James Martin, a fourth-generation Floridian and U.S. Coast Guard veteran, just entered the race for Florida’s 21st Congressional District, where he hopes to unseat five-term Republican incumbent Brian Mast.
And he’s making quick headway; Martin raised more than $150,000 within the first 24 hours of running, his campaign said.
Martin, who grew up in Martin County and served nearly a decade on active duty in the Coast Guard, framed his candidacy as a call for change.
He argued that Mast and others in Washington have failed to deliver on pocketbook issues while turning a blind eye to attacks on democracy at home.
“Our leaders in Washington like Brian Mast are out of touch,” Martin said in a statement.
“Florida families are working harder than ever for less and less. I deployed to combat zones, patrolled drug trafficking lanes, and protected Florida’s maritime border. I didn’t do it for a party, or one President, I did it for the country I swore an oath to serve. I’m ready to bring that same dedication to Washington to fight for a better future for Floridians.”
Martin said his priorities include lowering the cost of living, addressing the Treasure Coast’s ongoing water quality crisis and strengthening the economy “for everyone, no matter their politics.”
The son of a small-business owner and public school teacher, Martin rose to lieutenant commander in the Coast Guard, where he commanded cutters in Fort Pierce and served overseas in Bahrain. His teams seized more than 200 tons of narcotics valued at $3.5 billion, his campaign said, and brought hundreds of traffickers to justice.
Still in the Coast Guard Reserve today, Martin said he’s committed to continuing his record of public service by representing Florida’s families in Congress.
In his first campaign video, titled “Florida Man,” Martin tapped into the well-worn meme to highlight the actions of two such men: Mast and President Donald Trump.
“Around here, when you hear ‘Florida man,’ you know something crazy just happened. Now imagine two Florida men wrecking our country. One tried to overthrow our democracy. The other helped him,” Martin says in the video, referring to Mast joining a dozen other Florida Representatives in voting against certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 win.
“Brian Mast isn’t working for you. He’s working for Trump and himself, and together, they’re making everything more expensive while gutting everything we earned. It’s all a game to them, but we’re the ones paying the price.”
Martin’s entry Wednesday makes the Democratic Primary for CD 27 a four-person contest. Others running include tech services pro Pia Dandiya, small-business owner Elizabeth Pandich and firefighter Bernard Taylor.
No-party candidate Amr Metwally has also filed for the race, which for now includes no other Republican but Mast.
CD 21 includes all of Martin and St. Lucie counties and part of northern Palm Beach County. The district leans Republican — R+7, per the Cook Political Report — but has pockets of Democratic strength, particularly in suburban communities where education and health care are top concerns.
The 2026 Primary is Aug. 18, followed by the General Election on Nov. 3.
Miles Davis is taking his Florida-focused organizing playbook to the national stage.
Davis, Policy Director at PRISM Florida and Director of Advocacy and Communications at SAVE, has been selected to present a workshop at the 2026 Creating Change Conference, the largest annual LGBTQ advocacy and movement-building convention.
It’s a major nod to his rising role in Florida’s LGBTQ policy landscape.
The National LGBTQ Task Force, which organizes the conference, announced that Davis will present his session, “School Board Organizing 101.” His proposal rose to the top of more than 550 submissions competing for roughly 140 slots, a press note said, making this year’s conference one of the most competitive program cycles in the event’s history.
His workshop will be scheduled during the Jan. 21-24 gathering in Washington, D.C.
Davis said his selection caps a strong year for PRISM Florida, where he helped shepherd the organization’s first-ever bill (HB 331) into the Legislature. The measure, sponsored by Tampa Democratic Rep. Dianne Hart, would restore local oversight over reproductive health and HIV/AIDS instruction, undoing changes enacted under a 2023 expansion to Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” law, dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by critics.
Davis’ workshop draws directly from that work and aims to train LGBTQ youth, families and advocates in how local boards operate, how public comment can shape decisions and how communities can mobilize around issues like book access, inclusive classrooms and student safety.
“School boards are where the real battles over student safety, book access, and inclusive classrooms are happening,” Davis said. “I’m honored to bring this training to Creating Change and help our community build the skills to show up, speak out, and win — especially as PRISM advances legislation like HB 331 that returns power to our local communities.”
Davis’ profile has grown in recent years, during which he jumped from working on the campaigns and legislative teams of lawmakers like Hart and Miami Gardens Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones to working in key roles for organizations like America Votes, PRISM and SAVE.
The National LGBTQ Task Force, founded in 1973, is one of the nation’s oldest LGBTQ advocacy organizations. It focuses on advancing civil rights through federal policy work, grassroots engagement and leadership development.
Its Creating Change Conference draws thousands for four days of training and strategy-building yearly, a press note said.
State Rep. Kevin Steele’s campaign for Chief Financial Officer already enjoys political support from U.S. Sen. Rick Scott. The Dade City Republican attended a summit headlined by the Senator to also gain some policy insight and mentoring.
Steele was among the attendees for the Rescuing the American Dream summit held on Thursday in Washington, D.C. He said it was a quest for knowledge that drew him to Capitol Hill to hear the discussion.
“The way you do things better in the future is by learning from people who have already accomplished something,” Steele told Florida Politics at the event.
Scott gave a shoutout to Steele from the stage. The Governor already endorsed Steele, who is challenging the appointed Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia in 2026. At the summit, Scott both promoted conservative successes in the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term and laid out visions on issues from health care reform to cryptocurrency.
Steele called the panel discussions “amazing” and instructive on tackling affordability issues in Florida.
“If we don’t start addressing those things head first, we’re going to fall behind,” Steele said. “I think we’ve lost several million jobs in the state of Florida over the past six or seven years. Learning from Rick Scott and how to bring jobs back to the state is a good thing. And I think that we need to start tackling some of the big, big things that we need to attack.”
That includes addressing property insurance premiums head on and evaluating the property tax situation.
While he will be challenging a Republican incumbent in a Primary, Steele voiced caution at comparing his philosophy too directly with Ingoglia, a former Republican Party of Florida Chair with a history of animus with Scott.
But he did suggest Ingoglia’s recent scrutinizing of local governments may be starting at the wrong place when it comes to cutting spending.
“We need to start focusing on state down, instead of going to a county and pointing out flaws there,” Steele said. “There’s a lot of issues at the state level that we can address, some of which we are, some of which I’ve submitted different bills to address. I think that there’s a lot of waste and abuse at the state level that we can focus on.”
U.S. Rep. Darren Soto is refusing to say whether indicted U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick should vacate her seat in Congress.
Video obtained by Florida Politics shows Soto being confronted on Capitol Hill. “Will you call on Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick to resign?” the videographer asks.
Initially, Soto remains silent, but the questioner suggests that silence shows “support” for someone who “stole $5 million in health care funds for the most vulnerable.” The Kissimmee Democrat then responds but continues walking away from the camera. He then conflates a censure motion against U.S. Rep. Cory Mills, a New Smyrna Beach Republican, and Cherfilus-McCormick, a Miramar Democrat.
“Both Mills and Cherfilus-McCormick, both will have due process. Thank you,” Soto said.
Both Cherfilus-McCormick and Mills remain the subjects of ongoing House Ethics Committee investigations. But only Cherfilus-McCormick now faces criminal prosecution for alleged financial crimes.
A grand jury in November indicted Cherfilus-McCormick on charges she stole $5 million in disaster relief funds to finance her 2021 congressional campaign.
The indictment alleges that Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, secured funding intended for a COVID vaccine distribution program, but when overpayments were made, she routed the spending through several accounts that later donated the funds as campaign contributions.
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said pursuant to House rules that Cherfilus-McCormick had to give up her ranking status on the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa. Local Democrats have started to issue calls for the Miramar Democrat’s resignation. But there have been no calls from Democratic members of Congress.
U.S. Rep. Greg Steube, a Sarasota Republican, has said if she won’t resign, he will move for her expulsion.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which lists Soto as a target in 2026, slammed Soto’s unwillingness to criticize a fellow Democrat.
“Darren Soto’s refusal to call on Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick to resign is unacceptable,” said NRCC spokesperson Maureen O’Toole. “Floridians deserve a representative who fights for them, not his taxpayer-thieving colleague.”