampa after they were charged with rape and trafficking (she says she had no part in it), her lack of a public-education background, and what CL calls a history of politicizing classrooms.
Colin Wolf, Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: Hillsborough County Commission, School Board and referendums
Judicial Retention
Carlos G. Muñiz
Creative Loafing’s pick: No why
- A retention vote asks whether a justice has done the job as it should be done, not whether you like his politics. Here, CL says, the answer turns on respect for settled precedent (stare decisis).
- In 2020, soon after joining the court with no prior judicial experience, Muñiz joined a majority that dropped Florida's test for overruling precedent, so that reliance and stability no longer count on their own.
- In April 2024 he joined the ruling that the state constitution's privacy clause never protected abortion, overturning 35 years of precedent and triggering the six-week ban. Nothing in the constitution had changed, only the court's membership.
- He also joined the 2020 rewrite of Florida's summary-judgment rule, which CL argues takes disputed cases away from juries. Justice Jorge Labarga, a Republican appointee, dissented both times.
- No Florida justice has ever lost a retention vote; CL argues a No is how this check is meant to work, whatever you think of abortion.
The guide lists No without a write-up; the reasons are from an op-ed CL published Oct. 13.
Creative Loafing op-ed (posted by Ray Roa), Op-ed: Vote 'No' on retaining Florida Supreme Court Justice Carlos Muñiz
Shall Justice Carlos G. Muñiz of the Supreme Court be retained in office?
Drew Atkinson
Creative Loafing’s pick: No why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
Shall Judge Drew Atkinson of the Second District Court of Appeal be retained in office?
Morris Silberman
Creative Loafing’s pick: Yes why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
Shall Judge Morris Silberman of the Second District Court of Appeal be retained in office?
Daniel H. Sleet
Creative Loafing’s pick: Yes why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
Shall Judge Daniel H. Sleet of the Second District Court of Appeal be retained in office?
Andrea Teves Smith
Creative Loafing’s pick: No why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
Shall Judge Andrea Teves Smith of the Second District Court of Appeal be retained in office?
State Constitutional Amendments
Amendment No. 1
Budget Stabilization Fund
Creative Loafing’s pick: No why
- It would let the state's rainy-day fund grow from 10% to 25% of general revenue; Florida TaxWatch says reaching that could take 22 years.
- The fund, created in 1992, is nearly full and hasn't been drawn on since 2008. Nothing needs fixing.
- CL doesn't want to give Tallahassee more control over tax money, and notes Gov. DeSantis is also urging a No.
Ray Roa, Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: Florida's Constitutional Amendments
Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution to increase the amount of funds that may be retained in the budget stabilization fund from 10% to 25% of general revenue collections, require the legislature to transfer the lesser of $750 million or the amount required to reach 25% of the general revenue collections each year unless certain conditions are met, and allow the legislature to withdraw funds for critical state needs.
Amendment No. 2
Exemption of Tangible Personal Property on Agricultural Land from Taxation
Creative Loafing’s pick: No why
- It's a property-tax break for farm equipment, costing local governments roughly $31 million a year.
- CL calls it a special-interest break that helps big agriculture most; small farms already pay less because every business's first $25,000 of equipment is exempt.
- Lawmakers should find better ways to help small family farms and farmworkers.
Ray Roa, Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: Florida's Constitutional Amendments
Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution to exempt tangible personal property habitually located or typically present on land classified as agricultural, used in the production of agricultural products or for agritourism activities, and owned by the landowner or leaseholder of the agricultural land from ad valorem taxation. If approved this amendment would first apply for tax years beginning January 1, 2027.
Amendment No. 3
Increased Homestead Exemption; Lower Cap on Increases in Non-Homestead Property Assessments
Creative Loafing’s pick: No why
- State economists estimate local governments would lose about $11.8 billion a year by 2031–32. Even police and firefighter unions urge a No.
- It was rushed through a three-day special session, and a judge threw out the first ballot title and summary.
- The Florida Realtors lobby has put millions behind it. CL calls it a distraction from property insurance, the real cost problem, and a hypocritical power grab that would leave cities begging Tallahassee for money.
- CL notes that even some of the amendment's former champions now say they'll vote No.
Ray Roa, Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: Florida's Constitutional Amendments
This amendment increases the homestead exemption, for all non-school taxes, to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, and adjusts for inflation thereafter. It requires the Legislature to prescribe a uniform procedure for counties and municipalities, for their respective levies, to increase the homestead exemption up to full assessed value, and allows special districts, subject to referendum approval, to do the same.
Persons who are not Florida residents on December 31, 2026, will receive the existing homestead exemption upon qualifying for a homestead exemption, with the increased homestead exemption beginning with the fifth year of exemption, to the extent permitted by the U.S. Constitution.
This amendment reduces the annual cap on assessment increases for non-homestead properties from 10% to 5%.
This amendment requires counties and municipalities to use property taxes solely for public safety, education and schools, infrastructure, natural resources, bond debt service, retirement benefits for employees, and operations and administration. Other expenditures may be approved by county officers or county or municipal governing bodies unless prohibited by general law, notwithstanding Article VII, Section 9(a) of the Florida Constitution, which allows counties and municipalities to levy property taxes for their respective purposes.
This amendment takes effect January 1, 2027.
Hillsborough County Referendums
Referendum No. 1
Providing for an Elected, Rather than an Appointed, Superintendent of Schools
Creative Loafing’s pick: No why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
Shall Chapter 2026-196, Laws of Florida, which provides that the Superintendent of Schools for Hillsborough County Public Schools shall no longer be appointed by the School Board, but shall be elected in a partisan election for a term of 4 years, beginning with the 2028 general election, become effective?
Referendum No. 2
Amending the County Charter to Increase Number of County Commissioners, All Elected From Single-Member Districts
Creative Loafing’s pick: No why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
Shall the Hillsborough County Charter be amended to increase the number of members of board of county commissioners from 7 to 9 members, with an increase to 11 members once the county has a population of at least 2,500,000, require all county commissioners to be elected to office from single-member districts by electors residing in each of those districts only?
Referendum No. 3
One-Half Cent Sales Surtax for Public School Air Conditioning and Capital Improvements
Creative Loafing’s pick: Yes (renew the school sales tax) why
Creative Loafing listed this pick in its guide without a write-up.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we're voting for
Shall a one-half cent school capital outlay sales surtax be continued for a ten (10) year levy by the School Board of Hillsborough County beginning January 1, 2029, to fund air conditioning replacement and repairs, capital improvements and construction of other schools, building enhancements for school security and other maintenance needs?