Voters in western Hillsborough County will decide who should represent them in the state Senate during a special election on March 24.
TheDistrict 14 seat was vacated by Jay Collins in August when DeSantis named him lieutenant governor. In 2024, Republicans held a registration advantage of about 14,000 voters in the district.
State Rep. Josie Tomkow, R-Polk City, is facing off against Democrat Brian Nathan, a Navy veteran and local electrical workers union leader.
There are three ways to vote: by mail, in person at an early voting site, or in person on the day of the election.
The Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections website provides instructions for requesting a mail-in ballot, as well as a list of early voting sites available from March 14 to March 21.
Voters can cast their ballots on the day of the election from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 24.
Here’s what to know about the candidates before you cast your ballot. Their responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Age: 45
Occupation: Electrician and leader of the local International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers chapter
Education: Bachelor’s in sociology and philosophy from the University of Tampa
Prior elected seats: N/A
What are your top three priorities?
“Protecting workers’ rights by repealing anti-union legislation and strengthening the right to organize. As an IBEW leader, I prioritize fair wages, job safety and ensuring workers have a seat at the table.
Address skyrocketing property insurance and housing costs in Florida through aggressive oversight and consumer-focused legislative action.
Secure funding for modernized energy grids and transportation to support Florida’s growth while creating high-quality, local jobs.”
Why are you running for office?
“I am running for Florida State Senate District 14 to provide a direct voice for the working class and veterans in Tallahassee. As a Navy veteran and IBEW leader, I have seen how current policies favor corporate interests over families. My goal is to leverage my technical and leadership experience to fix our broken insurance market, protect the right to organize and ensure that Florida’s economic growth creates high-wage jobs for our community.”
How will you help drive costs down for Floridians?
“I will drive costs down by tackling Florida’s property insurance crisis through aggressive oversight and ending payouts to corporate lobbyists. I support expanding affordable housing by protecting the Sadowski Fund and incentivizing workforce housing development. Additionally, I will fight for fair wages and consumer protections against utility monopolies. By prioritizing families over corporate profits, we can ensure that essential costs like housing, energy and insurance remain manageable for every Floridian.”
How, if at all, should the state Legislature regulate artificial intelligence data centers being built in Florida?
“The Legislature must establish a framework that balances innovation with resource management. Regulation should prioritize grid stability and water conservation, as data centers are energy- and resource-intensive. We must mandate robust data privacy protections for Floridians. Furthermore, any state incentives should be tied to prevailing wage requirements to ensure these technological advancements provide high-quality jobs for our communities.”
What would you do to improve public education in Florida?
“I will prioritize raising teacher salaries to reflect Florida’s status as the third-most populous state. We must recruit and retain top-tier educators by ending our last-place ranking in pay. I will advocate for equitable funding and mandate that any institution receiving public tax dollars, including charter and private schools, adheres to the same academic standards and qualification benchmarks as traditional public schools. Accountability must be a universal requirement for all taxpayer-funded education.”
Age: 30
Occupation: State representative and cattle rancher
Education: Bachelor’s in political science from the University of Florida
Prior elected seats: Florida House District 39, Florida House District 51 (after redistricting in 2022)
What are your top three priorities?
“Bringing property tax and insurance relief to Floridians to increase homeownership opportunities for younger families and protect seniors, investing in critical infrastructure to combat flooding and reduce traffic and fighting to make sure every child receives a world-class education.”
Why are you running for office?
“Simply, to get the job done. I want to be a workhorse for this district. I’ve had the opportunity to fight for issues that matter to all Floridians in the Florida House — resiliency, property tax cuts for the heart of Florida’s workforce and tougher penalties for those who harm law enforcement.
But I want to be someone who puts their head down, does the job, and stays out of the way of people’s lives — that’s not just what I want to do, but it’s what the district wants.”
How will you help drive costs down for Floridians?
“Some of the bigger things we can do are first, giving the voters a chance to have a say about reducing their property taxes, while protecting critical services.
We also have to foster a market that encourages new, credible insurers to offer affordable coverage, while at the same time, holding insurance companies accountable, not allowing them to hide profits and making sure that when policyholders need their coverage, they have a hassle-free experience and get the benefits they’ve paid for.
Cutting down on frivolous litigation in the insurance market is having a positive effect on rates, and so we have to make sure we don’t let needless litigation put pressure on prices to rise.
Things we can do that get little fanfare, but are super important, are things like investing in our Resiliency Florida program — which has a direct correlation on our state’s bond rating, hardens our neighborhoods against storms and helps drive insurance rates lower for consumers.”
How, if at all, should the state Legislature regulate artificial intelligence data centers being built in Florida?
“This is an area that I think requires both federal and state guidance. We can certainly, at the state level, move to block chatbots that are harming our children. From a consumer standpoint, my belief is that any costs incurred on the power grid to help power AI data centers should be incurred by the data center, not passed on to consumers. While the state is certainly a place that private companies have expressed interest in building AI data centers in, I don’t think Florida should become a worldwide destination for these types of centers. Both state and federal regulators have a lot to be on the lookout for.”
What would you do to improve public education in Florida?
“As we invest more money directly into students, it’s important taxpayers have accountability in how that money is spent. Scholarship dollars need to pay for education – plain and simple. We should always seek to improve teacher pay and recruit the best teachers in the country. And make sure our public schools have every tool and resource they need to do a great job, while holding habitually failing schools to a standard that they must do better, because no child should be trapped in a failing school system.”