Florida › Hendry County › Florida Senate District 28
2 candidates are tracked for Florida Senate District 28 on the November 3, 2026 ballot: Lauren Uhlich Melo and David Silverberg. Candidate information follows official Hendry County election filings; verify with the official election office linked below.
Lauren Uhlich Melo (Republican), David Silverberg (Democratic) are on the November 3 ballot for Florida Senate District 28. Not on the November ballot: Kathleen Passidomo, the sitting member per the roster. Major-party nominees were chosen at the August 18 primary or advanced unopposed; minor-party and no-party-affiliation candidates qualify directly for the November ballot. The field is the Florida Division of Elections' certified 2026 General Election candidate list. This seat is elected by district; only the district covering your address appears on your ballot.
Lauren Melo currently represents Florida House District 82 and is running for Senate District 28, per her campaign site. She founded a trucking company that grew to more than 100 trucks and now owns and operates a real estate brokerage.
2026 priorities (per the campaign site)
- Protecting Second Amendment rights
- Supporting veterans
- Cutting bureaucratic red tape to grow the economy
Source: candidate campaign site.
Campaign site →
David Silverberg is a veteran journalist who worked as Editor-at-Large for Armed Forces Journal, Managing Editor for The Hill, and founding editor of Homeland Security Today. Since 2018 he has written as The Paradise Progressive, covering Southwest Florida politics. He is the Democratic candidate for Florida Senate District 28, covering Collier and Hendry counties and eastern Lee County, facing Republican Lauren Uhlich Melo, per Florida Politics.
Campaign site →