Florida’s 16th District House Race: Who Will Win

Florida's primaries produced a mixed picture for both parties ahead of November's general election. Rep. Byron Donalds won the Republican gubernatorial nomination with Trump's endorsement and a large financial edge, beating Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, former House Speaker Paul Renner and newcomer James Fishback despite Gov. Ron DeSantis's public misgivings; Donalds would become Florida's first Black governor if elected. Former Republican congressman David Jolly, running with Gwen Graham as his lieutenant governor pick, won the Democratic nomination over state Rep. Dotie Joseph and others, pitching himself as a centrist who wants to end the culture wars. The two will meet in November to succeed the term-limited DeSantis, in a state where Democrats haven't won the governorship in over 30 years.

Progressive state Rep. Angie Nixon defeated establishment-backed Alex Vindman for the Senate Democratic nomination despite being outspent; she faces Republican Sen. Ashley Moody, who won her primary with Trump's backing, in the special election for Marco Rubio's former seat. Incumbents Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Jared Moskowitz turned back challengers, including Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, in redrawn districts under Florida's new Republican-favored congressional map. Trump-endorsed Cory Mills lost his House primary amid domestic violence allegations, while far-right figures Dan Bilzerian and Madison Cawthorn were also defeated, alongside Rep. Randy Fine's contentious win.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) won her party's primary in Florida's newly drawn 20th Congressional District, a plurality-Black seat centered on Broward County, after her old 25th District seat was eliminated in Republican-led mid-decade redistricting ordered by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Rather than run in a new, whiter district that favored Trump, she chose to compete in the 20th, drawing criticism from local Black leaders, the Broward Black Democratic Caucus, and Congressional Black Caucus members who saw her candidacy as a threat to Black political representation already weakened by the Supreme Court's rollback of the Voting Rights Act; Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries declined to endorse her.

Wasserman Schultz defeated a divided field of four Black challengers — former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, rapper Luther "Luke" Campbell, Elijah Manley, and Dale Holness — leaning on seniority, fundraising, and an Appropriations Committee seat while her rivals split the opposing vote. Her win makes her the only white House member representing a plurality or majority-Black district heading into 2027, following the elimination of Rep. Steve Cohen's Memphis district by Tennessee Republicans. The broader Florida redistricting effort cut four Democratic-leaning seats ahead of the midterms.

Florida has launched an expanded sales tax holiday covering hunting, fishing, and camping gear, now running from the fall through December 31. Building on a successful 2025 debut, the four-month holiday adds more firearm accessories to a list that already includes ammunition, firearms, bows and crossbows, rods and reels, tents, flashlights, and sleeping bags. State officials project consumers will save roughly $40 million this year.

Governor Ron DeSantis and Republican lawmakers, including State Sen. Jim Boyd, frame the holiday as a way to let Floridians keep more of their earnings while encouraging outdoor recreation, a view echoed by the Florida Retail Federation. But tax policy analysts, including Miles Trinidad of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, argue temporary sales tax holidays are an inefficient relief tool that does little for lower-income families struggling with everyday expenses, and that broader, permanent tax relief would be more effective.

President Donald Trump drew a large crowd to the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Alabama, returning to the city where he held an early breakout rally during his 2016 campaign. The stop kicked off a broader fall campaign push ahead of the November midterms, with the White House planning near-daily appearances in competitive states.

Trump used the rally to back Senator Tommy Tuberville in his gubernatorial bid against former Democratic Senator Doug Jones, Representative Barry Moore's campaign for Tuberville's soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat, and state Representative Rhett Marques, who is running for Alabama's redrawn 2nd Congressional District currently held by Democratic Representative Shomari Figures. Republicans see the seat as a pickup opportunity following redistricting.

Earlier in the day, Governor Kay Ivey and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy broke ground on the $3.2 billion Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project. Strategists noted the rally's location also extends media reach into the conservative Florida Panhandle, reinforcing turnout momentum for Republicans heading into election day.

Sarasota County's school board is losing its conservative majority after three sitting conservatives, including chair and Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler, opted not to seek reelection. Ziegler's District 1 seat is now headed to a November 3 runoff after no primary candidate cleared 50% of the vote.

Jimmy Glover, backed by Democrats, led the primary field and says voters are ready to move past "culture wars" and personal agendas. Heidi Brandt, backed by Republicans, is distancing herself from Ziegler-era policies, saying she wants to keep politics out of board decisions and focus on students. The race is officially nonpartisan.

The outcome will help determine whether Sarasota's board maintains a conservative-leaning direction shaped by Ziegler's tenure or shifts toward a more moderate composition, a closely watched bellwether in Florida's broader education politics debate.

Charity Hospital, the New Orleans landmark abandoned after Hurricane Katrina, is set for redevelopment as Louisiana marks the storm's 21st anniversary. Tulane University is leading a $500 million project to convert the 1930s art deco building into a medical research hub, with labs for hundreds of researchers, classrooms, and space for biomedical startups. Construction is expected to begin this fall, with completion targeted for 2029.

The hospital's closure has long symbolized Katrina's toll on the city's health care system: patients and staff were trapped inside for days without power as floodwaters covered roughly 80% of New Orleans. Previous redevelopment attempts stalled for years. City and university leaders now frame the project as a milestone in recovery, alongside nearby Katrina-era hospital sites like Lindy Boggs Medical Center, recently demolished, and the former Memorial hospital, now Ochsner Baptist. Tulane leaders, including President Michael Fitts and medical school dean Lee Hamm, say the effort honors the hospital's legacy as a safety-net provider while positioning New Orleans as a hub for biomedical innovation benefiting the wider Gulf South.

Harris County commissioners gave initial approval to spend $3 million in local tax dollars on three community safety initiatives — HART, RISE, and the county's Domestic Violence Prevention and Intervention programs — after federal budget cuts and declining philanthropic giving threatened their survival. Final approval is expected Thursday, alongside a proposed 7.6% property tax increase meant partly to cover the programs and close a $180 million budget deficit.

The programs, created after the George Floyd protests, have shown measurable results: HART has diverted thousands of hours from deputies and EMS while connecting over 5,000 residents to care; RISE neighborhoods saw a 36% drop in crime; and domestic violence programs have assisted more than 5,000 survivors. The new funding raises total annual investment to roughly $14 million.

The move comes as federal support collapses — the Department of Justice terminated hundreds of grants worth about $500 million nationwide, with Harris and Fort Bend counties alone losing roughly $4 million. Advocates warn that without local or state backing, similar safety-net programs in surrounding rural counties could disappear entirely.

Alaska voters headed to the polls Tuesday in primaries shaping contests for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governor and the legislature, alongside a Florida primary seen as an early indicator for control of Congress. The marquee Alaska race pits Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan against Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola, one of 16 candidates in the all-party primary; the top four finishers advance to a November general election decided by ranked choice voting. A same-named challenger, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., also qualified for the ballot after Republicans failed in court to remove him, and the Justice Department is reportedly investigating whether he entered the race to confuse voters and split support from the incumbent.

Rep. Nick Begich is seeking a second term against independent challenger Bill Hill, while 17 candidates compete to succeed term-limited Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Voters are also deciding a ballot measure on campaign contribution limits. Some polls show Peltola leading in a state that typically favors Republicans, and Democrats view Alaska as a key opportunity as they seek to flip four seats to win Senate control.

With about four weeks until Election Day, Florida's 13th congressional district remains one of the cycle's most closely watched races. Recent polling from Fox News and Inside Elections shows the seat shifting from "likely Republican" to "leaning Republican," signaling a tighter contest than previously expected.

Republican incumbent Anna Paulina Luna, who has held the seat since 2022, is campaigning on an anti-corruption record, citing her push to release Epstein-related files and efforts to ban congressional insider trading. Democratic challenger Leela Gray, a retired brigadier general, argues Luna's trading-ban proposal is incomplete and is calling for a broader ban on stock trading, prediction-market betting, and donor-linked investments across all three branches of government. Gray has accused Luna of conflicts of interest tied to a donor's oil company, while Luna has countered that Gray has downplayed her own financial ties to pharmaceutical and banking interests. Both campaigns deny the other's claims as voters prepare to decide the race.