2026 race

FL-19 — U.S. House

3 candidates on the November ballot. Incumbent: Byron Donalds.

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How we got here · 2 earlier contests

Democratic primary · Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Called by audit: web-verified

Victor AriasWon45.5%

DHoward Lee SappDefeated41.1%
DRobert NeeldDefeated13.0%

Source

Republican primary · Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Called by audit: web-verified

Jim SchwartzelWon

RCatalina LaufDefeated

Source

Currently held by

Byron Donalds (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 held

Counting

Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Results appear here once a race is called and verified. Official returns from the Florida Department of State, Division of Elections.

Make sure you can vote

Disclosed money in race

$21M

Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.

Incumbent

Currently in office

Byron Donalds

RDefeated

IncumbentFEC H2FL14186

Raised this cycle$738K

Cash on hand: $238K

View record Compare Campaign site

Challengers

Sorted by fundraising

Jim Schwartzel

ChallengerFEC H6FL19137

Raised this cycle$2.8M

Cash on hand: $506K

Victor Arias

ChallengerFEC H6FL19277

Raised this cycle$70K

Cash on hand: $15K

Campaign site

DDefeated

ChallengerFEC H6FL19111

Raised this cycle$55K

Cash on hand: −$3K

Robert Neeld

DDefeated

ChallengerFEC H4FL14091

Raised this cycle$29K

Cash on hand: $3K

Campaign site

Gregory Bukowski

RDefeated

ChallengerFEC H6FL19335

Raised this cycle$26K

Cash on hand: $0

Campaign site

Linda Sawyer

RDefeated

ChallengerFEC H6FL19301

Raised this cycle$12K

Cash on hand: $161

Campaign site

Local signal

Early read on FL-19 — 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.

Jim Schwartzelleans negative

0 pos2 neutral2 neg4 articles

Victor Ariaslimited coverage

No coverage in our tracked outlets in the last 90 days.

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.

Candidate fundraising: FEC reports through October 15, 2026 · 2025–26 cycle

Total disclosed

$21M

Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).

Candidate-direct (Schedule A)

$16M

Raised by candidate committees themselves.

Outside spending (Schedule E)

$4.6M

$3.3M for · $1.3M against

Candidate	Raised directly	Outside for	Outside against	Net in corner
Jim Schwartzel(R) − LOVE AMERICA UPHOLD FREEDOM PAC $19K − SAVE AMERICAN FREEDOM $17K − PROTECT FREEDOM POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $13K	$2.8M	—	$48K	$2.8M
Victor Arias(D)	$70K	—	—	$70K
Seth Haskin	$0	—	—	$0

12 defeated candidates — show finances

Candidate	Raised directly	Outside for	Outside against	Net in corner
James Oberweis(R)defeated − PROTECT FREEDOM POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $15K − LOVE AMERICA UPHOLD FREEDOM PAC $9K	$5.4M	—	$24K	$5.4M
Catalina Lauf(R)defeated + PROTECT FREEDOM POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $2.4M + LOVE AMERICA UPHOLD FREEDOM PAC $724K + CLUB FOR GROWTH ACTION $61K	$2.0M	$3.2M	—	$5.2M
Chris Collins(R)defeated − WIN IT BACK PAC $1.3M	$3.4M	—	$1.3M	$2.1M
Madison Cawthorn(R)defeated	$876K	—	—	$876K
Byron Donalds(R)incumbentdefeated + LATINOS FOR CONSERVATIVE VALUES $56K + FREEDOM CAUCUS FUND $185	$738K	$57K	—	$795K
Ola Nesheswat Hawatmeh(R)defeated	$395K	—	—	$395K
John Strand(R)defeated	$144K	—	—	$144K
Mike Pedersen(R)defeated	$76K	—	—	$76K
Howard Lee Sapp(D)defeated	$55K	—	—	$55K
Robert Neeld(D)defeated	$29K	—	—	$29K
Gregory Bukowski(R)defeated	$26K	—	—	$26K
Linda Sawyer(R)defeated	$12K	—	—	$12K

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.

Jim Schwartzel(R)85% in-state · $973K itemized

$827K in-state$146K out-of-state

Victor Arias(D)93% in-state · $18K itemized

$17K in-state$1K out-of-state

9 defeated candidates — show

James Oberweis(R)defeated62% in-state · $294K itemized

$182K in-state$112K out-of-state

Catalina Lauf(R)defeated22% in-state · $983K itemized

$213K in-state$769K out-of-state

Madison Cawthorn(R)defeated59% in-state · $52K itemized

$31K in-state$21K out-of-state

Byron Donalds(R)defeated45% in-state · $350K itemized

$158K in-state$192K out-of-state

Ola Nesheswat Hawatmeh(R)defeated62% in-state · $222K itemized

$138K in-state$84K out-of-state

John Strand(R)defeated64% in-state · $86K itemized

$55K in-state$31K out-of-state

Mike Pedersen(R)defeated48% in-state · $53K itemized

$25K in-state$28K out-of-state

Howard Lee Sapp(D)defeated88% in-state · $23K itemized

$20K in-state$3K out-of-state

Gregory Bukowski(R)defeated80% in-state · $5K itemized

$4K in-state$1K 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.

Recent coverage

In the news

Jim Schwartzel

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.