{"id":446624,"date":"2026-11-04T00:32:25","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T00:32:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/446624\/"},"modified":"2026-11-04T00:32:25","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T00:32:25","slug":"who-else-is-running-for-congress-in-tampa-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/446624\/","title":{"rendered":"Who else is running for Congress in Tampa Bay?"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida Republicans’ newly drawn congressional maps will be put to the test in Tuesday’s midterm election.<\/p>\n

There are some high profile U.S. House races in Tampa Bay – including matchups in Hillsborough<\/a> and Pinellas<\/a> counties where incumbents are fighting to retain their seats, and a Suncoast race where candidates are vying to take an open one.<\/p>\n

\u00a0BATTLEGROUND FLORIDA LIVE: Experts discuss 2026 election results\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are the other races we’re watching:<\/p>\n

District 9<\/p>\n

District 9, represented by Rep. Darren Soto, is anchored by Kissimmee and was redrawn to include rural portions of Polk and Highlands counties, stretching as far east as Vero Beach.<\/p>\n

Dan Green, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development and Navy reserve officer, hopes to flip the seat in a district that decisively favored President Donald Trump in 2024.<\/p>\n

Despite the district’s conservative lean, the seat is considered in play for the Democratic incumbent, according to election forecaster Decision Desk HQ<\/a>.<\/p>\n

District 12<\/p>\n

District 12 was one of the districts whose boundaries were redrawn to dilute Democratic political power in the Tampa Bay metro.<\/p>\n

Represented by Republican Gus Bilirakis since 2013, the district still covers much of Pasco County, and now includes urban neighborhoods like Seminole Heights and Sulphur Springs, as well as suburbs like Egypt Lake and Westchase. Its southern terminus is in the middle of downtown Tampa.<\/p>\n

Bilirakis’ Democratic challenger is Kimberly Overman, a former Hillsborough County commissioner. He is expected to hang onto his seat, according to Decision Desk HQ.<\/p>\n

District 15<\/p>\n

This largely rural and suburban district was redrawn to include east Tampa. It stretches up eastern Pasco County and covers Hernando and Citrus counties.<\/p>\n

Facing Republican Rep. Laurel Lee is Democratic nominee Robert People, who is an Army veteran and writer.<\/p>\n

The incumbent is expected to retain her seat, according to Decision Desk HQ.<\/p>\n

District 17<\/p>\n

The new District 17 has similar boundaries to the previous map, with some rural areas now part of the neighboring 13th district.<\/p>\n

This district, which covers Sarasota, Punta Gorda and part of Fort Myers, has been represented by Republican Rep. Greg Steube since 2019.<\/p>\n

Steube is expected to beat his Democratic challenger, Matthew Montavon, who is a retired United Nations official, according to Decision Desk HQ.<\/p>\n

District 18<\/p>\n

This district has shrunk considerably and now covers part of Polk County, including Lakeland and Winter Haven.<\/p>\n

Incumbent Republican Rep. Scott Franklin, who has represented the area since 2023, is expected to hang onto this seat, according to Decision Desk HQ.<\/p>\n

He faces Democrat Curtis Gibson, a former\u00a0Lake Wales\u00a0city commissioner.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida Republicans’ newly drawn congressional maps will be put to the test in Tuesday’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-446624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}