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One hundred fifty-nine candidates are running for Florida’s 28 U.S. House districts — the most since 2014

By

Briana Ryan

This year’s filing deadline for candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida was June 12, 2026.

These are the first elections to take place since the Florida Legislature passed a new congressional map. The Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate passed it on April 29, 2026. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed the new congressional map into law on May 4, 2026.

This year has the highest number of candidates since 2014. One hundred fifty-nine candidates — 72 Democrats and 87 Republicans — are running for Florida’s 28 congressional districts. That’s 5.7 candidates per district. There were 3.6 candidates per district in 2024, 5.4 in 2022, 4.2 in 2020, 3.9 in 2018, 3.7 in 2016, and 2.8 in 2014. 

Florida had 28 congressional districts in the 2026, 2024, and 2022 election cycles. It had 27 congressional districts in all other cycles from 2014 to 2020.

Among those candidates are eight incumbents — three Democrats and five Republicans — who are running in contested primaries. There were 15 incumbents in contested primaries in 2024, 17 in 2022, 10 in 2020, 11 in 2018, nine in 2016, and eight in 2014.

In total, 35 primaries — 20 Democratic and 15 Republican — are contested this year. In total, there were 30 contested primaries in 2024, 38 in 2022, 29 in 2020, 31 in 2018, 24 in 2016, and 15 in 2014.

Six districts are open this year. There was one open district in 2024, six in 2022, two in 2020, four in 2018, seven in 2016, and none in 2014.

Reps. Neal Dunn (R-2nd), Daniel Webster (R-11th), Vern Buchanan (R-16th), and Frederica Wilson (D-24th) are retiring from public office. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-19th) is retiring to run for governor of Florida. 

The 20th Congressional District is currently vacant due to Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation. However, the 22nd Congressional District is the sixth open district this year due to three incumbents running in different districts than the ones they currently represent:

The open 19th Congressional District has attracted the most candidates. Thirteen candidates — three Democrats and 10 Republicans — are running for the district.

The 10th Congressional District is guaranteed to Democrats because no Republicans will appear on the ballot. Democrats filed to run in all 28 districts, meaning none are guaranteed to Republicans.

Florida and two other states — Alaska and Wyoming — are holding U.S. House primaries on Aug. 18, 2026.

In Florida, the winner of a primary election is the candidate who receives the greatest number of votes, even if the candidate does not receive an outright majority of votes cast.