Vernon Buchanan
RDefeatedIncumbentFEC H6FL13148
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Raised this cycle$930K
Cash on hand: $1.1M
All Florida races
2026 race
FL-16 — U.S. House
10 active candidates on file with the FEC. Incumbent: Vernon Buchanan.
Read the record. Not the rhetoric.
See where these candidates stand — and who's funding them.
DeepSyte tracks the money and the record in every race against the issues you care about — not party, not press releases. Take the 2-minute values quiz to see your alignment.
Democratic primary · Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Called by audit: web-verified
Kelly KirschnerWon43.8%
- DTamika LylesDefeated19.4%
- DJonathan HarrisDefeated
- DGlenn Keith PearsonDefeated
- DJan SchneiderDefeated
Republican primary · Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Called by audit: web-verified
Sydney GrutersWon65.6%
- RJason Edward SpeirDefeated19.9%
- REdward Peter PopeDefeated14.5%
Currently held by
Vern Buchanan (R) — not seeking re-election in 2026. They've publicly announced their retirement; their committee is still on the FEC's 2026 roster for routine compliance, but this is effectively an open seat.
Election day
44days
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Make sure you can vote
Disclosed money in race
$1.1M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Incumbent
Currently in office
Challengers
Sorted by fundraising
Mark Davis
IChallengerFEC H6FL06365
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Raised this cycle$30K
Cash on hand: $7K
Sydney Gruters
RChallengerFEC H6FL16141
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Raised this cycle—
Cash on hand: —
Kelly Kirschner
DChallengerFEC H6FL16158
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Raised this cycle—
Cash on hand: —
6 defeated candidates — show
Tamika Lyles
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H6FL16125
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Raised this cycle$48K
Cash on hand: $46K
Jonathan Harris
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H6FL16117
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Raised this cycle$33K
Cash on hand: $22K
Glenn Keith Pearson
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H6FL16109
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Raised this cycle$30K
Cash on hand: $8K
Jason Edward Speir
RDefeatedChallengerFEC H4FL16179
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Raised this cycle$24K
Cash on hand: $19K
Jan Schneider
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H4FL16161
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Raised this cycle$21K
Cash on hand: $59K
Edward Peter Pope
RDefeatedChallengerFEC H6FL16133
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Raised this cycle$15K
Cash on hand: $14K
Local signal
Early read on FL-16 — U.S. House
A directional read on where this seat is trending, from the signals we have so far. This is an early scaffold — more inputs light up as coverage and constituent activity accrue.
Coverage tone · the matchup
Recent news coverage of the nominees heading to the general election.
Sydney Gruterslimited coverage
No tracked coverage in the last 90 days yet.
Kelly Kirschnerlimited coverage
No tracked coverage in the last 90 days yet.
A media signal, not a poll of the district.
Constituent stakes
No one here has staked a position on a tracked vote yet. As neighbors weigh in on /pressure campaigns, the district's lean will show up here.
Money in the race
Finance breakdown
Disclosed funding shaping this race — both the money candidates raise themselves and the outside spending dropped by independent groups. Issue-ad spending by 501(c)(4) groups is excluded; the FEC doesn't require disclosure of it. See the note below for details.
Total disclosed
$1.1M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$1.1M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$0
No outside spending reported yet.
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mark Davis | $30K | — | — | $30K |
Sydney Gruters(R) | $0 | — | — | $0 |
Kelly Kirschner(D) | $0 | — | — | $0 |
7 defeated candidates — show finances
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Vernon Buchanan(R)incumbentdefeated | $930K | — | — | $930K |
Tamika Lyles(D)defeated | $48K | — | — | $48K |
Jonathan Harris(D)defeated | $33K | — | — | $33K |
Glenn Keith Pearson(D)defeated | $30K | — | — | $30K |
Jason Edward Speir(R)defeated | $24K | — | — | $24K |
Jan Schneider(D)defeated | $21K | — | — | $21K |
Edward Peter Pope(R)defeated | $15K | — | — | $15K |
Where the money comes from
In-state vs out-of-state
Share of each candidate's itemized individual contributions from donors inside FL versus the rest of the country. Excludes sub-$200 unitemized donations (no geography on file) and PAC money — see note below.
Mark Davis39% in-state · $8K itemized
$3K in-state$5K out-of-state
Sydney Gruters(R)90% in-state · $864K itemized
$778K in-state$87K out-of-state
Kelly Kirschner(D)95% in-state · $200K itemized
$190K in-state$10K out-of-state
6 defeated candidates — show
Vernon Buchanan(R)defeated67% in-state · $343K itemized
$228K in-state$115K out-of-state
Tamika Lyles(D)defeated26% in-state · $96K itemized
$25K in-state$71K out-of-state
Jonathan Harris(D)defeated81% in-state · $10K itemized
$8K in-state$2K out-of-state
Glenn Keith Pearson(D)defeated86% in-state · $22K itemized
$19K in-state$3K out-of-state
Jason Edward Speir(R)defeated76% in-state · $39K itemized
$30K in-state$9K out-of-state
Jan Schneider(D)defeated57% in-state · $17K itemized
$10K in-state$7K out-of-state
What's counted, what isn't
Candidate-direct is each campaign's reported receipts on FEC Schedule A — individual contributions plus PAC contributions to the candidate's own committee — through the most recent filing.
Outside spending is independent expenditures on FEC Schedule E: money spent by PACs, super PACs, and party committees for or against a candidate, without legal coordination with the campaign. The committees listed under each candidate are the largest disclosed spenders on either side.
In-state vs out-of-state covers only itemized individual contributions — donations over $200, which are the only ones that carry a contributor address at the FEC. Sub-$200 unitemized donations (often a large share for grassroots campaigns) have no geography on file and are excluded, as is PAC money. So the percentages describe where a candidate's itemized individual money comes from, not where every dollar raised comes from.
Not counted: 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations run issue ads that frequently mention candidates by name but aren't classified as express advocacy under FEC rules — they file no Schedule E and don't appear in this breakdown. Press reporting on a race may cite figures that include this dark-money spending; ours doesn't.
About this race page
Candidate roster is sourced from the FEC's active-candidate list for the 2026 cycle. Fundraising totals reflect committee filings through the last reporting period.
Alignment % compares the candidate's extracted policy positions against your quiz answers. Positions are pulled from the candidate's campaign issues page by AI; we save the source quote for each position so you can verify the extraction. Candidates without a campaign issues page show position data pending — we're working through the roster and re-checking stale extractions every 90 days.
News coverage is from the GDELT 2.0 global news feed, filtered to a curated list of national, political, and regional outlets.