Your Republican Ballot This November

The August primary is behind us. The Republican ticket for the November 3 general election is set, and every registered Polk County voter will see most of these names on their ballot. Here is the full slate — who they are, what they have done, and what each race decides.

How to read this. Some races were settled in August. Rick Wilson won County Commission District 2 outright in a universal primary — no Democrat filed, so the August vote decided the seat. Justin Sharpless won School Board District 6 outright, and Kay Fields won School Board District 5 outright the same night. Those seats are decided. Everything below still has an election ahead of it on November 3.

Polk County

School Board, District 3 — Kate Wallace vs. Victor Sims. The only county race still genuinely contested, and the one where a single vote carries the most weight. Wallace was appointed to the board by Governor DeSantis in November 2025 and led the August primary with 45 percent of the vote in a three-way field — ten points ahead of Sims — but because neither cleared 50 percent, they meet again in November. A Bartow native, Wallace is running on student achievement, teacher pay and parental choice; Sims enters with the backing of the county Democratic establishment and national progressive organizations. This race will help decide whether Polk classrooms are run by the parents and educators who know them or by Tallahassee's opposition. Read our case for Kate Wallace.

County Commission, District 4 — Omar Arroyo. The former Mayor of Haines City and small-business owner is the Republican nominee for the District 4 seat, covering Poinciana, Davenport and one of the fastest-growing corners of Florida. Growth is the issue: roads, schools and services have to keep up with rooftops, and Arroyo has governed a city doing exactly that. He faces only a write-in candidate in November. Read our case for Omar Arroyo.

Florida House

District 48 — Rep. Jonathan Albert vs. Alethea Pugh. Albert, a Frostproof business owner first elected in 2024 and endorsed for re-election by President Trump, represents a district in eastern Polk County. He faces Democrat Alethea Pugh of Dundee.

District 49 — Rep. Jennifer Kincart Jonsson. Kincart Jonsson represents the Winter Haven corridor, including Winter Haven, Bartow, Mulberry and Fort Meade. Born and raised in Polk County, she has fought for school choice, local law enforcement and the water and road funding our growing communities need, and she has earned a second term.

District 50 — Rep. Jennifer Canady. Canady, Lakeland's own legislator, is the Speaker-designate of the Florida House and on track to lead the entire chamber. Her committee chairmanship gives Polk County a seat at the head of the table on education and budget policy.

District 51 — Rep. Hilary Holley. Holley, a nonprofit executive director, won the March special election for this Polk County seat with 54 percent of the vote. On November 3, she asks voters for a full term to keep fighting for smart infrastructure, conservative budgeting and the farmland and rural character that make Polk County home.

Florida Senate

District 12 — Sen. Colleen Burton. Burton represented Lakeland in the House before winning her Senate seat, and District 12 covers much of Polk County. Seniority in the Senate majority means constituent service and budget influence that a freshman senator cannot match.

U.S. House

District 9 — Dan Green vs. Darren Soto. Green, a Vero Beach Navy veteran and former Trump Pentagon appointee, challenges U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, the incumbent Democrat, in a district that reaches only a small corner of southeastern Polk County, around Frostproof and Indian Lake Estates. Endorsed by President Donald J. Trump, he has campaigned on affordability, peace through strength and backing law enforcement.

District 16 — Sydney Gruters. Gruters, endorsed by President Trump before she even launched her campaign, won a contested primary for this newly redrawn district that reaches into southern Polk around Fort Meade and Bradley Junction. She is running to succeed the retiring Vern Buchanan and to give southern Polk a strong conservative voice in Washington.

District 18 — Rep. Scott Franklin. Franklin, a Navy veteran and former Lakeland city commissioner first elected in 2020, seeks another term representing a district anchored in Polk County. He is endorsed for re-election by President Trump.

Statewide

Florida's five statewide offices are all on the ballot, and every Polk voter casts a vote in each:

Governor — Byron Donalds vs. David Jolly. Donalds, endorsed by President Trump, is a Southwest Florida congressman making the case for four more years of Florida-first leadership on taxes, schools and safety. Jolly is a former Republican congressman turned MSNBC analyst running as a Democrat.

U.S. Senate — Sen. Ashley Moody vs. Angie Nixon. Moody served two terms as Florida's Attorney General before her appointment to the Senate; Nixon is a Jacksonville state representative and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, which she joined this June. Her record is far to the left of most Floridians.

Attorney General — James Uthmeier vs. Jose Javier Rodriguez. The incumbent Attorney General, endorsed by President Trump, against a former Democratic state senator.

Chief Financial Officer — Blaise Ingoglia vs. Annette Taddeo. The incumbent CFO, endorsed by the Republican Party of Florida, against a former Miami-area state senator.

Commissioner of Agriculture — Wilton Simpson. Simpson is a working farmer who has spent nearly four years running the Department of Agriculture, and he knows what Polk County's citrus growers and cattle ranchers need from Tallahassee.

What you can do now

Election Day is Tuesday, November 3; polls open 7 AM to 7 PM, and you will need photo ID with a signature. The deadline to register or change party is Monday, October 5. The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot is Thursday, October 22 at 5 PM — requests from 2024 have expired, so if you want to vote by mail you must ask again. Early voting runs October 19–31, from 9 AM to 6 PM daily, and any Polk voter may use any early voting site in the county.

Check your registration, find your precinct, and request your mail ballot at the Voting Resource Center. Then forward this page to one neighbor who needs it.