Florida › Polk County › Polk County School Board District 3
2 candidates are tracked for Polk County School Board District 3, headed to a November 3, 2026 runoff: Victor Sims and Kate Wallace. Candidate information follows official Polk County election filings; verify with the official election office linked below.
August 18 result: no candidate won a majority, so Kate Wallace (45.1 percent, 39,265 votes) and Victor Sims (35.8 percent, 31,212) advance to a November 3 runoff, per the Supervisor of Elections' unofficial results.
Victor Sims is a senior program officer, Polk County native, and former foster youth who has worked with children throughout his career, leading the nonprofit Guiding Hope, per LkldNow and The Citrus Tea questionnaire.
2026 priorities
- Access to quality education, per LkldNow's race coverage
- Backing educators and teacher retention, per LkldNow and The Citrus Tea
- Transparent data on student progress, per The Citrus Tea questionnaire
Source: candidate campaign site, roster verified 2026-08-19.
Reported fundraising: $15,862 (county campaign-finance filings).
Campaign site →
Kate Wallace
Nonpartisan · Incumbent
Kate Wallace is director of state government affairs for Spectrum, a Bartow native and Polk public schools graduate appointed to this seat by Gov. DeSantis in November 2025, per LkldNow and The Citrus Tea questionnaire.
2026 priorities
- Raising student academic achievement, per LkldNow and The Citrus Tea
- Modernizing teacher compensation to recruit and retain educators, per LkldNow's race coverage
- Parental visibility into curriculum, per The Citrus Tea questionnaire
Source: candidate campaign site, roster verified 2026-08-19.
Campaign site →
