Bradenton, Florida sample ballot 2026

Poulton serves as district chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, overseeing operations across Manatee and southern Hillsborough counties, per the campaign site. She previously served as vice president of public policy and workforce partnerships at the Manatee Chamber of Commerce and worked in government operations for DeSoto County, per the campaign site. She holds a master's degree in public administration from Florida State University and a bachelor's degree in communication from the University of South Florida, per the campaign site.

Executive Director of the Palmetto Youth Center, U.S. military veteran, and former Manatee County Commissioner, per his campaign website reggiebellamy.com; he is not the current officeholder - the county's two at-large commission seats are held by George Kruse and Jason Bearden, per mymanatee.org.

Jefferson has been an educator in Manatee County for more than 26 years and currently teaches social studies at Sugg Middle School, per Suncoast Searchlight, which also reports she serves as education chair for the Manatee County NAACP.

Spray is the sitting School Board of Manatee County District 2 member; Suncoast Searchlight does not detail her professional occupation outside the board. No campaign website was found as of September 8, 2026.

Per Suncoast Searchlight, Bedinghaus is the 23-year-old director of the Turning Point USA Manatee County Hub and works as an independent journalist for Coastal Conservative News; his personal website describes him as a Christian conservative author, speaker, and independent journalist.

Per his campaign site votemullis.com, Mullis is owner and CEO of Physical Therapy Doctors of Florida in Bradenton with over 17 years as a small business owner; Suncoast Searchlight likewise describes him as a physical therapist and business owner.

Land management professional since 1984 and owner of Rick Richards Inc, an ecological management company specializing in native plant restoration, per his campaign site. He previously served as a Fire Commissioner for the Myakka City Fire Control District, per his campaign site. Charles Richards appears on the November 3, 2026 ballot for Manatee County Mosquito Control District Group 1, per the Supervisor of Elections' official qualified-candidate list. His campaign site, read in September, could not be reached as of October 13, 2026.

Angie Nixon is a Florida state representative from Jacksonville, a union organizer and a mother, per the campaign site. She is executive director of Florida for All, a statewide coalition, and runs a bookstore and community hub in Jacksonville, per the campaign site. The campaign site says she expanded child care in the State House and led the fight against the state's new voting maps, per the campaign site.

Donalds is a member of Congress representing Florida's 19th District since January 2021, per the chamber's membership roster. Before Congress, he worked in the finance, insurance and banking industries in Southwest Florida and served in the Florida House of Representatives, where he chaired the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee and led the effort to enact Hope Scholarships for school choice, per the campaign site. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Florida State University in 2002, per the campaign site.

• Voted yes on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the 2025 tax-and-spending package, which passed the House 218-214 in July 2025. Supported
• Voted yes on the Laken Riley Act, expanding federal detention of certain immigrants charged with theft or violent crimes, which passed the House 263-156 in January 2025. Supported
• Voted yes on the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026, which passed the House 231-196 in September 2025. Supported
• Voted yes on the November 2025 funding agreement that ended the government shutdown, which passed the House 222-209 in November 2025. Supported
• Voted yes on the September 2025 stopgap funding bill, which passed the House 217-212 in September 2025. Supported
• Voted yes on the March 2025 full-year stopgap funding bill, which passed the House 217-213 in March 2025. Supported

David Jolly is the Democratic nominee for Florida governor, a former Republican congressman from the Tampa Bay area who left the GOP and joined the Democratic Party in 2025. His campaign emphasizes affordability, property insurance reform, public schools, and ending one-party control of Tallahassee.

Jose Javier Rodriguez is an attorney, a former Florida state representative and state senator from Miami, and a former U.S. assistant secretary of labor, per the campaign site. His campaign says he would focus the office on crime, costs and corruption and serve as an independent-minded enforcer of the law, per the campaign site.

Annette Taddeo is a Florida state senator, the first Latina Democrat elected to the Florida State Senate, first elected in a 2017 special election, per the campaign site.

Simpson is a fifth-generation Floridian and lifelong farmer who operates a large-scale egg-laying operation supplying Florida supermarkets, per the campaign site. He currently serves as Florida's Agriculture Commissioner and previously served in the state Senate, per the campaign site.

Joey Mendoza Atkins is the Democratic nominee for Florida agriculture commissioner. A lifelong Floridian, he earned a political science degree cum laude and a law degree, worked as a family-law attorney, and represented athletes as a Miami-area sports agent. His platform focuses on grocery costs, local farmers, and affordability.