Politics
4 Republicans compete to defend HD 100, the only GOP-held House seat in Broward County
The only Republican-held House seat entirely inside Broward County is open for the first time in eight years, and four men are competing for the right to defend the GOP’s foothold in the district.
Lawyer and Army Reserve captain Yoni Anijar, insurance executive Raul Gallon, pediatric plastic surgeon Eric “Doc” Stelnicki and former Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Mayor Chris Vincent are competing in the Aug. 18 Republican Primary for HD 100.
All hope to succeed term-limited Lighthouse Point Rep. Chip LaMarca, who has held the seat since 2018 and won re-election two years ago with 57.4% of the vote. His departure leaves the ballot without the name that has anchored GOP performance in the district.
HD 100 traces the Broward coastline from southern Fort Lauderdale north to the Palm Beach County line, hugging the corridor between Federal Highway and the Atlantic. It takes in slices of Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Lighthouse Point and Deerfield Beach, plus several smaller municipalities.
Registration in the district skews about 5 percentage points in Republicans’ favor, with third- and no-party voters accounting for a 30% share of the district’s electorate.
Donald Trump carried the district with 53.3% of the vote in 2024, and Gov. Ron DeSantis won there by nearly 12 points two years before that.
The winner of the GOP Primary will face Democrat Michael Ferguson, 32, a lawyer and former Air Force special trial counsel who grew up in the district, in the Nov. 3 General Election.
Anijar, a 35-year-old corporate lawyer and U.S. Army Reserve JAG captain, was the first to file for the HD 100 race in January 2025. He is a first-generation American, born to Israeli immigrants, and was the only candidate who reached the ballot by petition rather than pay a qualifying fee.
He’s running on a promise to support pandemic-era accountability and strengthen election integrity, asserting in an interview with the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that he believes the 2020 election was “rigged” — the only candidate in the race to do so.
A win for Anijar would be something of a homecoming to the legislative process; he completed three internships between 2011 and 2014 in the Florida House and Congress.
He carries endorsements from Republican National Committee Chair and state Sen. Joe Gruters, state Rep. Meg Weinberger, rumored to be a top contender for Lieutenant Governor under GOP front-runner Byron Donalds, and Broward Young Republicans, where he once served as Vice President.
Anijar has put $235,000 of his own money into the race atop about $282,000 raised through late July, by which time he had spent roughly $211,000 of that sum, much of it on mail and advertising.
Opponents have flagged his voter registration history; he was a Democrat until 2022 and then briefly registered with the Independent Party before joining the GOP in 2022.
Gallon, 54, built his campaign around a focus on property insurance and overdevelopment, and he has offered the field’s clearest break with his own party.
Asked where he disagrees with Republican leadership, he pointed to preemption, arguing the state has stripped too much zoning and density authority from counties and cities, which he said know their communities better than Tallahassee does.
Gallon wants stronger infrastructure impact reviews before projects break ground in Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach and Lighthouse Point, with developers rather than taxpayers covering the cost.
On insurance, he would seek a seat on the Insurance and Banking Subcommittee and revive HB 527, which died in committee last Session and would require a licensed human professional to sign off on every claim denial.
A Bogotá native who arrived in 1995 and founded G&G Insurance Adjusters, Gallon has raised almost $19,000 and loaned himself $65,660. He had about $37,000 left by July 24.
Stelnicki, 59, filed in April 2025 and has raised the most outside money in the field — roughly $236,000 through his campaign account and another $201,400 through his political committee. That’s on top of $122,000 in self-loans. By late last month, he had $294,000 remaining.
Much of his gains came from medical interests, including the Florida Medical Association PAC and the Florida Podiatry Medical Association — both of which endorsed him — along with dozens of fellow doctors.
Other supporters of his campaign include Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia, the Florida Realtors Association, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Broward Police Benevolent Association, Florida Professional Firefighters and the Sun-Sentinel, which cited his healthcare expertise and his willingness to say Florida’s abortion law should keep exceptions for rape, incest and trafficking victims.
Stelnicki has argued that the Legislature would benefit from having a practicing doctor within its ranks, noting he would be the only one in the House.
He’s running on a promise to fight for lower homeowners insurance, expand workforce housing and enhance marine safety, among other things.
Rivals have noted that he voted from Davie, well outside HD 100, for more than a decade before registering in the district in 2024. Florida law requires state lawmakers to live in the district they represent by the time they’re sworn in and be residents of the state at least two years before an election.
Vincent, 68, is a state-certified building contractor and the only candidate who has held public office, having spent 14 years as a Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Commissioner, Vice Mayor and Mayor before leaving office in 2024.
He’s campaigning on balanced budgets, public safety, coastal protection and running a government based on business principles.
His campaign raised about $87,000 and spent $45,000. Notably, he was the only candidate who correctly identified the size of Florida’s budget when the Sun-Sentinel asked. The outlet’s editorial board ranked him as the field’s second-strongest choice, while faulting him for sidestepping a question about abortion.
Not all candidates have remained in consistent good standing with the state Division of Elections. While Anijar and Stelnicki received no notices of noncompliance, both Gallon and Vincent have gotten multiple audit and fine letters for errors and issues with their campaign finance filings.
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