Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday confirmed that the Hillsborough County state Senate seat that has been vacant since he appointed Republican Jay Collins to be lieutenant governor will likely not have representation during the regular 2026 legislative session.
The governor announced that the primary election for the Senate District 14 seat will take place on Jan. 13, 2026. The general election will take place on March 24, 2026.
That’s 11 days after the 2026 Florida legislative session is scheduled to end. The session is slated to begin on Jan. 13 and end on March 13.
READ MORE: DeSantis faces a lawsuit over not holding a special election for Collins' vacant Senate seat
He announced those same election dates for the House District 87 seat in Palm Beach County, vacated when he appointed Republican Mike Caruso in August to serve as clerk of the circuit court and comptroller for Palm Beach County.
DeSantis’ delay in calling an election date in the SD 14 seat led the ACLU of Florida to file a lawsuit in a court in Leon County on Sept. 30, contending the governor had violated his duty under the Florida Constitution and state law.
The lawsuit noted that, in more than 25 instances, the governor took fewer than five days to call for an election upon a vacancy in a congressional or legislative seat. When then-GOP state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia resigned from his Senate District 11 seat on July 18 after DeSantis named him chief financial officer, the governor took just four days to call a special election for that seat.
SD 14 was considered a swing seat in the 2022 election, but Collins defeated Democratic incumbent Janet Cruz by nearly 10 points. Caruso won re-election to the HD 87 seat by 19 points in 2024.
Among the Republican candidates rumored to be considering a run for the SD 14 seat are former Rep. Shawn Harrison along with HD 65 Rep. Karen Gonzalez Pittman and Melanie Griffin, now secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Democrat Brian Nathan, a Navy veteran and union leader, has already filed to run for the seat.
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